Visit Dire Dawa
Dire Dawa is a city located in eastern Ethiopia near the Djibouti border. It serves as the capital of the Dire Dawa administrative region and is one of two chartered cities, alongside Addis Ababa. The climate in Dire Dawa is semi-arid and dry most of the year, but with wetter climates during July and August.
The city has many attractions for tourists to explore. The oldest mosque in Ethiopia, Masjid Al-Qiblatayn, can be found here, as well as nearby Awash National Park which offers stunning wildlife views and safari experiences. Tourists may also visit Harar's historic walled city; dating back to 1520 it was inscribed by UNESCO on their World Heritage List in 2006.
An interesting fact about Dire Dawa is that it was once an important hub for trade between Ethiopia and other countries due to its strategic location on a railway line built by Italian forces during the colonial era in 1906. This railway connected Addis Ababa with Djibouti through Dire Dawa making it an important port town for goods entering Ethiopia from foreign lands until 1974 when connections were severed due to political unrest in East Africa.
The city has many attractions for tourists to explore. The oldest mosque in Ethiopia, Masjid Al-Qiblatayn, can be found here, as well as nearby Awash National Park which offers stunning wildlife views and safari experiences. Tourists may also visit Harar's historic walled city; dating back to 1520 it was inscribed by UNESCO on their World Heritage List in 2006.
An interesting fact about Dire Dawa is that it was once an important hub for trade between Ethiopia and other countries due to its strategic location on a railway line built by Italian forces during the colonial era in 1906. This railway connected Addis Ababa with Djibouti through Dire Dawa making it an important port town for goods entering Ethiopia from foreign lands until 1974 when connections were severed due to political unrest in East Africa.
