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MYSTICAL AND SACRED SITES IN AFRICA
Aksum, Ethiopia
This is an ancient town in northern Ethiopia, once the seat of the kingdom of Aksum, now a tourist town, Aksum has long been regarded as a holy city for the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
Giza, Egypt
Giza Plateau is the site of 3 main pyramids which include the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops). The other mystery of the Giza Plateau is the Great Sphinx. There is also a museum at Giza housing the world’s oldest surviving boat, the Sun Boat.
Great Zimbabwe
This ancient city is believed to have been the major sacred & ritual centre of the ancestors of the Shona people. The focal point of the town is a high granite outcrop, the Great Enclosure.
Jenne, Mali
Is best known for the so called Friday Mosque, named because Muslims pray together on Fridays, which is the largest mud-brick building in the world.
Lalibela Rock Churches, Ethiopia
The churches of Lalibela (previously Roha) were constructed while Lalibela ruled (between late 12th & 13th centuries) who hoped to replace Aksum as the most prominent Ethiopian city.
Luxor and El-Karnak Temples, Egypt
Luxor is the southern part of ancient Thebes which was the capital of Egypt from around 2000 BCE. Although the original mud-brick palaces have long since disappeared but the stone temples have largely survived.
Mount Sinai
According to the bible, when Moses led his people out of Egypt, they travelled for 3 months and then came to the wilderness of Sinai. Certainly the site has been a place of human dwelling since the Stone Age and several ruined buildings in the area have the appearance of having been early temples.
Ngome, Central Zululand
A place of Virgin Mary visions, the Marian shrines at Ngome make this one of the most important place of pilgrimage in Africa.
St Mark's Coptic Church, Zeitoun, Egypt
Traditions claims that the Holy Family rested at the site of what is now St Mark’s Coptic Church in Zeitoun which contains a shrine dedicated to this visit.
The Step Pyramid, Saqqara. Egypt
This pyramid was designed for King Djoser, of the Third Dynasty, by his vizier Imhotep. It is situated in saqqara, the main necropolis (cemetery) near Cairo & Memphis, it was built around 2630 BCE
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Sourced from “The Encyclopaedia of the World’s Mystical and Sacred Sites” by John and Anne Spencer; Headline Book Publishing. 2002. |
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