Ethiopia

Harar Jugol

WHS Score 2.85
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Votes 21 Average 3.29
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Votes for Harar Jugol

1.0

  • Thomas van der Walt

2.0

  • John Smaranda
  • Richardleesa
  • Thomas Buechler

2.5

  • Philipp Leu
  • Solivagant

3.0

  • Alexander Barabanov
  • Jasam
  • Kevin247
  • Szucs Tamas
  • Wojciech Fedoruk

3.5

  • Ammon Watkins
  • Roger Ourset
  • tony0001

4.0

  • David Marton
  • Gernot
  • Hanming

4.5

  • Adrian Turtschi

5.0

  • Dolemite92
  • Fmaiolo@yahoo.com
  • GZ

Harar Jugol, the Fortified Historic Town, represents a major trade center that linked African and Islamic trade routes.

The urban plan of this traditional Islamic town is characterized by a maze of narrow alleyways and townhouses with imposing facades. It is considered "the fourth holiest city of Islam", with 82 mosques and 102 shrines. As the only Islamic city within a Christian region, it has distinct cultural traditions that continue until this day.

Community Perspective: Solivagant describes the city's history and recommends a visit to a traditional Harari house. Wojciech managed to stay overnight in one and also tried some black kite feeding at the butchers' section of the market. And, although touristy, both enjoyed the nightly hyena feeding.

Site Info

Official Information
Full Name
Harar Jugol, the Fortified Historic Town (ID: 1189)
Country
Ethiopia
Status
Inscribed 2006 Site history
History of Harar Jugol
2006: Inscribed
Inscribed
WHS Type
Cultural
Criteria
  • ii
  • iii
  • iv
  • v
Links
UNESCO
whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
Related Resources
News Article

Community Information

  • Community Category
  • Archaeological site: Near Eastern
  • Urban landscape: African
  • Urban landscape: Arabic and Middle Eastern
Travel Information
No travel information
Recent Connections
View all (20) .
Connections of Harar Jugol
Individual People
  • General Gordon
    Working for the Egyptian Khedive who had annexed the Emirate as part of his intended "African Empire" he visited Harar in 1878 and dismissed the governor. Wrote to Richard Burton "I wish you could undertake the Government of Zeyla, Hara, and Berberah, and free me of the bother. Why cannot you get two years' leave from F.O., then write (saying it is my suggestion) to H.H., and offer it? I could give, say, ?5,000 a year from London to your Government."
  • Sir Wilfred Thesiger
    Visited in Dec 1930 during his visit to Haile Selassie's coronation (there by personal invitation). Wrote in Danakil diary that "except for a few corrugated iron roofs, it still looked the same as when [Burton] had been there"
  • Sir Richard Francis Burton
Trivia
History
Architecture
World Heritage Process
Religion and Belief
Human Activity
  • Coffee
    Ethiopian Harar is a coffee bean of the species arabica that is grown in the region of Harar in the Eastern highlands of Ethiopia. It is one of the oldest coffee beans still produced and is known for its distinctive fruity, wine flavour. Nom file: the principal income of the area of Harar remained coffee
Constructions
WHS on Other Lists
Timeline
  • Built in the 16th century
    "Some sources indicate that Harar came into being around the 10th century or even earlier. Islam was introduced to Ethiopia in the 9th century. Three mosques of Harar have been dated to the 10th century...The walls surrounding this sacred Muslim city were built between the 13th and 16th centuries...In the 16th century, Harar was established in its present urban form and from 1520 to 1568 it was the capital of the Harari Kingdom. From the second half of the 16th century until the 19th century, Harar was noted as a centre of trade and Islamic learning in the Horn of Africa" (AB)
WHS Names
  • Untranslated Toponyms
    "The four-meter-high limestone wall, or Jugol, encircling the old city was constructed from 1551 to keep invaders at bay". Jugol is a Harari word which means "wall" or "enclosure" and has come to mean the entire city within the walls.
News
mercurynews.com 09/23/2007
Ancient Ethiopian city seeks touri…

Community Reviews

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First published: 10/02/24.

Wojciech Fedoruk

Harar Jugol

Harar Jugol (Inscribed)

Harar Jugol by Wojciech Fedoruk

It's been 17 years since Solivagant visited Harar and wrote about it in a review that was so comprehensive that no one added a new one after that. Bowing to the previous reviewer, I will try not to repeat myself and add a few new elements, current as of January 2024.

Not much seems to have changed in these 17 years. We were surprised by the fact that Harar is a very lively urban center, both inside and outside the old city. We were lucky enough to sleep in a traditional Harari house and the scenery was indeed fantastic (see photo #1).

In the evening we went to feed the hyenas and, although the show is aimed at tourists, it is not to be missed. The master of the ceremony first puts the stick in your hand and then tells you to put it in your mouth - this places the hyena's muzzle several centimeters from our face. At least a dozen hyenas come to be fed, and they often roam the city streets at night, clearing them of waste and not harming people sleeping on the streets.

The next morning we went on a proper tour of the old town. The city is very old, the guide claimed that it was the second oldest in Ethiopia after Aksum, and until the 19th century it was an independent state. You can see Arab, Afar, Oromia, Italian, British, French, Portuguese and even Indian influences here. During their only …

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First published: 01/05/05.

Solivagant

Harar Jugol

Harar Jugol (Inscribed)

Harar Jugol by Solivagant

In the 19th Century Harer (or “Harar”) was one of those “ultimate destinations”, like Timbuctoo and Mecca, whose dangers and inaccessibility, both physical and cultural, fascinated European explorers. It had been at its most powerful in the sixteenth century when its ruler overran much of Ethiopia and was only defeated by a Portuguese intervention on behalf of the Christian king. The city’s layout and walls (The “Jugol”) date back to that time. It claims to be Islam’s “Fourth most holy” city (The “hierarchy” of Islamic cities is an interesting and debatable subject - see also my review of Oudane + Chinguetti in Mauritania!), and was closed to infidels. Thus it wasn’t until 1854 that Sir Richard Burton became the first European to make the return trip during one of his early forays into East Africa. My interest in the History of Exploration and a number of atmospheric sepia photos in old books I have collected, led to it being added to my “must see” list many years ago. Its inscription on the World Heritage list on 2006 was a bonus!

In December 2007 I finally made it but, as so often happens with anticipated and possibly over-romantic expectations, the initial impression was a distinct let down! The “main entrance” to the city is through a rather ugly modern gate (photo) wide enough for traffic and sporting signs both for the UNESCO World Heritage inscription and for receiving the “Cities for Peace” prize in Sept 2004 (This prize was …

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