The European quarter of Dire Dawa, west of the Dechatu River, was planned by French railway engineers in the early 1900s as a grid of wide boulevards and low villas. Avenue Mohamed Ali, the central spine, is still lined with mango trees, Art Deco offices, and the pastel-painted houses of the original railway elite. The Italian community that followed left a string of cafés that still serve macchiato in the morning.
It is one of the most relaxed urban spaces in Ethiopia — flat, walkable, with bougainvillea spilling over walls and few cars. The Catholic cathedral, the old French school, and the railway station all sit on this side. The whole quarter has a faded Mediterranean colonial atmosphere that you cannot find anywhere else in the country.