Konso Cultural Landscape, Cultural landscape with stone terraces in southern Ethiopia
The Konso Cultural Landscape features stone-walled terraces extending across hillsides, constructed to collect rainwater and prevent soil erosion in mountainous terrain.
The Konso people established their agricultural system over 400 years ago, developing methods to cultivate crops in harsh conditions before Menelik II annexed the region in 1897.
The Konso communities erect wooden statues called Waka near village centers to commemorate deceased leaders and maintain their social hierarchies through generations.
Visitors can reach the landscape by taking transportation from Addis Ababa to Karat town, where local guides offer tours of the terraced fields and traditional villages.
The landscape contains sacred forests that serve as burial grounds for ritual leaders and host ceremonies integral to the agricultural calendar of local communities.
GPS coordinates: 5.25000,37.48306
Latest update: June 17, 2025 18:51
Ethiopia offers photographers a range of subjects from medieval architecture to geologically active zones. In the north, Lalibela features eleven churches carved from solid tuff rock during the 12th and 13th centuries, while Axum holds obelisks from the Aksumite Empire that flourished from the 1st to 10th centuries. The Gheralta region of Tigray contains dozens of churches built into cliff faces, accessible via steep trails.The landscape extends from the peaks of the Simien Mountains, rising above 15,000 feet (4,500 meters), to the Danakil Depression, one of the lowest and hottest places on Earth. Bale Mountains National Park supports Ethiopian wolves in afroalpine moorlands, while Awash National Park features acacia woodlands and hot springs. The walled city of Harar Jugol, with its 368 lanes and 82 mosques dating from the 16th century, displays Islamic architecture. The monasteries on Lake Tana islands hold manuscripts from the 14th to 18th centuries, and in Gondar, Fasil Ghebbi documents Ethiopian rule through its 17th and 18th century palaces and churches.
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