3434 ETHIOPIA (Harari) - Harar Jugol, the Fortified Historic Town (UNESCO WHS)

3434 Duke's Gate in Harar Jugol

The walled city Harar functioned as the capital of the Harari Kingdom from 1520 to 1568, became an independent emirate in the 17th century and was integrated into Ethiopian Empire in 1887. From the late 16th century to the 19th century Harar was an important trade centre between the coast and the interior highlands and a location for Islamic learning. The impact of African and Islamic traditions on the development of the town's building types and urban layout make for its particular character and uniqueness.

The walls surrounding this sacred city, considered the fourth holy city of Islam, were built between the 13th and 16th centuries and served as a protective barrier. There were five historic gates, which corresponded to the main roads to the town and also served to divide the city into five neighbourhoods, but this division is not functional anymore. The six is Harar Gate, also known as Duke's Gate, after Ras Makonnen, the first duke of Harar, who added it in 1889.

It numbers 82 mosques, three of which date from the 10th century, and 102 shrines, but the townhouses with their exceptional interior design constitute the most spectacular part of Harar's cultural heritage. The traditional Harari house has a typical, specific and original architectural form, different from the domestic layout usually known in Muslim countries, although reminiscent of the coastal Arab architecture. At the end of the 19thcentury Indian merchants built new houses with wooden verandas that defined a different urban landscape and influenced the construction of the combined Indian/Harari houses.

About the stamps

The stamps are part of the series Gates of Harar, about which I wrote here.

References

Harar Jugol, the Fortified Historic Town - UNESCO official website

Sender: Adam Wole (direct swap)
Sent from Addis Ababa (Addis Ababa / Ethiopia), on 11.01.2020