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Mekele, also spelt Mekelle, is the capital of the Tigray Region in northern Ethiopia and, with around 545,000 people, one of the largest cities in the country. It lies at about 2,254 metres on a limestone plateau near the edge of the Rift Valley, and it is home to Mekelle University and many other colleges.
Emperor Yohannes IV made Mekele the political capital of his state, choosing a site close to rich farmland and to the salt country of the Afar. He built the grand palace that still forms the historic centre, along with a large market and a church, and the town kept its role in the salt trade after Addis Ababa became the capital.
The city is linked by road with Addis Ababa and Aksum and has an international airport. Within reach lie the rock-hewn churches of eastern Tigray, among them the cliff church of Abuna Yemata Guh, and the salt flats, acid springs and lava lake of the Danakil Depression.
The Palace of Emperor Yohannes IV forms the historic centre of Mekele, built between 1882 and 1884 by the Ethiopian engineer Lij Ingidashet and the Italian artisan Giacomo Naretti. Since the 1990s it has been a museum showing the emperor's throne, royal bed, ceremonial dress and rifles.
The Tigray Martyrs Memorial Monument is a 51-metre memorial in Mekele, built in 1992 to honour the armed struggle against the Derg regime. It remembers the more than 60,000 fighters who died in that war, and a museum dedicated to their memory was established in 2008.
Abreha Castle is the splendid palace that Abreha, a cousin of Emperor Yohannes IV, built on a hill facing the emperor's grand palace in imitation of him. He also founded a Saturday market and the church of Selassie south of old Mekele, and the castle is now a hotel.
Wukro Chirkos is a rock-hewn church on the northern edge of Wukro, 40 kilometres north of Mekele, beside the main highway. From the British expedition of 1868 until the early 20th century it was the only rock-hewn church known to the outside world, and it is dedicated to the child martyr Cyricus.
The Church of Abreha wa-Atsbeha stands around 15 kilometres from Wukro and is said to have been built in the 4th century by Abreha and Atsbeha, whose bodies are claimed to lie inside. Once a monastery and now a parish church, its ceiling was said to be blackened by a fire set by Queen Gudit.
Abuna Yemata Guh is a rock-hewn church in the Hawzen district, about 200 metres above the surrounding land and reached by a steep climb with hand and footholds. Visitors cross a stone bridge with sheer drops on either side, and inside are well-preserved wall paintings from the 15th century.
Debre Maryam Qorqor is a large rock-hewn church on a high sandstone plateau about eight kilometres south of Hawzen, reached by a climb of 45 minutes to an hour. It is one of the most significant rock churches of Gheralta, with wall paintings and wide views over the mountains.
The Al Nejashi Mosque in Negash was established after 615, when the first Muslims are said to have fled to Abyssinia, and is named after the Aksumite king who sheltered them. Behind it are 15 tombs attributed to these first immigrants, and its restoration after war damage ended in 2025.
Dallol is a hydrothermal field around a volcano in the Danakil Depression, known for its unearthly colours and some of the most acidic springs on Earth. Its name means dissolution in the Afar language, and its craters are the lowest known volcanic vents on land, 45 metres or more below sea level.
Erta Ale is a continuously active shield volcano in the Afar Region and the most active volcano in Ethiopia. Its name means smoking mountain in Afar, its summit holds the longest-existing lava lake, present since at least 1906, and its southern pit is known locally as the gateway to hell.
Lake Afrera is a hypersaline lake of the Danakil Depression covering 117 square kilometres and fed by hot springs along its shores. Rock salt has been mined around it for centuries, and its single island, Franchetti Island, is considered the lowest-lying island in the world.
The Danakil Depression lies about 125 metres below sea level between the Ethiopian Plateau and the Danakil Alps, and it is the third lowest place in Africa. It is the hottest place on Earth by year-round average temperature, without rain for most of the year, and it holds salt pans and salt lakes.
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