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Adigrat ( , ʿaddigrat, also called ʿAddi Grat) is a city and separate woreda in Tigray Region of Ethiopia. It is located in the Misraqawi Zone 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. 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.
Adigrat appears on indigenous maps of the northern Horn of Africa in the 15th Century under the name Agame.Nyssen, J., Tesfaalem Ghebreyohannes, Hailemariam Meaza, Dondeyne, S., 2020. Exploration of a medieval African map (Aksum, Ethiopia) – How do historical maps fit with topography? In: De Ryck, M., Nyssen, J., Van Acker, K., Van Roy, W., Liber Amicorum: Philippe De Maeyer In Kaart. Wachtebeke (Belgium): University Press: 165-178.Smidt W (2003) Cartography, in: Uhlig S (ed.): Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, vol. 1: 688-691
When the missionary Johann Ludwig Krapf passed through Adigrat in April 1842, "almost the whole is in ruins", and observed that a nearby village, Kersaber, was "much larger than Adigrat." Journals of the Rev. Messrs. Isenberg and Krapf, Missionaries of the Church Missionary Society, Detailing their proceedings in the kingdom of Shoa, and journeys in other parts of Abyssinia, in the years 1839, 1840, 1841 and 1842, (London, 1843), p. 513 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. General Antonio Baldissera refortified the settlement after the Italian defeat at the Battle of Adowa, but Emperor Menelik II 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.Augustus B. Wylde, Modern Abyssinia (London: Methuen, 1901), p. 494
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 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 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.[[File:Adigrat, Ethiopia (15571381154).jpg|thumb|Street scene.|left]]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 fledgling Tigrayan People's Liberation Front drew support from these groups. Derg 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.Gebru Tareke, The Ethiopian Revolution: War in the Horn of Africa (New Haven: Yale University, 2009), p. 284 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.Human Rights Watch, 24 July 1991: ETHIOPIA - "Mengistu has Decided to Burn Us like Wood" - Bombing of Civilians and Civilian Targets by the Air Force
A pharmaceutical factory which became operational in 1997, was set up in the town.
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 of the Tigray Region 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.
Based on the 2007 national census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency 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, with 94.01% reporting that as their religion, while 3.02% of the population were Catholics, and 2.68% were Muslim. Census 2007 Tables: Tigray Region , 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.
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.
In Adigrat Meskel is special. It is celebrated with carnival and lighting of damera.
The beles, a Opuntia, grown in Adigrat is considered to be of high-quality.
The city is renowned for its white honey and tej, an Ethiopian honey-wine.
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.
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.
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