Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ADARE HOUSES
A distinct architectural feature in Harar, the
gegar
(traditional Adare house) is a rectangular, two-storey structure
with a flat roof. The house is carefully constructed to remain cool whatever the outside temperature: clay rein-
forced with wooden beams that is then whitewashed. Sometimes bright colours adorn the facades, but the old
style of uncovered stone remains common. A small courtyard, usually facing east, is often shared by several fam-
ilies.
The upstairs room used to serve as a food storeroom; today it acts as a bedroom. The main living room consists
of five raised platforms of different levels, which are covered in rugs and cushions. Guests and members of the
household sit on the platform befitting their status. These platforms are usually painted bright red to symbolise the
blood that every Harari was prepared to shed during the resistance against Menelik.
Hung on the walls are colourful baskets and black wooden bowls. Eleven niches are built into the wall for cups,
pots, plates, Qurans, and these days sometimes expensive electronics. One shelf always holds four
aflala
(tall clay
containers) that are used to store money, gold, medicine and seeds. Every house also a rack for spears.
A rolled carpet on the rack above the front door indicates an eligible daughter resides within. After marriage,
newlyweds retire to a tiny room that lies to the left of the living quarters. They remain there for one whole week,
during which time they are passed food and water through a hatch.
Feres Magala
The main square is a bustling place with several minor points of interest. Most conspicu-
ous is the monument to those who died fighting against Menelik's conquest of Harar. It
shows the five original gates. To the north, the Egyptian-built building that's now Wesen
Seged Hotel was once a store house (and perhaps also an office) used by Arthur Rimbaud,
as was the white building with the balcony across the road. Across the square is a
chat
the site of an Egyptian mosque.
SQUARE
Arthur Rimbaud Center
(admission Birr20; 8am-noon & 2-5pm Mon-Sat, 8am-noon Sun)
Near the middle of
the walled city, and often mistakenly called Rimbaud's House, is this museum dedicated
to the poet Arthur Rimbaud with a series of illustrated wall panels (mainly in French)
about his life. It's in an attractive Indian merchant house built on the site of an earlier
house where it's said Rimbaud lived.
MUSEUM
