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- The church ruins: The excavated foundations of a large basilica-style church, dated to around the sixth century, are the clearest built feature at Adulis. You can trace the plan of the nave and side aisles on the ground, and it shows how Christianity arrived on this coast alongside the Aksumite trade routes.
- The Monumentum Adulitanum story: Cosmas Indicopleustes recorded a Greek inscription from a throne and stele here, praising the conquests of a ruler usually identified as Ptolemy III. The stones have long gone, but the site is where the text was copied, and that gives the mounds literary weight.
- The town mounds: Low earthen rises across the plain cover the streets and buildings of the old port. Italian excavators in the early twentieth century and later teams uncovered walls and rooms. Walk
- The church ruins: The excavated foundations of a large basilica-style church, dated to around the sixth century, are the clearest built feature at Adulis. You can trace the plan of the nave and side aisles on the ground, and it shows how Christianity arrived on this coast alongside the Aksumite trade routes.
- The Monumentum Adulitanum story: Cosmas Indicopleustes recorded a Greek inscription from a throne and stele here, praising the conquests of a ruler usually identified as Ptolemy III. The stones have long gone, but the site is where the text was copied, and that gives the mounds literary weight.
- The town mounds: Low earthen rises across the plain cover the streets and buildings of the old port. Italian excavators in the early twentieth century and later teams uncovered walls and rooms. Walk slowly and you will see the outlines of the rooms and the scatter of pottery fragments in between.
- Potsherds and surface finds: Fragments of amphorae and other trade pottery lie on the ground, evidence of contact with the Mediterranean and beyond. Looking is fine. Leave everything where it lies, since the site is protected and nothing here is a souvenir.
- The Gulf of Zula shoreline: The coast beside Adulis is flat, hot and wide, and the water is shallow and sheltered. It explains the choice of location. A short stop here connects the ruins to the sea trade that built them.
- Zula village and the surrounding plain: The nearby settlement shows how people live on this coast today, among thorn trees, goats and low houses. It gives the ruins context, and it is the natural place to arrange tea if your guide knows people.
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Hi, I’m Johan (Netherlands 🇳🇱), the creator of TakeYourBackpack. Over the past 3 decades, I’ve backpacked through 90+ countries across six continents, gaining extensive experience with independent travel, long-term trips, and overland routes.