A Trip to a Mysterious Egg Bridge

The sign made by the lodge next to the bridge. Obviously, they want to attract turists mentioning that the bridge is built in 16th century

Ethiopia as a country is full of mysteries. The old nation holds so many unanswered questions. The finding of the True Cross, the Tomb of St. Mary, the origin of human kind, the new ocean birth and Such.

Recently, I visited a place known as “A Portuguese Bridge” or “The Egg Bridge”. 110 kms from Addis Ababa to the direction of Debre Liabones, you will find the hidden bridge.

A lot of scholars try to investigate when it was built and by whom and what kind of materials it was used. One of the comprehensive studies made by J.J. Hespeler-Boultbee who is an Art & Architectural Historian and Associate of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa University.

There are two different claims that, one is that the bridge was built by the Portuguese at 16^th century. But another historian stated, there are some locals who witnessed the construction. Since the Portuguese expelled from Ethiopia 1634, it could also be that Ethiopians constructed the bridge.

In his book, A Story in Stones: Portugal’s Influence on Culture and Architecture in the Highlands of Ethiopia 1493-1634, he mentioned

This “Portuguese Bridge” provides a useful mini-example of an extensive set of problems that currently plague Africa far beyond the borders of Ethiopia. Africans suffered dreadfully at the hands of Europeans, and all over the continent nationalist sensitivity are acute in ways that bumbling newcomers have often failed adequately to assess. Whether the bridge be ancient or modern, in this as in so many other much more significant areas, Africa’s tragedy should not be used as an excuse to bypass clear academic evidence. Nor should it touted in order to ignore, perhaps overpass, reasonable conjecture

Here are my pictures from my trip!

spectacular view

This bridge believed to be built by egg