Agula is a town located in northern Ethiopia. Located in the Debubawi (Southern) Zone of the

Tigray Region The Tigray Region, officially the Tigray National Regional State, is the northernmost regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob, and Kunama people. Its capital and largest city is Mekelle. Tigray is ...

, it lies about 32 km northeast of

Mekelle Mekelle ( ti, መቐለ, am, መቀሌ, mäqälle, mek’elē) or Mekele is a special zone and capital of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Mekelle was formerly the capital of Enderta awraja in Tigray. It is located around north of the Ethiopi ...

, just east of the Mekelle to Addis Ababa highway, and 25 km north of Qwiha. It has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 1,930 metres above sea level. It is one of three towns in

Kilte Awulaelo Kilte Awulaelo () is one of the Districts of Ethiopia, or ''woredas'', in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Misraqawi Zone, Kilte Awulaelo is bordered on the south by the Debub Misraqawi (Southeastern) Zone, on the west by the Mehakelegn ...

woreda Districts of Ethiopia, also called woredas ( am, ወረዳ; ''woreda''), are the third level of the administrative divisions of Ethiopia – after ''zones'' and the '' regional states''. These districts are further subdivided into a number of ...

. Nearby is a stream and a pass (elevation 2,030 metres) which share the same name. Agula was an important station on the salt caravan route from Dallol west to

Atsbi Atsbi ( Ge'ez: ኣጽቢ) (officially known as Atsbi Endaselase Ge'ez: ኣጽቢ እንዳስላሴ ) is a town in Tigray, Ethiopia. Located in the Misraqawi (Eastern) Zone of the Tigray Region, about 50 kilometers northeast of Qwiha, this town ...

History

Ruins of an ancient Greek church at Agulla

16th Century

Agula was visited by the Portuguese priest

Francisco Álvares Francisco Álvares ( – 1536-1541) was a Portuguese missionary and explorer. In 1515 he traveled to Ethiopia as part of the Portuguese embassy to emperor Lebna Dengel accompanied by returning Ethiopian ambassador Matheus. The embassy arrive ...

on 13 August 1520, who called it ''Anguguim''. He mentions in the town "a well-built church — upon very thick stone supports; very well hewn" which was dedicated to Saint Chirqos. The town is mentioned again in an inquiry conducted by Emperor

Iyasu I Iyasu I ( Ge'ez: ኢያሱ ፩; 1654 – 13 October 1706), throne name Adyam Sagad (Ge'ez: አድያም ሰገድ), also known as Iyasu the Great, was Emperor of Ethiopia from 19 July 1682 until his death in 1706, and a member of the Solomonic ...

in 1698, in which he proclaimed that tolls should no longer be collected there. The village was visited in 1868 by members of the Napier Expedition, who found the church in ruins; they were told that the church had been reduced to its current state by treasure-seekers acting on the orders of ''

Dejazmach Until the end of the Ethiopian Empire, Ethiopian monarchy in 1974, there were two categories of nobility in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Mesafint ( gez, መሳፍንት , modern , singular መስፍን , modern , "prince"), the hereditary nobility, ...

'' Sabagadis. Based on the "limited information now recoverable",

David Phillipson David Walter Phillipson FBA FSA (born 17 October 1942) is a British archaeologist specializing in African archaeology. His most notable work has been in Ethiopia, particularly on the archaeology of Aksumite sites. He was curator of the Museum o ...

assigns the construction of this church a "Late

Aksumite The Kingdom of Aksum ( gez, መንግሥተ አክሱም, ), also known as the Kingdom of Axum or the Aksumite Empire, was a kingdom centered in Northeast Africa and South Arabia from Classical antiquity to the Middle Ages. Based primarily in wha ...

or, perhaps, a subsequent date". ET Tigray Agula asv2018-01 img02

20th Century

Demographics

Based on figures from the

Central Statistical Agency The Central Statistical Agency (CSA; Amharic: ማዕከላዊ ስታቲስቲክስ ኤጀንሲ) is an agency of the government of Ethiopia designated to provide all surveys and censuses for that country used to monitor economic and social growth ...

of Ethiopia released in 2005, Agula has an estimated total population of 4,636, of whom 2,229 are men and 2,407 are women.CSA 2005 National Statistics
, Table B.4 The 1994 census reported it had a total population of 2,666 of whom 1,187 were men and 1,479 were women.

Notes

{{reflist Populated places in the Tigray Region