Historical Attractions

Harar

Harar, a historic old city in Eastern part of Ethiopia, is the Holy City of Ethiopia’s Muslim Community. It was established by Sultan Abu Beker Mohammed in 1520 and is believed to be the forth-holiest city after Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. Harar has approximately 99 mosques, which form the largest concentration of mosques in the world.

One of the main attractions and symbol of Islamic architecture is the old City Wall. It was an important trading center and it is famous for its ancient buildings. In addition to the City Wall, the city is well known for its superb handicrafts that include woven textiles, basket ware, silverware and handsomely bound books. Harar has been a place of pilgrimage from all over the world for many years.

The other main attraction of Harar is the hyena man who feeds hyenas on the outskirts of the town every night. As evening falls, this man attracts wild hyenas to the city in a bizarre spectacle as he bravely feed these dangerous scavengers.