There is nothing grander than when a nation bestows tribute on its sons and daughters. In the most magnificent gesture of all, it will drape a fallen hero's body in the Tricolour and bury both together, the flag acting as the shroud. In this case, days in mourning will be declared and observed: A solemn homage by the nation to a life given selflessly.

Ethiopia is soaked in history, and a sense of honour. It respects its enemy as much as its own heroes, granting ample honorifics to all those deserving.

Institutions such as universities give honorary degrees to those that have perhaps never set foot in lecture halls. The newly-gowned recipients, with mortars askew, very much like fish out of water, will nonetheless smile from shell-shocked faces, surrounded as they are by people that they would normally have nothing in common with. In the packed auditorium, reeking of history and tradition, one can see in the recipients the palpable sense of achievements fulfilled -  the highest peaks climbed and conquered - of having been accepted in haloed circles for their own deeds.

Addis Abeba is full of instances when it gives respect to its people of history. In this way, the city is full of legacies and honours inscribed in stone and mortar.

The most obvious, and not only for being at the centre of the city proper; is that of Emperor Menelik II. He is in full imperial regalia, with the crown of emperors of Ethiopia on his head. He sits on his favourite steed, shield and spear in hand, always warlike, most of his life having been spent fending off one enemy after another, not all of them from outside the country.

The horse is reared on its hind legs, signifying, as folklore suggests, that he was a leader of men in battle, always at the front, driving his forces into victorious conquests.

It took more than 35 years to have some sort of memorial built in his memory. The square named after Emperor Tewdros is found halfway down Churchill Road. The square, named and so designated at the time of the Emperor, never got anything erected in the round-about.

The military never liked memorials, and even went to great pains to deface those that already existed. The Derg got an Italian sculptor to 'amend' the Arat Kilo statue, erected to remind future generations of the Italian occupation, and the rigours of being occupied by foreign troops. The Derg sandblasted scenes in the sculpture which they saw as incorrect: A case of flogging a dead horse.

The Sidist Kilo monument, dedicated to martyrs of Yekatit 12, was a gift of the then Yugoslavia, whose President Broz Tito was both a friend and an admirer of the Ethiopian people and their Emperor. The two leaders had gone through similar experiences in fighting off superior forces: The Yugoslavs took on both Hitler and Stalin. They beat the first, and held the second to a stand-off, whereupon Tito was allowed to go his way, something the Kremlin did not allow his neighbours in the Warsaw Pact to do.

The Ethiopians, fended off Mussolini and his poison gas wielding troops and aircraft for five years, and finally got rid of the occupier - with help from some friends.

That post-war Yugoslavia and Italy were not the best of friends was neither here nor there. But Tito took advantage in any case, and paid for the erection of an alabaster white marble memorial to the fallen, following an attempted assassination of the representative of the emperor of Rome, General Grazzianni, and of the El Duce, Mussolini himself.

The one edifice that tends to be forgotten is Mexico Square. For all its strategic position, and now flanked by the headquarters of the Federal Police, it is difficult to miss. And yet it is taken very much for granted. It is a square, and a round-about with a fountain at its centre, which has now become a junction of major thoroughfares, around which there is now, unfortunately, a 24-hour traffic gridlock. Another underpass in the making, perhaps?

Mexico Square is so named because of the stalwart support the country gave to Ethiopia internationally, but especially after the Emperor paid an official visit to that country. It is therefore no surprise that Mexico should have been Ethiopia's springboard to Latin America and beyond. Exchange of ambassadors was started between the two countries following the Second World War. When the Olympic Games were held in Mexico City, Ethiopia fielded a strong athletic team, as well as used the venue as a launch pad for its cultural troupe, the first time they were to perform on an international stage, and to much acclaim.

The troupe, formed by artists from what is known today as the National Theatre, wowed the crowds that flocked to see them. They had never before seen an African show performed with such self-confidence and professionalism, choreographed in such a way that all regions of the country, with their diverse songs and dances, were presented in a continuous 90-minute cabaret show.

But before all that, a celebrated choreographer was especially flown in by the International Olympic Committee to show the Theatre how to present a show of international standard. She, a Mexican, was so bowled over by the show  that she just cried, and said there was nothing she could teach anybody about anything, let alone choreography. She suggested that the theatre, instead, should teach her. It was said that she took the next plane out, and back to Mexico, much humbled by the experience.

Ethiopian runners did not register, nor were they noticed by the athletic world at this time. They were to make tremendous impact in the next games, held in Rome and in the running of the Marathon.

And then, of course, there is Meskel Square, so named after the September flower and the festival that is held there annually. But it is more than just that. It is also a religious festival: the finding of the True Cross, on which Christians believe their Messiah was crucified. It is believed that remnants of the Cross were found and brought to Ethiopia by Queen Heleni in 327 A.D. The remnants are still, it is said, in Gishen Mariam Church, in Wollo.

But Meskel Square had a name change in 1977. It became known, to the chagrin of all, as Revolution Square. The whole area was defaced, and to top it all, a whole building - after those that were living in it had been evicted - was literally cut in half so that a reviewing stand could be built for the ruling elite. It accommodated a special seat for Col. Mengistu Hailemariam and his close leadership elite, as well as having a soundproofed TV presenter booth, and an especially built ramp to the building from the palace.

The square itself could hold more than 300,000 people it was said, but after all the tanks and all purpose-built, tracked troop carriers and their missiles had passed the reviewing stand, the tarmac was as if it had been plowed up by a giant harrow.

In more recent, innocent times, the only thing that could be said that could possibly blemish the surface would be a huge bonfire erected for the sole purpose of copying the method used by Queen Heleni in trying to find the True Cross. It is said that the smoke from the bonfire she lit rose and drifted up and then down to the exact spot where it was buried. Hence Meskel, or Cross, and from there, Meskel Flower, or yellow African daisy' which is September's flower. But put simply, September's glory.

By Mussie  Ayele