Wukro

Wukro (also transliterated Wuqro, Tigrigna: ውቕሮ; also known as Wukro Kilte Awulaelo, Tigrigna: ውቕሮ ክልተ ኣውላዕሎ) is a small town and separate woreda in Tigray, Ethiopia. The population of Wukro was around 50,000 in 2013. Wukro is located along Genfel River, in the Eastern Zone of the Tigray Region on the Asmara-Addis Ababa highway (Ethiopian Highway 2). Wukro is surrounded by Kilte Awulaelo woreda. The rock-hewn churches around Wukro are the town's most distinctive landmarks. Visually it can be characterised by one main road, few cars, yet many bajaj (three-wheeled auto-rickshaws) and hotels under construction. Hotels have been growing to serve conferences and to accommodate tourists departing to regional attractions.

In earlier sources the area is usually referred to as Dongolo (Ge'ez: ዶንጎሎ) before the foundation of Wukro as a modern town, after the name of the main village nearby, while the term Wukro just referred originally to the church area of Wuqro Cherqos which was situated within the land of Dongolo village. Due to the establishment of modern infrastructure, including a far-distance road, the area around Wuqro Cherqos evolved into a town by itself, thus separated from Dongolo and became an economic and administrative centre by itself. The town's name derives from the Tigrigna word for a structure carved from the living rock, Wukro.

Wukro comprises three urban kebeles (sub-cities): Agazi, Dedebit and Hayelom.

Wukro has been described as "a rapidly growing small town of failing water services" (as of 2022).

Like many proper names in Ethiopia, there are a number of transliterations of this name into English. David Buxton lists the many ways Wukro "has been variously spelt: Agroo, Corou, Oucro, Ouquo, Ucro, Ouaqero, Oukero, Ouogro, Uogro, Woghuro, Wogro, Waqro, and Weqro. Some of these forms...are influenced by French or Italian spelling conventions".

Wukro is located in the Tigray Region and is 40 km north of Mekelle, the regional capital. The coordinates are: latitude: 13° 47' 59.99 N and longitude: 39° 35' 59.99 E.

Wukro has been inhabited for millennia. Archaeological digs have found inscriptions from between the sixth and eighth century B.C. The place is part of the ancient trade route (particularly for salt) linking the Red Sea with inner Ethiopia, all the way to Lasta. It is said to be the location of the tomb of seventh-century Ethiopian king who hosted Muhammed and his followers. It has many rock hewn churches. The place is named in many old Ge'ez sources, including those about the thirteenth-century Ethiopian king Lalibela, the sixteenth-century king Zär'a Ya'eqob, and the seventeenth-century king Susenyos.

Francisco Álvares was the first European recorded to have visited Wukro, when in 1521 he stayed at the royal inn or Betenegush. His account also includes a description of Maryam Wukro church "made in a rock, hewn and wrought with the pickaxe, with three aisles and their supports made of the rock itself."