Adigrat

Adigrat ዓዲግራት
City
Clockwise from top: Adigrat panoramic view, Cathedral of the Holy Savior, Debre Damo Monastery, typical street, downtown.
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Adigrat Location within Ethiopia
Coordinates: 14°16′N 39°27′E / 14.267°N 39.450°E / 14.267; 39.450
Country	Ethiopia
Region	Tigray
Zone	Misraqawi (Eastern)
Woreda	Adigrat
Area
• Total	18.77 km2 (7.25 sq mi)
Elevation	2,457 m (8,061 ft)
Population (2013)
• Total	76,400
• Density	3,703/km2 (9,590/sq mi)
Time zone	EAT (UTC+03:00)
Post Code	20
Area code(s)	(+251) 34
Website	www.adigratcity.org.et

Adigrat (Ge'ez: ዓዲግራት) is a city and separate woreda in the Tigray Region (or kilil) of Ethiopia. Located in the Misraqawi Zone at longitude and latitude 14°16′N 39°27′E / 14.267°N 39.450°E / 14.267; 39.450Coordinates: 14°16′N 39°27′E / 14.267°N 39.450°E / 14.267; 39.450 with an elevation of 2457 meters above sea level, below a high ridge to the west, Adigrat is the last important Ethiopian city south of the border with Eritrea, and is considered to be a strategically important gateway to Eritrea and the Red Sea. Adigrat was part of Ganta Afeshum woreda before a separate woreda was created for the city.

Adrigrat first acquired importance when Ras Sabagadis made it his capital in 1818; it declined in importance after his death in 1831, although the missionary Samuel Gobat had joined countless Ethiopians in fleeing there for safety in the days immediately after Sabagadis' death. When the missionary Johann Ludwig Krapf passed through Adigrat in April 1842, "almost the whole is in ruins", and observed that a nearby village, Kersaber, was "much larger than Adigrate." According to Sven Rubenson, 1868, Ras Kassai (later the Emperor Yohannes IV), met with Sir Robert Napier at Adigrat, where he agreed to provide support for the British expeditionary force.