Through the Alleys of Harar: A Cultural Odyssey

Let’s start from the inside. You are sitting in the living room of a typical Harari house, known as gey gar. The day lays immaculate ahead, the weather is so mild that you’ll never feel hot or cold. Your hosts will serve you coffee, the harari way. First, incense is lit and coffee beans are ground. Then, the jebena - the coffee pot - enters the scene. Coffee is brewed slowly, and then poured into little white round cups with no handles. You will be served three times: awel (first cup), tona (second cup), baraka (third cup). You will have some popcorn with your coffee. Meanwhile, you look around your living room: you sit on a raised platform called nadaba, it is so wide you could easily sleep across it. Walls are adorned with a myriad of colourful hand-woven baskets, wooden bowls, and decorative niches. They are painted in red, the harari way. 

You come out into the courtyard and would like to go for a walk. From the doorstep of your gey gar, you face a turquoise wall running alongside a sloping alley to your right. You lean on it and catch a glimpse of a pink door frame. Harar is a maze of 368 turquoise, blue, vermilion and purple alleys, squeezed into just 1 square kilometre. Viridian green walls denote holy sites - which you would have noticed the previous night when you were taken to a Sufi ceremony as a silent onlooker. Harar, often referred to as the "City of Saints" or the "fourth holiest city of Islam”, has a special relationship with Sufism, the mystical branch of Islam. The city is home to many shrines dedicated to Sufi saints, that, along with 82 mosques and over 100 other holy sites, form an intricate network of sacred spaces that define Harar's urban fabric. A Sufi ceremony is called dhikr (“remembrance”). It is a central practice in Sufism: repetitive chanting and recitation of the names of Allah and of the Quran, repetitive movements like swaying and whirling. Instruments are played, khat is chewed. It is a captivating sensorial experience.

Reminiscing about your dhikr, you might decide to pay a visit to the Ras Tafari's House before heading to the market. Former Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, then known as Ras Tafari, spent his honeymoon in this house, which blends traditional Harari and Indian architectural styles and is today housing a well-organized collection of artefacts like weaponry, coins, jewellery, manuscripts, and dresses. Or, maybe, you will stop at the former house of French poet Arthur Rimbaud (today a museum), who lived in Harar intermittently between 1880 and 1891 and owned a business trading coffee, ivory and firearms. 

It’s time to wander through the market. On the way, you cross some Harari women, wearing long colourful hijabs and shash (a traditional Harari headscarf) contrasting so beautifully with the alleys’ walls. Finally, the market: a kaleidoscope of colours, aromas, and sounds, where centuries of trade and culture converge. The vivid palettes of fresh produce, the mountains of spices. Your meanderings finally take you to one of the most notable market areas in Harar: the Butchers' Square, known as Gidir Magala. Black kite birds circle above, sometimes swooping down to snatch scraps of meat. You know that some of these will be used to feed the hyenas later that night, just outside the old city walls. Tourists and locals alike will gather to witness the ritual. For centuries, hyenas have roamed the streets of Harar after sunset, scavenging for food waste and helping to keep the city clean. This natural waste disposal service is highly valued by residents, and well-fed hyenas have grown to symbolise a promise of prosperity. 

This journey through Harar invites you to step beyond the surface, immersing yourself in a city where every corner tells a story of rich cultural heritage and deep spiritual traditions. From the quiet intimacy of the Harari house, where hospitality and the timeless ritual of coffee making create a serene moment, to the labyrinthine alleys of vibrant colours and scents, Harar offers a world where the past and present converge in extraordinary ways. 

Every experience here—whether participating in a Sufi dhikr, wandering through sacred sites, or observing the hyenas at dusk—asks you  to engage with the depth and beauty of Harar’s culture. This is a place where time slows down, and every encounter feels like a glimpse into a world untouched by the modern pace of life.