The painted walled city
Harar
Behind old stone walls, the alleys and house fronts of this Ethiopian city are painted in bright pastels.
Why Harar is harar turquoise
Harar is a walled city in eastern Ethiopia, regarded by many Muslims as a holy city. Its old town, called Jugol, is enclosed by a wall built in the 16th century and holds dozens of mosques and many shrines in a very small area. The lanes are narrow and the house walls are plastered and painted in strong pastels: turquoise, pink, violet, green and white, often two colours on one wall. Inside, traditional Harari houses have raised platforms and walls hung with coloured baskets and enamel bowls. Women's dress in the markets is just as bright. The city is also known for men who feed wild hyenas at night. It became a World Heritage Site in 2006.
Values are fair approximations of what the eye sees there, not measurements.
Colours tied to Harar
Written by the Rang desk with AI assistance. Background: "Harar" on Wikipedia. If you know Harar and we have it wrong, tell us.
More colour cities
All colour cities
🇪🇹 Churches cut from red rockLalibelaEleven medieval churches carved downward into reddish volcanic rock, visited by pilgrims wrapped in white.
🇮🇳 City of painted temple towersMaduraiThe towers of the Meenakshi temple carry thousands of painted figures; jasmine sellers add white below.
🇺🇿 City of blue domesSamarkandRibbed turquoise domes and tiled gateways in every shade of blue rise over an old Silk Road capital.
🇺🇿 Mud walls and a turquoise towerKhivaA walled desert town where a short, fat minaret wrapped in blue-green tile stands over clay-coloured lanes.
🇮🇷 Half the world, in turquoiseIsfahanSafavid mosques around a vast square are covered inside and out with turquoise and deep blue tiles.
🇬🇧 A pastel Italian fantasy in WalesPortmeirionA holiday village built by one architect over fifty years, in the colours of the Italian Riviera.Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Madurai In: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Samarkand Uz: Adam Harangozó, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Khiva Uz: Doron, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Isfahan Ir: Pedram forouzanfar, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lalibela Et: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Portmeirion Gb: Llywelyn2000, CC BY-SA 4.0, source