| Ethiopia Travel & Tour Information
Gondar
– the Camelot of
Afri
ca
They
say “you have only to stroll through the banqueting halls and
gaze down from the balconies of the many castles and palaces here
to imagine the intrigue and pageantry that took place back in the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when
Gondar
, then the Ethiopian capital, was home to a number of emperors and
warlords, courtiers and kings”.
Gondar
rose to prominence after
Ethiopia
went through a long period without a fixed capital and emerged in
the seventeenth century as the largest settlement in the country.
It was an important administrative, commercial, religious, and
cultural centre and was noted for the skill of its many craftsmen.
The
oldest and the most impressive of
Gondar
’s imperial structures is the two storeyed
palace
of
Emperor Fasilidas
, which is built of roughly hewn brown basalt stones held together
with mortar.
Other
buildings in the ‘imperial quarter’ of Gondar include the
library of Fasihdas’s son Emperor Yohannes I (1667—1682); a
nearby chancellery; the saddle-shaped castle of Yohanness son,
Emperor lyasu I (1682-1706); the large hall or ‘house of song’
of Emperor Dawit III (1716-1721), in which many ceremonies took
place in former days; the long V-shaped reception and banqueting
hall of Emperor Bakaffa (1722-1730); and the two-storeyed palace
of the latter’s redoubtable consort, Empress Mentewab. The
palace compound is also the site of the grave of one the most
remarkable nineteenth-century foreign travellers to
Ethiopia
: Emperor Tewodros’s close friend Walter Plowden.
Several
notable Gondarine structures are to be seen outside the town. The
most impressive, located in the
Kaha
River
valley south of
Gondar
, is a well-preserved ‘bathing palace’ variously attributed to
Fasilidas or lyasu I. It stands in a rectangular, neatly walled
depression, which is filled with water once a year for the Timkat
(Epiphany) celebrations, and, though popularly referred to as a
‘bathing palace’, was in fact probably constructed for such
celebrations. Not far away stand the ruins of a small pavilion
said to have been the mausoleum of a horse named Zobel belonging
to Fasilidas, lyasu, or some other Gondarine monarch of former
times.
Rulers
of this era also developed the area in the hills north-west of the
town —called Kweskwam after the home of the Virgin Mary — as a
kind of ‘Capitol Hill’ for government buildings Most are now
ruins, including the largest — a square, three-storeyed castle
with flat parapet roof and battlemented walls, embellished with a
series of bas-reliefs of various Ethiopian animals. Visitors to
the church here can, on request, see many fine old Gondarine
manuscripts and enter a crypt containing the skeletal remains of
the famous eighteenth-century Empress Mentewab, her son Emperor
lyasu II, and grandson Emperor Iyo’as.
Gondar
was the site of numerous fine churches, a number of which have
survived to this day. One of the most impressive is that of
Medhane Alem, a round structure built during the reign of Emperor
Fasilidas.
One
of the finest of the Gondarine churches is that of Debre Birhan
Selassie or ‘Trinity at the Mount of Light’, which stands on
raised ground about a half an hour’s walk to the northeast of
the town. An imposing, though small, rectangular structure, its
ceilings are decorated with beautiful winged angels, and its walls
with impressive scenes depicting biblical events, including the
life of Christ, Mary, and the saints and martyrs.
The
Royal Enclosure
A
76,000m2 are in the heart of
Gondar
contains six castles with complex tunnels and raised walkways.
This is the Royal Enclosure, one of the most beautiful sights in
Gonder. The oldest and the most impressive is the
Castle
of
Emperor Fasil
, standing two storeys and constructed around 1640. It is made of
roughly hewn basalt stones and has a crenulated parapet and four
domed towers.
Emperor
Fasil’s
Bath
Emperor
Fasil, due to his keen interest in architecture, along with the
seven churches and a number of bridges, built a three storey stone
pavilion positioned next to a large sunken bath. Even today it is
filled with water from the near by Keha river during the
''Timket'' or Epiphany ceremony (after Christmas). It is 2 km from
the centre of the town along the Gonder-Bahir Dar road. The
Epiphany ceremony at this bath is a most colourful celebration.
Kuskuam
Complex
3
km northwest of the town the royal compound known as Kuskuam was
built in the second half of the 18th century by Empress Mintiwab.
The enclosure, though not well preserved, has a series of
buildings including a three-storey castle and some ruined palaces.
Mikael
Sehule
Palace
Situated
outside the Royal Enclosure, Mikael Sehule's palace is also worth
visiting.
Debre
Birhan Silassie
The
original church was luckily not destroyed by the Mahadist war when
the Dervish of Sudan attacked Gonder in the end of the 19th
century. Its name is Debre Birhan Silassie 'Trinity at the mount
of light.' This is one of the most beautiful churches in
Ethiopia
. Debre Birhan is renowned for its magnificent ceiling, amusingly
decorated with a marvellous painting of the winged heads of the 80
Ethiopian Cherubic Faces- all have slightly different expressions.
The
artist, Haile Meskel also adorned the walls with frescoes of the
Ethiopian Saints, martyrs and biblical lore. East of this church
there is a traditional church school with a magnificent collection
of small Gojjos - huts. It deserves a visit.
Entrance
fee
For
the Royal Enclosure, Birr 50 and Birr 75 for a Video camera. The
ticket is also valid for
a visit to the Fasil Bath. For Debre Birhan Silassie, Birr 15
The
Gondar
Open Air Market
Saturday
in
Ethiopia
is market day. The
open-air market of Gonder is very impressive and interesting with
the variety of different crafts available. Women, making intricate
baskets and adorning them with red coloured animal skins, can be
seen at the market, along with all the food produce and every
possible household good available.
Angereb
Bridge
5
km southeast of
Gondar
, built by Emperor Fasil on the
Angereb
River
in the early 17th century,
Angerb
Foot
Bridge
is an impressive relic of the period.
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