Adwa - Adwa

Aerial view of the city of Adwa
Adwa ·ዓድዋ·አድዋ
regionTigray
Residents40.500 (2007)
no value for residents on Wikidata: Add residents
height
1,907 m
no tourist info on Wikidata: Add tourist information
location
Location map of Ethiopia
Reddot.svg
Adwa

Adwa (also Adua, Aduwa, Adoua, Adowa, tigrin: ዓድዋ, amharic: አድዋ) is a city in the Tigray region in the northEthiopia, east of Aksum, near the limit to Eritrea. In the past it was an important stop on the way from the Red Sea ports in Eritrea to Gondar with its own large market. Mainly, however, the city is known for being the decisive and successful area in its vicinity in 1896 Battle of Adwa the Ethiopians were fought against Italian troops, bringing Ethiopia alongside Liberia in West africa was the only African nation able to thwart a European colonization.

There are several notable churches in Adwa and in the neighboring villages.

background

history

According to the opinion of the British scientist Richard Pankhurst (1927-2017), the place name Adwa derives from Adi Awa (or Wa), the "village of the Awa". The Awa are a tribe identified in the bilingual inscription Monumentum Adulitanum by an unknown author and once at Adulis settled.[1] The Portuguese missionary Francisco Álvares reported in his report on the kingdom of the priest John of India, first published in 1540, that the Portuguese diplomatic mission on August 2, 1520 was on its way to Gondar Adwa, which he called "House of St. Michael", happened.[2]

In the 16th and 17th centuries, Jesuits entertained in the neighboring village Fremona, today's village of Endiet Nebersh, their base, from where they wanted to evangelize Ethiopia to Catholicism.[3] Like the traveler James Bruce (1730–1794), who stayed in Adwa for a good month in 1769, found that Adwa was in a “plain that everyone on his way from Gondar to Red sea must happen ".[4] The person who controlled this plane could collect profitable tolls on the caravans passing through.[1] During his stay in Adwa, Bruce is said to have seen the ruins of Fremona.

Around 1700 Adwa became the residence of the governor of the Tigray Province for the first time and overshadowed Debarwa in today's Central eritrea as the most important city in Northern Ethiopia with the traditional seat of the Bahr-Negus, the "King of the Sea". The city of Adwa market was important enough to have a negadras, a market guard. The earliest known person to hold this office was the Greek immigrant Janni von Adwa, a brother of Petros, the chamberlain to the emperor Joas I. A small colony of Greek merchants lived in Adwa until the 19th century.[5] In the 1890s, the British trader Augustus Blandy Wylde (d. 1890) described the Saturday Adwa Market as a large market with all kinds of cattle for sale.[6]

Because of its location on this important trade route on the Red Sea, Adwa is mentioned in the memories of numerous 19th century Europeans who visited Ethiopia. That included Arnaud and Antoine d'Abbadie (19th century), Henry Salt (1780–1827), Samuel Gobat (1799–1879), Mansfield Parkyns (1823-1894) and Théophile Lefebvre (1811-1860). After the defeat and death of the Governor of Tigray, Sabagadis Woldu (1780–1831), in the Battle of Debre Abbay on February 14, 1831, the residents of Adwas fled the city for security reasons. The city was briefly ruled by Kaiser in January 1860 Tewodros II. occupied, who rushed here from the south in response to the Agew Neguse uprising, who later fled the city.[5] The Italian artist Giacomo Naretti (1831–1899) crossed Adwa in March 1879 after Adwa was hit by a typhoid epidemic. Adwa had been reduced to a shadow of itself by this epidemic and only had about 200 inhabitants.[5]

Detail from the Ethiopian painting "Battle of Adwa"

Due to its geographical importance, Adwa also became the scene of the Final battle of First Italo-Ethiopian War great importance to the Ethiopian emperor Menelik II fought on March 1 and 2, 1896 for the defense of Ethiopia's independence against Italy. Menelik II led the Ethiopian army to a decisive victory against the Italians, which ensured an independent Ethiopia until the Italians invaded again in 1935 (Abyssinian War). A large tree on the outskirts of the city was shown to visitors in the following years as the place where Emperor Menelik II judged about 800 Eritrean askaris (mercenaries) captured in battle.[5] The Eritrean battalions were part of the Italian colonial army. But the court martial that ruled them did not recognize this and sentenced the prisoners who had their right hand and left foot amputated.[7] The battle of Adwa is commemorated every year on the holiday on March 2nd.

In 1905 Adwa was the third largest city in Tigray. The Asmara-Addis Ababa telegraph line, built by the Italians between 1902 and 1904, ran through Adwa and had an office there. Telephone service reached Adwa in 1935, but no telephone numbers for the city were recorded in 1954.[5]

On October 6, 1935, Italian troops marched into Adwa after the military commander Ras Seyoum Mengesha (1887–1960) was driven into a hasty retreat with his troops after a two-day bombing and he had to leave large supplies of food and other goods behind. Immediately after their arrival in the city, the Italian Gavinana Division had a stone monument in the form of an obelisk erected in honor of the Italian soldiers who died in 1896 and on October 13, 1935 in the presence of General Emilio De Bono (1866–1944) inaugurate.[8] Italian rule over Ethiopia ended in 1941 when British-Indian troops recaptured Ethiopia with the help of Ethiopian soldiers. On June 12, 1941, the newly arrived 34th Indian State Force Brigade set up a post office in Adwa.[5] During the Woyane uprising in the Tigray prince against the emperor Haile Selassie On September 22, 1943, 6,000 insurgent soldiers withdrew to Adwa. The uprising was repulsed by British bombing in October 1941.

By 1958, Adwa was one of 27 places in Ethiopia that were classified as First Class Township. In the 1960s, the city was not only an educational center but also an early center nationalist disputes. This was shown in the fact that all three leaders of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) in the 22 years from 1975 to 1997 - Aregawi Berhe, Sebhat Nega and Meles Zenawi - came from Adwa and attended the city's state school.[5] Adwa was a frequent target of TPLF attacks during the Ethiopian Civil War: In 1978 the TPLF attacked Adwa and in 1979 tried unsuccessfully to rob the bank. The city finally came under the control of the TPLF in March 1988. Adwa and the surrounding area are the birth district of many of the most important TPLF leaders who now lead Ethiopia, and the district was established by the former Prime Minister Meles Zenawi (1955–2012) represented in parliament.

The main industry of the city is agriculture. The textile factory in the west of the city is also an important employer. According to the population census of 2007, 40,500 people lived in the city at that time. With the arrival of numerous Eritrean migrants after the end of the Eritrea-Ethiopia War In 2000 the population increased to around 60,000.

getting there

City map of Adwa

In the street

Adwa is 22 km east of Aksum, the nearest town, and can be reached on the paved national road A2. Further east of Adwa is located Adigrat.

The border crossing to Eritrea is closed.

By plane

The 1 Axum AirportAxum Airport in the Wikipedia encyclopediaAxum Airport in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsAxum Airport (Q2469695) in the Wikidata database(IATA: AXU) lies between Adwa and Axum. There are daily flights to and from Addis Ababa, Gondar and Lalibela.

By bus

There is a daily intercity bus from Mekele above Abiy Addi, more after Addis Ababa and Shire.

Minibuses go to Aksum, Yeha (13 Birr) and Adigrat until 4 p.m.

mobility

Tourist Attractions

Churches

  • 1  Gebri'el Church. Built by Dejazmach Wolde Gebriel.(14 ° 9 '42 "N.38 ° 54 '15 "E)
  • 2  Maryam Church. Built by Ras Anda Haymanot.(14 ° 10 '37 "N.38 ° 53 '27 "E.)
  • 3  St. Michael Church(14 ° 10 ′ 5 ″ N.38 ° 54 '9 "E)
  • 4  Medhane Alem Church. Built by Ras Sabagadis.(14 ° 9 '48 "N.38 ° 53 '58 "E.)
  • 5  Selassie Church. Erected by Emperor Yohannis IV.(14 ° 9 '38 "N.38 ° 53 '54 "E.)
  • 6  Don Bosco Church. Catholic Church.(14 ° 10 ′ 2 ″ N.38 ° 53 '6 "E)
  • 7  Abba Garima Monastery (east of the city). Abba Garima Monastery in the Wikipedia encyclopediaAbba Garima Monastery (Q4663637) in the Wikidata database.In the vicinity of Adwa is the monastery founded in the 6th century by Abba Garima, one of the Nine Saints, which is known for its Gospels from the 10th century. Follow the road south towards Abiy Addi for 6 km, then turn left and reach the monastery after another 3 km. Women are not allowed to enter the church or the treasury.Price: 120 birr.(14 ° 9 ′ 39 ″ N.38 ° 57 ′ 9 ″ E)

Mosques

Monuments

New memorial for the soldiers who died in the Battle of Adwa
  • Cross-shaped memorial to the soldiers who died in the Battle of Adwa, who should not be forgotten. The monument was erected at the end of the 20th or the beginning of the 21st century and is not identical to the monument erected in 1935. Besides this monument, only the holiday on March 2nd and the Caffe della Battaglia remind of the battle.
  • In a blog post, Valeria Isacchini reported that there are still few traces of the battle of 1896 in the east of the city.[9]

activities

to buy

kitchen

There are several restaurants and cafes on the main street.

accommodation

There are several simple hotels in Adwa, most of which are on the main A2 road.

health

Practical advice

trips

  • Aksum in the West. Aksum was the capital of the former Kingdom of Axum and is famous for its fields of stelae and cathedrals.
  • Yeha to the east with the remains of a temple and a palace from the empire of Di’amat from pre-Axumite times. Minibuses go to Yeha, take 50 minutes and cost 13 birr. The last return trip to Adwa is around 4 p.m.
  • Adigrat in the East. Former royal seat on the border with Eritrea.
  • Hawzien in the south 50 km away. The city is the starting point for exploring many rock-hewn churches in its vicinity.
  • Mekele, the capital of the province of Tigray, about 100 km further south.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 1,01,1Pankhurst, Richard: History of Ethiopian towns; [1]: from the Middle Ages to the early nineteenth century. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner, 1982, Ethiopian research; 8th, ISBN 978-3-515-03204-9 , Pp. 192-194.
  2. ↑Álvares, Francisco: Brief and warranted description of all thorough knowledge of the lands of the mighty king in Ethiopia, whom we call Priest John: Also of his spiritual and secular regiment .... Egg life: Brighter, 1567, Pp. 153-156 (Chapter 36). — Álvares, Francisco; Alderley, Stanley of; Beckingham, C [harles] F [raser]; Huntingford, G [eorge] W [ynn] B [rereton] [Ed.]: The Prester John of the Indies: a true relation of the lands of the Prester John being the narrative of the Portuguese Embassy to Ethiopia in 1520; vol. 1. Cambridge: Hakluyt Soc. ; Univ. Pr., 1961, Pp. 142-144.
  3. ↑Lindahl, Bernhard: Local history of Ethiopia : Emamret - Enzoraja. Uppsala: The Nordic Africa Institute, 2005, P. 12. Internet publication.
  4. ↑Bredin, Miles: The pale Abyssinian: a life of James Bruce, African explorer and adventurer. London: HarperCollins, 2000, ISBN 978-0-00-255671-2 , P. 86 f.
  5. ↑ 5,05,15,25,35,45,55,6Lindahl, Bernhard: Local history of Ethiopia : Adi - Aero. Uppsala: The Nordic Africa Institute, 2005, Pp. 42-68. Internet publication.
  6. ↑Wylde, Augustus B.: Modern Abyssinia. London: Methuen, 1901, P. 494.
  7. ↑McLachlan, Sean: Armies of the Adowa Campaign 1896: the Italian disaster in Ethiopia. Oxford: Osprey Pub Co, 2011, ISBN 978-1-84908-457-4 , P. 23.
  8. ↑Monumento ai Caduti di Adua del 1896 ad Adua, Archivio Luce.
  9. ↑Isacchini, Valeria: Appunti sui paesaggi di Adua, Blog post on www.ilcornodafrica.it from March 25, 2009.
Usable articleThis is a useful article. There are still some places where information is missing. If you have something to add be brave and complete them.