AKSUM THEMATIC MASTER PLAN

Aksum is Ethiopia’s most ancient city situated in the northern state of Tigray. Its rich history dates back to 800BC sustaining one of the most impressive archaeological and historical sites in the world, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

  

Religious and historical monuments permeate daily life in Aksum voicing the cities ancient greatness and intimately connecting the past to the present. Majestic stelae, granite thrones and inscribed tablets are testament to an empire that rivaled ancient Rome and Persia while religion is witnessed in daily life playing out timeless ritual against a backdrop of churches, shrines and monasteries that bear testament to centuries of belief where traditions interweave in a living culture reflecting timeless dignity.

 

Aksum’s living traditions are sustained by the legends that course through the cities landscape from Mai Shum, the Queen of Sheba Baths, a monument to a revered ruler who is celebrated across religious texts, to the replica of the Ark of the Covenant, a sacred relic said to have been carried across the red sea by Menelik I (son of King Solomon and Makeda- the Queen of Sheba).

  

The fabric of the old town exhibits different typologies of traditional architecture: Stone walls line the narrow winding streets adjoining circular Aksumite dwellings of layered basalt and sandstone, fortresses that have preserved extraordinary interiors and an antiquated way of life; while massive granite quoins mark the corners of 6th century palaces – the largest of their time in the world.

 

The master plan ­adapts Aksum to become a major international tourism destination.  The first phase of the project is the development of an infrastructural and civil engineering framework that will render specific routes of Aksum healthy and safe for both local residents and tourists. The design will predominantly facilitate the issue of water scarcity while also providing a much needed waste water management system.  Tourist opportunities can then be plugged into this infrastructure acupuncturally, providing improved socio-economic opportunities for local inhabitants while encouraging local stewardship; thereby building the capacity of locals to construct their own story.

 

The guiding principle of the master plan is developing Aksum into a major international and attractive tourist destination.

 

The principle objectives are providing an environment of comfort, amenity, facility, and safety while also sustaining and nourishing the culture and livelihoods of the people of Aksum through improving the dilapidated fabric of the city; improving orientation while encouraging discovery by activating streets and spaces; creating settings for economic stimulation.

 

The master planning exercise themed the historic and modern town into four tourist routes to promote the importance of the city historically, culturally and religiously.  The routes offer navigation and exploration for the variety of visitors, including the thirty thousand pilgrims, who visit Aksum annually to partake in the richness of the city. 

 

Aksumite Route: The Aksumite route introduces the visitor to the significance of the city as the centre of one of the four great empires of the early 1st millennium AD. This is epitomized in the tablets inscribed in Greek and the local Sabaean and Ge’ez scripts, describing the activities of its emperors, the monumental granite stelae and the extensive tombs, some of which have yielded grave goods that are testament to the luxury artefacts traded from China to Spain.

 

Queen of Sheba: The legend of Mekeda, Queen of Sheba, and her son, Menelik I, the first Solomonic king of Aksum, is the theme of the route that takes the visitor to the sites associated with these personalities, and up into the part of the city where the oldest habita­tion has been discovered. The route is best expe­rienced by camel or donkey cart, as some of the distances are significant.

 

Old Town Daily Life: Existing building types and craft practices in Aksum have remained unchanged for centuries. The visitor is taken on a winding route through the Old City to engage with craftspeople, and enjoy a traditional meal or coffee ceremony in restored houses; now designated ethnographic museums.

 

Religious Route: Aksum’s importance as one of the first countries in the world to adopt Christianity as the State religion is presented in the Religious Aksum route. Celebrating present day ritual, the route retraces the path of the Timket procession, circu­lating around the Cathedral Precinct.