Aksum

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Aksum, August 1, 2008 - The third and last block of the Aksum Obelisk was successfully mounted by the UNESCO teams in its original location. Weighing 150 tons and 24 meters high, the obelisk is the second largest stela on the Aksum World Heritage site in northern Ethiopia. Transported to Rome by the troops of Mussolini in 1937, it was returned in April 2005 by the Italian government. Its dismantling in Rome, transport and reinstallation were funded by the Italian government. The obelisk is around 1,700 years old and has become a symbol of the Ethiopian people's identity.

Brief description

Source © UNESCO : http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/15

The ruins of the ancient city of Aksum are found close to Ethiopia's northern border. They mark the location of the heart of ancient Ethiopia, when the Kingdom of Aksum was the most powerful state between the Eastern Roman Empire and Persia. The massive ruins, dating from between the 1st and the 13th century A.D., include monolithic obelisks, giant stelae, royal tombs and the ruins of ancient castles. Long after its political decline in the 10th century, Ethiopian emperors continued to be crowned in Aksum.