Dessie is a multi-ethnic city located in the north-central part of Ethiopia on the road from Addis Ababa-Mekele in the South Wollo administrative Zone of the Amhara State. And it has many historical heritages and it is an important tourist attraction center.
Dessie Museum is housing a wealth of cultural or historical and ethnographic materials which is believed to be the largest museum in the Amhara State. In the museum, there are many historical heritages like Ethiopian elders’ history or old history of humans. Inside the museum, there are so many heritages categorized into 17 classes. Such as the first telephone which Emperor Menelik used to communicate with Djibouti and France. Guns functioned by water that was used at the Battle of Adwa and war glasses which Menelik used in Adwa war and others are found there.
Ayteyef Hall (A Hall of No Segregation) is one of the historical heritages of the city. And it is a large compound situated on the northern tip of the Jemmie hill, comprising about nine historic, which was constructed during the early 20th century. The amazing interfaith harmony and tolerance, interpenetration and coexistence of the different religious and cultural groups are another way of life that makes Dessie a historic city.
Tesfamariam Bareku, Tour Guide at Nigus Michael Palace/Ayteyef Hall, told The Ethiopian Herald that in 1915 Nigus Michael built this hall to assign kings of Wollo, Tigray, and Gojjam. It has the capacity to accommodate 5,000 attendees. Engineers from Armenian, Arab, and Greek countries participated in the designing process. And the hall is the result of peoples’ hard-working and everyone is amazed by its size and tells about the history of Dessie. And it is an architecture that describes Ethiopianism.
In the 1870s, King Michael became the famous king of Wollo. He had come from Worahimeno district to Dessie and he built his palace, Ayteyef, in Dessie. The palace is located on the high latitude of the city because it is a strategic site for a military camp.
As to Tesfamariam, King Michael had invited all peasants who were paid a tax into this hall. According to oral legends, among invited guests, there was one person infected with leprosy. When he was trying to enter the ceremony the security guards prohibited him from entering. At that time King Michael saw the situation, “Leave him alone, like any invited guest.” When the disabled person had just finished his party, he said “Ayteyef” and goodbye to the king and left. After this moment the hall was named Ayteyef.
Ayteyef is unique to other surrounding buildings because it was built by using indigenous knowledge by mixing oat flour, egg, and lime. For instance, Lij Eyasu’s house had been built by a combination of cattle’s skin with wood. So that Lij Eyasu’s house and Ayteyef hall are 105 years old. To some extent, only the wood has been damaged but the skin is still intact. Following this, to encourage the indigenous construction knowledge to construct the house, there is an inspiring speech that is, “building a house by using domestic material is good.”
In the process of construction and design foreigners such as the Greeks, Armenians and Arabs had participated. There had been two engineers Segola and Flama which were the leaders of the constructors. The building has a rectangular shape. There are 20 columns that are tide and one meter wide and its area is around 2,130 square meters.
Palaces around Ayteyef
Behind the hall, there is King Michael’s house. Inside this parcel, the floor is made of stone. The house view is beautiful and built by using stone and it has a beautiful shape. The house has so many rooms like living bedrooms, dressing rooms and bathrooms furnished by the sink.
There is also a praying room which is G+1 and the roof was painted like an Ethiopian flag and on two sides of the room, there are two huge windows. As to Tesfamariam, these windows are made for two reasons the first one is to control any enemy that comes from the Tigray side and the other one is to control the enemy from Afar side. The building had also given other services like King Michael used this building for other strategic works like where the cavalry and cavalryman were tracking using microscope from a 60-70km distance.
There are also other kitchens ruler’s houses and guest houses for Lij Eyasu and also houses for the purpose of the court.
The generator inside the parcel
There is a huge generator inside the Parcel Ayteyef which is providing lighting for the hall. According to Tesfamariam, it is 137 years old. It was made in German and uses fuel to generate power. It occupies one house by itself. If it got repaired, it will provide the light that is used to give before. This teaches us King Michael and other rulers had given attention to technology and eager to accept civilization.
The Ethiopian Herald April 7/2020
BY ESSEYE MENGISTE
