Mendefera (

Tigrinya Tigrinya may refer to: * Tigrinya language Tigrinya, sometimes romanized as Tigrigna, is an Ethio-Semitic languages, Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic languages, Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It i ...

: መንደፈራ), formerly Adi Ugri, is an ancient town which is now the capital city of the Southern Region or Zoba Debub of

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

.One World-Nations Online, All countries of the world, Map of Eritrea The town's name derives from the high hill in the center of the city and it means that "who dared it" (in English) or "መን ደፈራ"( in Tigrinya) as it was a jungle and is a source of pride to Eritreans. The city is a reminder of the local anti-colonial movement.

History

The area around Mendefera evolved into an important region in the

Aksumite The Kingdom of Aksum, or the Aksumite Empire, was a kingdom in East Africa and South Arabia from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, based in what is now northern Ethiopia and Eritrea, and spanning present-day Djibouti and Sudan. Emerging ...

civilisation. Though satisfactory excavations have not yet been made, a graveyard dating back to the 2nd century BCE has been found. It contained skeletons, pottery, necklace and bronze bracelets. Numerous buildings have been excavated since 1959, with both

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

es and local and

Roman coin Roman currency for most of Roman history consisted of gold, silver, bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, ...

s found. Many areas, including

tomb A tomb ( ''tumbos'') or sepulchre () is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called '' immurement'', alth ...

s, have yet to be explored.Dr.Federica, Crivellellero. " Archeologists in Eritrea target unfunded ' rescue excavations, Sudan Tribun Dec 5, 2004 The modern town of Mendefera was built during the Italian era. The town is now bustling market town in a fertile region of Eritrea. It is a place where small and large scale factories produce different products. Mendefera is famous for its anticolonial movement during the Italian colonial administration and is a great fighter contributor of the

Eritrean Liberation Front The Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF; ; ; ), colloquially known as Jebha, was the main Eritrean War of Independence, independence movement in Eritrea Province, Eritrea which sought Eritrea's independence from Ethiopia during the 1960s and the ear ...

(ELF) as it is home to one of the oldest schools in Eritrea, San Giorgio School.

Climate

Mendefera has a borderline climate that borders both on a

cool semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi- ...

(''BSk'') and a

subtropical highland climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring c ...

(''Cwb''). Except during the humid wet season of July and August when heavy cloud cover depresses temperatures by around , daytime temperatures are very warm to hot; however, the thin, dry air means that mornings are pleasantly cool throughout the year.

References

Mendefera
Aksumite cities Southern region (Eritrea) Regional capitals in Eritrea Populated places in Eritrea {{Eritrea-geo-stub

History

Climate

See also

References