Addis Ababa: what to see in 1 day

Addis Ababa preserves in its national museum the remains of Lucy, the australopithecus skeleton over three million years old that changed our understanding of human evolution.

Ethiopia's capital at over two thousand metres altitude, seat of the African Union and never colonised by European powers, it preserves a unique cultural identity on the continent, with its own calendar and alphabet.

The National Museum of Ethiopia opens the route: it houses the copy of the skeleton of Lucy, one of the most important hominid fossils ever discovered, together with imperial crowns and manuscripts of Ethiopian history.

A few steps away is the Holy Trinity Cathedral, the most important Orthodox church in the country, where Emperor Haile Selassie and several national heroes who opposed Italian occupation are buried.

Continuing you reach the Market, the largest open-air market in Africa, a labyrinth of small streets where spices, coffee, and traditional fabrics are sold over several square kilometers.

For lunch, a plate of injera with wot, the spiced Ethiopian stew, in one of the downtown restaurants remains the choice most consistent with local gastronomic tradition.

The Entoto, the wooded hill north of the city where Emperor Menelik II founded the capital before moving it further down, from which you can dominate all of Addis Ababa among eucalyptus forests.

Meskel Square, the large square at the center of the city, is instead the theater of the most important religious and civil celebrations of the country.

As evening falls, heading back to the center, the restaurants with live Ethiopian music remain an excellent base for dinner, among coffee ceremony and traditional dances.

National Museum, Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, and Market sketch Addis Ababa's cultural identity, while an afternoon choice between Entoto and Meskel Square adds the naturalistic or civic dimension.

Ethnological Museum, in the former imperial palace, and a trip to the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela remain chapters for a second journey. Watching Addis Ababa stretch among the hills from Entoto remains the most direct image of the city.