Addis Ababa

The history of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, formally begins with the founding of the city in the 19th century by Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II and his wife Empress Taytu Betul. Addis Ababa, which means “new flower,” began as a military camp on the Entoto Hills. The city was founded in the late 1880s, when Empress Taitu, wife of Emperor Menelik II, decided to live in the nearby valley.

Axum

Axum or Aksum is a city in northern Ethiopia. The town has a population of 56,500 residents, and is governed as an urban wäräda. The original capital of the Kingdom of Aksum, it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in Africa

Ertale, Afar

Erta Ale is a continuously active basaltic shield volcano in the Afar Region of northeastern Ethiopia. It is situated in the Afar Depression, a badland desert area spanning the border with Eritrea. Erta Ale is the most active volcano in Ethiopia.

Harar

Harar was founded between the 7th and the 11th century (according to different sources) and emerged as the center of Islamic culture and religion in the Horn of Africa.

According to the Fath Madinat Harar, an unpublished history of the city in the 13th century, the cleric Abadir Umar Ar-Rida, along with several other religious leaders, came from the Arabian Peninsula to settle in Harar circa 612H (1216 AD). Sheikh Ar-Rida is regarded as the saint of Harar,  as well as the common ancestor of the Somali Sheekhaal clan.

Lalibela

Lalibela is a town in northern Ethiopia that is famous for its 11 monolithic rock-cut churches. Lalibela is one of Ethiopia's holiest cities, second only to Aksum, and is a center of pilgrimage for much of the country.

Simien Mts. NP

The Simien Mountains National Park in Northern Ethiopia is an exotic setting with unique wildlife and breath-taking views on a landscape shaped by nature and traditional agriculture. The natural beauties of this region have always filled visitors from Ethiopia and abroad with awe. Gentle highland ridges at altitudes above 3600 meters above sea level (m asl), covered with grasses, isolated trees (Erica &bored) and the bizarre Giant Lobelia (Lobelia rhynchopetalum) are found on the high plateau that ends abruptly at 1000- to 2000-m deep escarpments.

Gondar

Gondar is a royal and ancient historical city of Ethiopia. It was the home of many emperors and princesses who led the country from the 12th century to the last decade of the 20th century, including Emperor Suseneos, Emperor Fasiledes, Empress Mentwab, Iyasu I, Tewodros II and Empress Taitu. It is the home of the highest mountain in Ethiopia, Ras Dashen, and the Simien Mountains National Park.

Until the 16th century, the Solomonic Emperors of Ethiopia usually had no fixed capital town, instead living in tents in temporary royal camps as they moved around their realms while their family, bodyguard and retinue devoured surplus crops and cut down nearby trees for firewood. One exception to this rule was Debre Berhan, founded by Zara Yaqob in 1456; Tegulet in Shewa was also essentially the capital during the first century of Solomonic rule.