Adigrat ( , ''ʿaddigrat'', also called ʿAddi Grat) is a city and separate
woreda
Districts of Ethiopia, also called woredas (; ''woreda''), are the third level of the administrative divisions of Ethiopia – after ''List of zones of Ethiopia, zones'' and the ''Regions of Ethiopia, regional states''.
These districts are f ...
in
Tigray Region
The Tigray Region (or simply Tigray; officially the Tigray National Regional State) is the northernmost Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob people, Irob and Kunama people. I ...
of
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
. It is located in the
Misraqawi Zone
The Eastern Zone () is a zone in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. It is bordered on the east by the Afar Region, on the south by the South Eastern Zone, on the west by the Central Zone and on the north by Eritrea. Its highest point is Mount As ...
at longitude and latitude , with an elevation of above sea level and below a high ridge to the west. Adigrat is a strategically important gateway to Eritrea and the
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...
. Adigrat was part of
Ganta Afeshum woreda before a separate woreda was created for the city. Currently, Adigrat serves as the capital of the Eastern Tigray zone.
Adigrat is one of the most important cities of Tigray, which evolved from earlier political centers and camps of regional governors. Antalo, Aläqot and Adigrat were a few of them. The decline of Antalo was followed by the rise of Adigrat as another prominent, yet short-lived, capital of Tigray.
It used to serve as the capital of
Agame
Agame () is a Provinces of Ethiopia, province in northern Ethiopia. It includes the northeastern corner of Tigray Region, Tigray, borders the Eritrean province of Akele Guzai in the north, Tembien Province, Tembien, Kilte Awulaelo, Kalatta Awlalo ...
.
History
Origins
Tradition attributes the origin of the name Adigrat, which means "the country of farmland", to the then popular Tigrayan chief
Akhadom. Adigrat seems to have been under cultivation for a long time. It has a settlement history dating back at least to the 14th century.
Adigrat appears on indigenous maps of the northern
Horn of Africa
The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...
in the 15th Century under the name
Agame
Agame () is a Provinces of Ethiopia, province in northern Ethiopia. It includes the northeastern corner of Tigray Region, Tigray, borders the Eritrean province of Akele Guzai in the north, Tembien Province, Tembien, Kilte Awulaelo, Kalatta Awlalo ...
.
17th-18th century
Adigrat became the center of the Tigrayan chief, ''dejazmach'' Kafle Wahid, the viceroy of atse
Fasilides during the first half of the 17th century.
19th Century
Adigrat emerged as the political capital of Tigray when ''dejazmach''
Sabagadis Woldu of Agame assumed the governorship of the region in the period 1822-30. Sabagadis set up some palaces, churches, and markets. This increasingly attracted both natives and foreigners to establish permanent residences and a few shops in the town. Adigrat was an important market center for salt, which was mined in the Afar districts of Areho and Berale in eastern Tigray. However, it declined after the death of its patron, Sabagadis, in 1830. It was repeatedly attacked, sacked, and plundered by the lowlanders and political rivals of Sabagadis.
Samuel Gobat had joined countless Ethiopians in fleeing there for safety in the days immediately after Sabagadis' death.
When the missionary
Johann Ludwig Krapf
Johann Ludwig Krapf (11 January 1810 – 26 November 1881) was a German missionary in East Africa, as well as an explorer, linguist, and traveler. Krapf played an important role in exploring East Africa with Johannes Rebmann. They were the firs ...
passed through Adigrat in April 1842, "almost the whole is in ruins", and observed that a nearby village, Kersaber, was "much larger than Adigrat." In the late 1860s the town had a rural appearance and much of it is still under cultivation today.
During the
First Italian-Abyssinian War, the Italians occupied Adigrat on 25 March 1895 and used it as a base to support their advance south to
Mek'ele
Mekelle (), or Mek'ele, is a List of zones of Ethiopia, special zone and capital city, capital of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Mekelle was formerly the capital of Enderta province, Enderta Awrajja, awraja in Tigray Province, Tigray. It is locate ...
. General
Antonio Baldissera refortified the settlement after the Italian defeat at the
Battle of Adowa, but Emperor
Menelik II
Menelik II ( ; horse name Aba Dagnew (Amharic: አባ ዳኘው ''abba daññäw''); 17 August 1844 – 12 December 1913), baptised as Sahle Maryam (ሣህለ ማርያም ''sahlä maryam'') was king of Shewa from 1866 to 1889 and Emperor of Et ...
insisted on its surrender at the beginning of the peace talks that concluded the war; Baldissera was ordered to evacuate Adigrat, which he did 18 May 1896.
Augustus B. Wylde a few years later described Adigrat as having a Saturday market of medium size.
20th Century
Lazarists introduced perhaps the first modern school of northern Ethiopia in Adigrat at the turn of the 20th century. However, like most Ethiopian towns, Adigrat increased its commercial and administrative importance during the period of the Italian occupation. The Italians introduced the first elements of modern infrastructure, including stronger fortresses, restaurants, residential houses, a health center, schools, roads, piped water, an electric generator, etc.
The Italians again occupied Adigrat at the beginning of the
Second Italian-Abyssinian War 7 October 1935. The Italians were met there on the 11th by Ras
Haile Selassie Gugsa, who had been courted by the Italians to ignite a widespread defection of the Tigrayan aristocracy; instead, he had been soundly defeated a few days before by
Dejazmach
Until the end of the Ethiopian monarchy in 1974, there were two categories of nobility in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Mesafint ( , modern transcription , singular መስፍን , modern , "prince"), the hereditary royal nobility, formed the upper ...
Haile Kebbede of
Wag, and presented himself to the invaders with only 1200 followers. Anthony Mockler notes that despite the fact the young Ras shook Ethiopian morale, "this was the first and last open defection to the Italians of an important noble and his men."
In 1938, there were shops and hotel-restaurants (“Bologna”, “Piemontese”, “Centrale”). There was also a post, telephone and telegraph office, a health post and a Catholic Apostolic Prefecture.
Adigrat was captured by rebels in the
Woyane rebellion 25 September 1943, forcing the Ethiopian government administrators to flee to neighboring Eritrea. By 1958 the city was one of 27 places in Ethiopia ranked as a First Class Township.
During the 1970s, Agazi Comprehensive High School, and together with the town's Catholic junior high school, became centers of anti-government dissent.
The presence outside of town of a large military base, served as a focus for protesting students, and also as a source for their hopes of a military coup.Adigrat's dependence on merchandising and trade meant that the Derg's imposition of commercial and transport restrictions was strongly felt and resented.
Under the Derg business licenses became progressively more difficult to get, and traders' trucks were requisitioned for the transport of war-related materials to army bases in Eritrea. Permits of travel were required; convoys were introduced by 1976; and the road links to Asmara were virtually broken, largely by the ELF, by the late 1970s.
During the first years of the
Ethiopian Civil War
The Ethiopian Civil War was a civil war in Ethiopia and present-day Eritrea, fought between the Ethiopian military junta known as the Derg and Ethiopian-Eritrean anti-government rebels from 12 September 1974 to 28 May 1991.
The Derg overthre ...
, the fledgling
Tigrayan People's Liberation Front drew support from these groups.
Derg
The Derg or Dergue (, ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when they formally "Civil government, civilianized" the ...
forces took Adigrat during
Operation Adwa in the summer of 1988. The same day that the
Third Revolutionary Army was crushed at
Battle of Shire, 19 February 1989, government troops and officials evacuated Adigrat. According to
Africa Watch they caused widespread destruction in the town before they left.
In May 1988, Adigrat was bombed from the air by the
Ethiopian Air Force
The Ethiopian Air Force (ETAF) () is the air service branch of the Ethiopian National Defence Force. The ETAF is tasked with protecting the national air space, providing support to ground forces, as well as assisting civil operations during wa ...
.
A pharmaceutical factory which became operational in 1997, was set up in the town.
21st Century
During the 2020-2021
Tigray War, attacks were carried out on Adigrat by the joint Ethiopian and Eritrean armies, including aerial bombardments.
On 19 December 2020, an
EEPA
The Europe External Programme with Africa and Europe External Policy Advisors, both called EEPA, are two closely associated Belgian-based non-governmental organizations that aim to encourage the European Union's involvement in human rights in ge ...
report stated that 16 civilians were killed while trying to stop Eritrean and ENDF soldiers from robbing the Addis Pharmaceutical Factory.
On 19 December 2020, Catholic Bishop Tesfaselassie Medhin of Adigrat has been reported safe in his residence. The Apostolic Nuntius to Ethiopia, Archbishop
Antoine Camilleri, expressed “solidarity with Bishop Medhin who was missing in the assembly because of the situation in his diocese where the war is hard hit.”
Main sights
There are different sights near Adigrat that can be visited by tourists like:-
Debre Damo is the name of a flat-topped mountain, or amba, and a 6th-century monastery in northern Ethiopia. The mountain is a steeply rising plateau of trapezoidal shape, about 1000 by 400 m in dimension. It is northwest of Adigrat, in the Mehakelegnaw Zone of the Tigray Region, close to the border with Eritrea.
Gunda Gunde is an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo monastery located to the south of Adigrat in the Misraqawi (Eastern) Zone of the northern Tigray Region in Ethiopia. It is known for its prolific scriptorium, as well as its library of Ge'ez manuscripts. This collection of over 220 volumes, all but one dating from before the 16th century, is one of the largest collections of its kind in Ethiopia.
Abuna Yemata Guh is a
monolithic church located in the
Hawzen woreda
Districts of Ethiopia, also called woredas (; ''woreda''), are the third level of the administrative divisions of Ethiopia – after ''List of zones of Ethiopia, zones'' and the ''Regions of Ethiopia, regional states''.
These districts are f ...
of the
Tigray Region
The Tigray Region (or simply Tigray; officially the Tigray National Regional State) is the northernmost Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob people, Irob and Kunama people. I ...
south west of Adigrat. It is situated at a height of 2,580 metres (8,460 ft) and has to be climbed on foot to reach. It is notable for its dome and wall paintings dating back to the 5th century and its architecture.
Cityscape
Adigrat, the capital of the
Agamé district, has a rich aristocratic and political history. In town are the remnants of two castles from the
Zemene Mesafint
The Zemene Mesafint ( Ge'ez: ) variously translated "Era of Judges", "Era of the Princes," "Age of Princes," etc.; taken from the biblical Book of Judges) was a period in Ethiopian history between the mid-18th and mid-19th centuries when the cou ...
("Era of the Princes"), one owned by Dej Desta, the other by the Ras
Sebhat Aregawi. Other sites of interest:
* 19th-century Adigrat Chirkos - was strategically built on a hill near Dej Desta's castle, so that Desta could see the church from his bedroom balcony.
*A few years after World War II land was obtained in the center of Adigrat at a site called "Welwalo". In view of the possibility that one day it might become a church, the "Holy Saviour" was built and used regularly as a parish church. After the establishment of the Ethiopian Catholic hierarchy in 1961 that church was destined to become the cathedral of the Eparchy of Adigrat. After appropriate modifications were made the formal and official consecration of the Cathedral
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
of the Holy Saviour took place on 19 April 1969. It has an Italian design, but incorporates work by Ethiopian artist
Afewerk Tekle.
[Frances Linzee Gordon, Jean Bernard Carillet ''Ethiopia and Eritrea'' (Lonely Planet, 2003) pp. 168f.]
*Italian War cemetery commemorates some 765 Italian soldiers who died between 1935 and 1938.
*Adigrat also hosts a market and a newly constructed community park.
Churches and monasteries
As of 2013, 112 church institutions were registered in the woreda. Churches and monasteries in the woreda that contain historical manuscripts and artefacts include:
*ʿAddigrat Däbrä Mänkǝrat Qǝddus Qirqos
*ʿAddigrat Däbrä Mädhanit Mädḫane ʿAläm
Demographics
In 1938, the town counted 4296 inhabitants (including 137 Italians).
Based on the 2007 national census conducted by the
Central Statistical Agency
The Central Statistical Agency, also known as the Ethiopian Statistical Service (ESS; Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ስታቲስቲክስ አገልግሎት), is an Ethiopian government agency designated to provide all surveys and censuses for that ...
of Ethiopia (CSA), this town had a total population of 57,588, of whom 26,010 were male and 31,578 female. The majority of the inhabitants said they practiced
Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church () is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Christian churches in Africa originating before European colonization of the continent, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church dates bac ...
, with 94.01% reporting that as their religion, while 3.02% of the population were
Catholics
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
, and 2.68% were
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
.
[Census 2007 Tables: Tigray Region](_blank)
, Tables 2.1, 2.4, 2.5 and 3.4.
The 1994 census reported it had a total population of 37,417 of whom 17,352 were men and 20,065 were women.
Geography
Surrounded by a range of mountains (the peak of which is Alaqwa), Adigrat held a strategic position at the junction of the crossroads between
Adwa
Adwa (; ; also spelled Adowa or Aduwa) is a town and separate woreda in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. It is best known as the community closest to the site of the 1896 Battle of Adwa, in which Ethiopian soldiers defeated Italian troops, thus being ...
in the west,
Asmara
Asmara ( ), or Asmera (), is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region (Eritrea), Central Region. It sits at an elevation of , making it the List of capital cities by altitude, sixth highest capital in the wo ...
and
Massawa
Massawa or Mitsiwa ( ) is a port city in the Northern Red Sea Region, Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, located on the Red Sea at the northern end of the Gulf of Zula beside the Dahlak Archipelago. It has been a historically important port for ...
in the north and
Mekelle
Mekelle (), or Mek'ele, is a List of zones of Ethiopia, special zone and capital city, capital of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Mekelle was formerly the capital of Enderta province, Enderta Awrajja, awraja in Tigray Province, Tigray. It is locate ...
in the south. Towards the east, it is delimited by the spectacular edge of the north-eastern Ethiopian escarpment dropping into the lowlands. Adigrat was interconnected with the prominent trade routes linking Tigray and the Red Sea, on the one hand, and such old market-towns as Adwa,
Hawzen,
Antalo and Mekelle, on the other.
The Huga river runs through Adigrat. The city is spread widely on both banks of the river. Adigrat is located at altitude ranges from 2000 to 3000 m above sea level. The city has several prominent hills; one of the most prominent is
Debre Damo which has a monastery at its peak.
Climate
Adigrat has a
cold semi-arid climate
Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...
(
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
''BSk''). The overall climate throughout the year is mild and dry. The annual rainfall ranges between 400 and 600 mm, with most of the rain falling in the rainy season (June up to September).
Economy
Addis Pharmaceuticals Factory has been operational since 1997. The city has a branch offices of
Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, Dashen, Awash, Wegagen, and Ambessa. Adigrat's Chamber of Commerce actively organizes many of the business in the town. A modern water supply system was built at a cost of 126.4 million birr and was inaugurated on 27 June 2017.
Arts and culture
Since 1961 it has been the center of the Adigrat Eparchy of the Vicariate Apostolic of Abyssinia.
In Adigrat
Meskel is special. It is celebrated with
carnival
Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras.
Carnival typi ...
and lighting of damera.
Religion and sources of knowledge
It has been known also the ''Gunda-Gundi monastery'', from the 14th century up to its present existence for its source of peculiar type of religious manuscripts, innovation of medicine and medications/treatment of different sicknesses or curing of different diseases, the starting of small technologies like the fabrication or producing of oils, and other cosmetics for human uses using technologies, and it is a testimonial for other religious and other modernization activities and practices.
Food
Tihlo is a dish unique to Adigrat and the wider
Eastern Tigray. It is prepared by kneading barley flour into softballs and preparing a meat stew with berbere, an Ethiopian spice, onions, tomato paste, water, and salt. The dish is eaten using a fork-shaped twig, which is unique in Ethiopian cuisine.
The beles, a
cactus pear, grown in Adigrat is considered to be of high-quality.
The city is renowned for its white honey and
tej, an Ethiopian honey-wine.
Sports
Football, Basketball, and Cycling are sports that are popular by the local people.
Every Sunday morning there are local Cycling tournaments in different categories. Addis Pharmaceuticals cycling club also participates in national tournaments.
The city is represented in the Ethiopian categories Premier league by
Welwalo Adigrat University FC.
Transportation
Adigrat is located along
Ethiopian Highway 2, which connects the city with
Addis Abeba and
Mekelle
Mekelle (), or Mek'ele, is a List of zones of Ethiopia, special zone and capital city, capital of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Mekelle was formerly the capital of Enderta province, Enderta Awrajja, awraja in Tigray Province, Tigray. It is locate ...
. In Adigrat,
Ethiopian Highway 2, turns off the main highway to the west in the direction of
Adwa
Adwa (; ; also spelled Adowa or Aduwa) is a town and separate woreda in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. It is best known as the community closest to the site of the 1896 Battle of Adwa, in which Ethiopian soldiers defeated Italian troops, thus being ...
. To the north of Adigrat,
Ethiopian Highway 20 connects the city to
Kokobay and to
Asmara
Asmara ( ), or Asmera (), is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region (Eritrea), Central Region. It sits at an elevation of , making it the List of capital cities by altitude, sixth highest capital in the wo ...
in
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 ...
.
Education

The education system in Adigrat engages thousands of students in public and private schools. The first high school in Adigrat is Agazi Comprehensive High School which was established in the 1950s.
As of 2013 there were 13 public schools and 7 private schools.
Adigrat is home to the
Adigrat University which serves over 14,000 students.
The technical school in Adigrat include TVET and Polytechnic College. There are two private colleges, namely, Ethio-lmage and New Millennium College.
The city has a public library.
Notable inhabitants
*
Tedros Adhanom
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (, sometimes spelled ; born 3 March 1965) is an Ethiopian public health official, researcher, diplomat, and the Director-General of the World Health Organization since 2017. He is the first African to become WHO Dire ...
, Director General of WHO
*
Yohannes Haile-Selassie
Yohannes Haile-Selassie Ambaye (born 23 February 1961) is an Ethiopian Paleoanthropology, paleoanthropologist. An authority on pre-''Homo sapiens'' hominids, he particularly focuses his attention on the East African Rift and Middle Awash valleys. ...
, paleoanthropologist
*
Miruts Yifter
Miruts Yifter (, affectionately known as "Yifter the Shifter", 15 May 1944 – 22 December 2016) was an Ethiopian long-distance runner and winner of two gold medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics. His date of birth is often given as 15 May 1944, th ...
, Olympic gold medal winning long distance runner
*
Seyoum Mesfin
Seyoum Mesfin Gebredingel (; , ; 25 January 1949 – 13 January 2021) was an Ethiopian politician and diplomat. He was Ethiopia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ethiopia), Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1991 to 2010 and served as List of ambassa ...
, politician and diplomat, killed during the
Tigray War
*
Abeba Aregawi, Olympic bronze medal winning middle-distance runner
References
External links
John Graham, "Tigray - Axum and Adua - Part 1"(Addis Tribune)
{{Authority control
Populated places in the Tigray Region
Cities and towns in Ethiopia