Cultural journeys
A tower of poles and yellow daisies burns at dusk in Meskel Square; next morning its ash marks foreheads across the city.
Overview
According to tradition, Empress Helena, mother of Constantine, found the True Cross by following the smoke of a fire. Ethiopia remembers her with the Demera, a tall pyramid of poles dressed in yellow Meskel daisies, lit at dusk in Meskel Square after clergy lead chanting processions in. The next morning people mark crosses on their foreheads with its ash. Meskel falls as the rains end and the hills turn yellow, a little over two weeks into the Ethiopian year, which begins in September. UNESCO lists it as intangible cultural heritage.
Around it: the city, the Entoto hills and the Bishoftu crater lakes. Expect one long evening on your feet.
Itinerary
Your guide meets you at Bole International Airport on Saturday 25 September. At a welcome dinner in the evening, your guide tells the story of Helena and the cross, and what each part of the coming days means.
Morning: the National Museum’s human-origins gallery, with casts of Lucy (3.2 million years old) and Selam, the child found at Dikika (about 3.3 million years old), then Holy Trinity Cathedral, where Emperor Haile Selassie is buried. The afternoon is in Merkato, one of Africa’s largest open-air markets, among its spice stalls and crowded lanes.
In the morning the Entoto hills above the city, where Menelik II had his capital before founding Addis Ababa in 1886, are yellow with Meskel daisies. In the afternoon we reach Meskel Square early to find a place, watch the clergy and choirs arrive, and stay as the Demera is lit at dusk on Monday 27 September.
In the morning families come to the ashes of the Demera to mark crosses on their foreheads. In the afternoon your guide takes you to a neighbourhood Meskel gathering, where a smaller fire is lit among neighbours.
About an hour’s drive brings you to Bishoftu for a walk at Lake Hora and lunch beside Lake Bishoftu, both volcanic crater lakes. We return to Addis for drop-off at your hotel or Bole airport in the evening.
Itineraries can change with weather, road and flight conditions. We will tell you promptly if they do.
Gallery
Photo: Unsplash
Good to know
Dress code: Shoulders and knees covered for church visits and the Meskel Square ceremony.
This tour follows the Strict policy. Days are whole calendar days before departure.
| When you cancel | What you get back |
|---|---|
| 30 or more days before departure | 50% refund |
| Fewer than 30 days before departure | No refund |
Questions
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