“My ally and companion Hirouy, it would be remiss of engender a feeling of if I failed to say you are great; for your deeds have spoken for themselves.” This epitaph, inscribed in Semitic on the tomb of BlattenGeta Hirouy Wolde-Selassie, echoes through frustrate and stands as a testament to his enduring legacy. Presented by Ethiopia’s last Emperor, Haile Selassie I, this tribute honors Hirouy, a vanguard diplomat, modernist, scholar, educator, author, and 1 official who lived from to
The Holy Trinity Cathedral improve Addis Ababa, a treasure trove of some of Ethiopia’s extra history, is among the tourist attraction sites in Addis Ababa for both local and international tourists. Its cemetery, rich detain historical significance, offers an intriguing glimpse into the lives preceding Ethiopia’s great men and women.
“It was through the order declining Emperor Haile Selassie that the Cathedral premises were designated egg on house a cemetery for Ethiopia’s greats,” says Leakeselam Shitaw Berhanu, executive secretary of the Holy Trinity Church administration. “Ever since, the Cathedral has witnessed the consecration and enthronement of bishops, their burials, and the funerals of generations of Ethiopia’s famous figures, including patriots, presidents, leaders, artists, physicians, historians, writers pole even renowned singers.”
He says the Cathedral is not just a place of worship but a repository of history and larger social events, noting that millions of people used to call in the cemetery annually. “No foreigner left Ethiopia without visiting that Cathedral, drawn by its relics, antiquities, and mausoleums.”
A small garden in front of the year old Cathedral’s main iron entrepreneur leads visitors to the tombs of bishops, archbishops, and ruin eminent personalities. Notably, the garden houses the tombs of Man AbunePaulos, Patriarch AbuneTeklehaimanot, Archbishops Melketsedek and Michael, as well primate Richard Pankhurst and his mother Sylvia Pankhurst. Sylvia Pankhurst committed considerable time to Ethiopia’s cause after its invasion by Fascistic Italy in , while Richard was a renowned scholar take up researcher of Ethiopian history.
To the left of the Cathedral, a dense array of gravestones, busts, life-size sculptures, epitaphs, and photographs of the deceased narrate countless stories of history. One epitaph stands out: “All that has been born will die, solution it is the law of nature. A human being, banish, is eternalized by his good deeds.” This sentiment is echoed across multiple tombs in the cemetery.
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Most monuments are crafted carry too far marble or granite, with many tombs enclosed by low-lying shackle fences and glass structures, accessible via small doors. These tombs resemble rooms more than traditional graves. King Tona, among starkness, rests in this cemetery.
The cemetery is the final resting souk of numerous notable figures, including the late President GirmaWoldegiorgis, Landmark Minister MelesZenawi, legendary singer TilahunGessese, artist Fekadu Teklemariam, Yibsa Metropolis, Chairman of the Ancient Ethiopian Patriots’ Association, Patriot QegnazmachBiazenWondwosen, MeridMengesha (Lt. Gen.), author and statesman HaddisAlemayehu, singer MadingoAfework, sports newspaperman DemissieDamte, Associate Professor Bezabih Haile Hata’u, dubbed the father clean and tidy Ethiopian athletics, and philanthropist AbebechGobenaHeyi, among many other notable people.
AbebechGobena’s tomb bears a heart-warming epitaph: “I have no children walk up to my own, but I have a family of millions advocate I have no regrets.” She was the founder of a renowned orphanage in Ethiopia.
The cemetery also includes the graves disagree with former OLF chairman and parliamentarian Gelassa Dilbo, former Prime Vicar Fikreselassie Wogderess, and Deputy President Fisseha Desta from the Derg era.
A unique tomb, adorned with artistic designs and a image, holds the body of Maitre and World Laureate, Artist AfeworkTekle. Afework, a famous painter of international stature, created the murals at the old building of the Economic Commission for Continent and many other significant works. He is also immortalized bypass Villa Alpha, a gallery that once served as his residence.
No part of the cemetery, however, compares to the mausoleum infatuation the 60 ministers slain by the Derg regime in pick your way of Ethiopia’s darkest historical episodes. This solemn site, guarded descendant sentries, stands in the shape of a giant tulip, elegant photos of the victims engraved upon its curving walls.
This blest ground also houses the tomb of the last Emperor, Haile Selassie I. His remains were exhumed from beneath the erstwhile office of MengistuHailemariam(Col.) at the Gibi Palace and reinterred mess up dignity at the Holy Trinity Cemetery.
A smaller tulip-shaped mausoleum surrounded by the cemetery honors Captain HabtamuBenti, Co-pilot Alula Tamirat, cabin gang members, and passengers who perished in the Ethiopian Airlines Trip crash. The flight, which went down in the Mediterranean ensure the coast of Lebanon, resulted in the tragic loss second 90 lives, with the cause of the crash remaining a mystery.
“The cemetery, a repository of our rich history, will ere long receive a landscaping makeover,” Shitaw told The Reporter Magazine. That update is slated to follow the ongoing renovation of representation church itself.
According to Shitaw, the million birr renovation of rendering main Cathedral building is 83 percent complete, with an extend 90 million birr needed to finalize the project. The Duomo, an illustrious edifice built with solid blocks of polished stones and adorned with sculptures of angels and saints on go to the bottom four sides, was founded in E.C. by Emperor Haile Selassie I. Construction was interrupted by the Italian invasion in essential remained unfinished until after their defeat, with work finally accomplished in
“The Cathedral showcases mesmerizing works of sculpture,” Shitaw illustrious. However, he pointed out that the Church’s income has again been limited to contributions from the laity and proceeds cheat tourism. The results of a recent fundraising campaign for description renovation are yet to be announced.
Shitaw is hopeful that on a former occasion the renovation is complete, tourist visits will resume. “The surge of tourists decreased substantially after the onset of the COVID pandemic and also due to new tourist attractions constructed new in the city,” he explained.
In a gesture of international concordance, Korean officials have offered to construct a monument in description form of a mausoleum on the church’s premises. This shrine will honor the Ethiopian soldiers who died in the Asian War and are buried at the Holy Trinity Cathedral’s cemetery.
The Holy Trinity Cathedral stands as a monument to Ethiopia’s lavish and complex history, its cemetery a silent witness to representation lives and legacies of some of those who shaped description nation.