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GONDAR
and LAKE TANA
 Ill

GONDAR and LAKE TANA

Gondar and Lake Tana offer a wealth of historic sites and artwork, many of
them off the beaten tourist tracks and still unstudied. Castles, churches,
and paintings provide visitors with a sense of the cultural and artistic
splendour that made this region famous in the world from a remote past
and make travelling today through the region's history and natural
resources an extraordinary experience. With the intent of facilitating the
discovery of such a heritage, this guide is divided into three main sections:
Gondar, Gorgora, and Bahir Dar. Each section deals in detail with the key
monuments and with sightseeing in the area, providing all key information
on travel, access, accommodations, and transport.

arada books

ISBN 978 - 999448662 - 5

1111111111111111 II II IIII
9 789994 486625
 Gian Paolo Chiari

ARADA BOOKS

SECOND EDITION 2015

GONDAR
FIRST PUBLISHED IN ETHIOPIA IN 2012 BY ARADA BOOKS
ISBN : 978-99944-8662-5
TEXT, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND GRAPHICS COPYRIGHT © GIAN PAOLO CHIARI, 2012

COVER PHOTO:
ARCHANGEL RAPHA EL, PAINTING ON CANVAS, DAGA ESTEPHANOS CHURCH .

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED . NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE REPRODUCED OR and LAKE TANA
TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS, ELECTRONIC OR MECHANICAL,
INCLUDING PHOTOCOPY, RECORDING OR ANY OTHER INFORMATION STORAGE
AND RETRIEVAL SYSTE M, WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION IN WRITING FROM THE
PUBLISHER OR IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THE CIVIL CODE OF
ETHIOPIA, PROCLAMATION NO. 165 OF 1960, NOR BE OTHERWISE CIRCULATED IN
ANY FORM OF BINDING OR COVER OTHER THAN THAT IN WHICH IT IS PUBLISHED
AND WITHOUT A SIMILAR CONDITION INCLUDING THIS CONDITION BEING IMPOSED
ON THE SUBSEQUENT PURCHASER.

PRINTED AND BOUND IN ETHIOPIA BY MASTER PRINTING PRESS PLC.

GRAPHIC DESIGN: DIGITAL IMPRESSIONS PLC, ADDIS ABABA.

ARADABOOKS
P.O. BOX 28668 CODE 1OOO
WEB: www.aradabooks.com ; E-MAIL: [email protected]
ADD IS ABABA, ETHIOPIA

arada books
 Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 9

INTRODUCTION 10

GONDAR 20

TOUR INFORMATION I
21
HISTORY 30
ON SITE 41
Fasil Ghebbi 40
The Churches of Fasil Ghebbi 59

SOUTH OF FASIL GHEBBI 64

Jan Tekel Addababay 64
Addababay lyasus Church 65
ltchege Bet Quarter 61
Market 66
Old Fit Quarter 69
Addis Alem - Muslim Quarter 70

NORTH OF FASIL GHEBB I 71

Ras Gimp 71
Medhane Alem Church 73
Italian Colonial Architecture 74
Abuna Bet Quarter 76
Around Gondar 77
Dabra Berhan Selassie Church 77
Bath of Fasiladas 83
Qusquam 85

-
5
ARADA GUIDES I A COMPREHENSIV E GUIDE TO GONDAR AND LAKE TANA
CONTENTS

Ledeta Maryam Church 94 Haile Selassie's Palace, Dabra Zeit 166

Fasiladas' Bridges 96 Wayto Community 167
Wolleka - The Falasha Village 99 Mikael Church 169
SOUTH OF GONDAR 101 THE ISLANDS 170
Azazo Takla Haymanot and Ganata lyasus 101 Dabra Maryam Island 170
Tsadda Gziabier Ab Church 105 Kebran Island 172
Bahiri Gimp 108 Entons Island 178
Danqaz 110 Narga Island 179
Emfraz 113 Daq Island 187
Daga Island 190
GORGORA 130 Rema Island 194
TOUR INFORMATION 131 Metsle Fasiladas Island 198
Tana Island 199
HISTORY 132
Krestos Samra Church 204
ON SITE 132 Chakla Manzo Island 206
Dabra Sina Church 132 Zage Peninsula 208
Italian Lighthouse 140
Angara Maryam Island 141 SOUTH OF BAHIR DAR 221
Birgida Island 141 Tisisat - Blue Nile's Falls and Alata Bridge 221
Mandaba Monastery 143 Dengay Debalo Maryam 226
Giyorgis Island 144 Yababa 228
Maryam Gimp 145 Gimp Giyorgis 230
Jabara Maryam Island 150 Gimp Maryam 231
Galila Island 150 Gimp Kidane Mehret 232
Selassie Church and Quarry 152 Martula Maryam Church 232
Lake Zangana 237
BAHIR DAR 154 Gish Abay 237
TOUR INFORMATION 155 Abba Gis Gimp 240
The Gragn 's Stela 242
HISTORY 162
ON SITE 163 EAST OF BAHIR DAR 242
Lakeside Walkway 163 Robit Baata Church 242
Giyorgis Church 163 Qorata 243
The House of the Portuguese 164 Zara Mikael Church and Religious School 246
Market 165 Wanzaye Hot Springs 247
Hippos 165
Martyrs' Memorial 165 ANALYTICAL INDEX 258

6 -
7
 : Acknowledgements :
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my companions throughout
the entire fieldwork, Ashenafi (Ashu) Bisenebit Tafere, research assistant
and interpreter, for his extraordinary aptitude and kindness; and Nathnael
(Nati) Eshetu, driver, who took us to our destinations safely, skilfully, and
courteously. I would like to acknowledge the many people who have helped
me in Gondar, Bahir Dar, and Lake Tana region by kindly contributing
information, memories, and stories. Special thanks to Anna Dies, manager of
Medir tour operator, for the very friendly and professional logistic support;
Emanuele Ragni, for his passionate contribution to the graphic design of
this book; Yohannes Hagos Kebede, for his advice and encouragement; my
old friend Dawit Kahsay, for his usual great help; David Rifkind, Florida
International University, and Sandro di Gangi, A +O Archioperaio, for
kindly sharing with me the results of their researches on colonial Gondar; and
Zemene Hailu, for his guiding help in Qorata. Very special thanks to Sheila
McMillen for her kind and professional effort to improve the quality of my
work by proofreading and editing the manuscript.

9
 \

nee upon a time, in a faraway village near a vast lake, there lived a

0 girl of great understanding and prudence and the utmost beauty. She
was so handsome that the meaning of the name she was given by the
people was 'Oh, how beautiful!'. A king heard about the girl and wanted to
meet her. He immediately fell in love with her, and they went to live together
in a magnificent castle on a very high mountain. He was a very rich and

GONDARAND I
powerful ruler, and after he died she became empress, the first to hold such a
title. Despite the appearance, this story is not a fairy tale. Love, war, political
intrigues, and murders are part of the fascinating history of the rulers of the

LAKE TANA
Kingdom of Gondar, which thrived in northwestern Ethiopia between the
1630s and the 1760s. The above-mentioned king was Bakaffa, who was not
only the third ruler of Gondar, but also the emperor of Ethiopia between 172 l
and 1730; and Berhan Mogasa was the beautiful girl, whose nickname in the
local language was Mentewab. Their castle can still be seen in Gondar, which
was the heart of the kingdom as well as the capital of the Ethiopian Empire for
the 130 years that followed its foundation, in the 1630s. Since then, the fame
of the city has spread all over the world, a fame associated with the name of its
founder, Emperor Fasiladas, and its breathtaking castles.
The establishment of Gondar as a capital marked the completion of the process
that shifted the empire's centre from the Shewa Kingdom to the Lake Tana
region at the end of the 16th century. Two main reasons motivated that shift.
The first was the invasion of Shewa by the Muslim army led by Ahmad Ibn
Ibrahim Al Ghazi, nicknamed "the Gragn" (left handed, in the Amharic
language), a religious and military chief of the Sultanate of Adal (located
in present-day eastern Ethiopia, Djibuti, and northwestern Somalia) who
launched a holy war against the Christian Ethiopian Empire in the 1520s. 1
The second was the urgent need to strengthen the southwestern border of the
empire against the mounting pressure of the Oromo people, whose northward
migration had reached the Abay (Blue Nile) River. It was under Emperor
Sarsa Dengel that the empire's centre of gravity first moved northwest. During
his reign, between 15 63 and 1597, he used the Lake Tana region as a base from
which to halt the advances of the Oromo from the south and the Ottoman Turks
from the Red Sea, and to launch his military campaigns to crush rebellions or
subjugate people, as in the case of the Beta Israel people Qews) in the Semien
Mountains and the Agaw. 2 In this region he fixed one of his imperial residences
at Gubay in 1574, 3 near Emfraz and not on a campsite, as had been the case of

0 .1 Castle of Fasiladas northeastern doors.

11
 I
ARADA GUIDES I A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO GONDAR AND LAKE TANA
I INTRODUCTION

those wandering capitals that E thiopian emperors had previously established. : Gondarine Architectural Style :
Instead, he built a palace, described in the royal chronicles of the time as a
No one, to date, has provided an adequate explanation of the style of the
castle, beautifully constructed and of admirable appearance.4 The place is now
abovementioned castle built by E mperor Sarsa D engel in Guzara, a building
called Guzara, and the magnificent Guzara Castle is included in this guide
that is considered to be one of the possible models for the later and more fa mous
as one of the key monuments in the region to visit. The power shift in favo ur of
Castle of Fasiladas in Gondar. For certain, the introduction into the region
the L ake Tana region was continued and consolidated by Sarsa Dengel and by
of key architectonic and stylistic elements was facilitated by the J esuits who
those who held tl1e imperial title after him. In 1604 E mperor Za Dengel had his
accompanied and followed the military expedition led by Cristovao da Gama
court at D anqaz,5 where his successor, Emperor Susenyos, moved the capital
in 15 41 to help the force of E thiopian Emperor Galawdewos against Ahmad
at the end of the 1610s and built his castle a few years later. 6 To Susenyos, who
"the G ragn". M ost of iliose Jesuits were Portuguese based in the territories of
reigned between 1607 and 1632, are to be ascribed the foundation of Gorgora
Portugal's India, a fac t that helps explain ilieir bringing in of building techniques
as a capital and the building of another historic landmark in the region,
and decorative patterns of E uropean and Indian origin. They made extensive
Maryam Gimp, an interesting and magnificent architectural combination of use, for instance, of stone and lime mortar, which they largely employed in
royal palace and Cailiolic cailiedral built just after the emperor abandoned the the construction of ilie above-mentio ned Maryam Gimp, l yas us Churc h
Coptic Orthodox Church and converted to Roman Catholicism in 1621-22. in D anqaz, and the reconstruction of ilie impressively beautiful Martula
He also had an outstanding palace built at Ganata lyasus, near Gondar, Maryam. Th e building of these three important churches was all carried out
with a royal pavilion standing in the centre of a pool amid beautiful gardens. at the height of the J esuits' power in tl1e region and in E thiopia, between the
Susenyos' successor and son, Fasiladas, was the first to mark the permanent conversion ofEmperor Susenyos to Catholicism and their subsequent expulsion
character of his capital Gondar by building a castle there, followed in this by fro m the coun try immediately after Susenyos' death in 1632 . In addition, the
Emperors Yohannes I, l yasu I, D awit III, Bakaffa, Iyasu II, and Empress J esuits opened the way for the immigration of Indian craftsmen, such as the
M entewab, the famous and beautiful girl mentioned at the opening of the masterbuilder who would have designed ilie Castle ofFasiladas, according to a
chapter, who also had another palace and a church built at Qusquam, outside Yemeni Ambassador visiting Gondar in 1648,8 or those who, according to the
G ondar. The absolute key role played by Gondar as a capital did not prevent well-info rmed Jesuit Jerome L obo, E mperor Susenyos had 'procu red' for the
some of those emperors from establishing oilier royal residences in the L ake building of the first bridge on the Abay, the Alata Bridge.9 In addition, the
Tana region and spending part of ilie year iliere. The royal chronicles of the Scottish explorer J a mes Bruce witnessed the presence in Gondar of Christian
time often describe the moment when ilie sig nal fo r the royal departure from Greeks working in decorating the castle iliat Emperor l yasu II was building
Gondar was given, usually after the rainy season, and people were gathered by in the l 73 0s. 10 The foreign architectural knowledge syncretized with the local
the herald and ordered to bring their mules and horses to join the procession one, which bore ilie legacy of the outstanding and distinctive architecture
and help the imperial caravan transport its goods. 7 Emperor Yohannes I, for developed by the Aksumite Civilisation in the first centuries of the Christian
instance, chose to have a residence in Aringo, near Dabra Tabor, and Yababa, era and by the creators of 12th and 13th century L alibela churches. Among ilie
south ofBahir D ar, where ilie ruins of ilie fortress still suggest its importance; many skilled Ethiopians who worked at the Gondar imperial court we know
Iyasu I built a fascinating castle on the tiny Chakla Manzo Island , in L ake the name of Walda Giyorgis, to whom the royal chronicles of the time ascribe
Tana; and Bakaffa built a fortress on Giyorgis Island, near the northern the construction of tl1e Chancellery o f Yohannes I. 11 T he outcome of such
shore of the lake. All these castles, fortresses, palaces and many other buildings a fascinating cultural fusion also includes churches like Bahiri Gimp, with
give the region its distinctive and fabulous character. Their architecture round-domed towers which are also featured in the compound walls of the
was revolutionary and consisted of a blend of local and foreign influences, churches ofTsadda Gziabier Ab and Azazo Takla Haymanot; bridges,
according to a recipe that remains mysterious. such as the oldest one at Guzara, and those built by Fasiladas on the Angareb

12 13
ARADA GUIDES I A COMPREHENSIV E GUIDE TO GONDAR AND LAKE TANA INTRODUCTION

and Qaha Rivers (Dafacha Bridge and Genfokuch Bridge, respectively),

and the beautiful, famousAlata Bridge; as well as houses, like the enchanting
building in the Giyorgis Church compound in Bahir Dar. The Gondarine
style applied to buildings located in the Lake Tana region, with the exception
of the old cathedral of Aksum, Enda Maryam Seyon, which assumed such
a stylistic character after the l 7th-century restoration work sponsored by
Emperor Fasiladas. Castles and churches in Lake Tana region remain as
tangible signs of the cultural renaissance that occurred in this part of Ethiopia
between the 16th and the 18th centuries and that, as shown in the next section,
was not restricted to architecture alone.

: The Churches of Lake Tana :

The shift of the imperial political centre to Lake Tana region occurred in a
territory with a very long and amazing history. Since ancient times the local
peoples have been worshipping the spring at Gish Abay that is the source of
0.2 Castle of Fasiladas (Lefebvre, 1845- 51 ).
the Blue Nile. Known in Ethiopia as Abay, it is traditionally identified with the
Ghion River that, according to the Bible, flows from the Garden of Eden and
encompasses the land of Ethiopia (Genesis 2:13). The fame of its source had of the expansion of the Ethiopian Kingdom under the reign of Amda Seyon
most probably reached the West during the time of the ancient Greeks, who (1314-44 ). 12 In fact, the lake islands offered a safe harbour to the first
might have known it as Psebo or Coloe thanks to Strabo and Eratosthenes. communities converted to Christianity, protecting them from the hostility of
Its location, however, puzzled Western geographers and explorers until James the surrounding inland populations, particularly the Falashas and the Agaw.
Bruce "discovered" it in 1770. Tana Island, to which Lake Tana owes its The immigration into the lake region of monks exiled because of the conflicts
name, is another historic landmark: the stone altars provide evidence of pre- that affected the Ethiopian Christian communities internally and vis-a-vis
Christian religious practices and the place became one of the first Christian the royal power also explains the rapid increase in the number of monasteries
settlements in the region, as well as in Ethiopia. Lack of historical evidence is since the 14th century, whose power increased after Emperor Sarsa Dengel
counterbalanced by an abundance of legendary tales, according to which the established his imperial residence at Gubay, the present Guzara-Emfraz. It
Holy Family made a stop here on its flight from Herod's wrath, and the Ark is the beginning of a long and extraordinary period of religious and artistic
of the Covenant remained on the island for 800 years before reaching Enda renaissance that goes from the 15th to the 17th centuries and makes Lake
Maryam Seyon Church at Aksum, whereas, of the other three arks (jabots) Tana churches and monasteries among the most interesting and romantically
that were travelling with the Ark, Qirqos remained on the island, one went to beautiful historical sites to be visited in Ethiopia. Much is still unknown about
the above-mentioned Martula Maryam, and the last one to Tadbaba Maryam that artistic renaissance's roots and its protagonists, but some key facts emerge
in Wallo. Therefore, these would be the first four Christian churches built firmly. One of them is the work of Fre Seyon, one of the greatest Ethiopian
in Ethiopia. While historians doubt that the foundation of Tana Qirqos painters and the creator of what have been considered as the major Ethiopian
Church dates back to the introduction of Christianity in Ethiopia in the 4th paintings of the 15th century: the panels for the churches ofDaga Estephanos,
century, the island was certainly one of the first outposts of the Christianisation on D aga Island, and Rema Medhane Alem, on Rema Island.13 He was
of the Lake Tana region that occurred in the 14th century, in the aftermath a monk from the Dabra Gwegweben monastery, once located on the eastern

14 15
 /

INTRODUCTION
ARADA GUIDES I A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO GONDAR AND LAKE TANA

shore of Lake Tana, and he lived during the reign of Emperor Zara Yaqob, as from 13th- to 15th-century Arab or Christian Arab painting, especially with
we know from what he himself wrote - an exceptio nal fact fo r the time - on regard to those "full moon faces" that became very popular in l 5th-century
the above-mentioned D aga Estephanos panel. H e painted it for the island's E thiopian painting, as in, for example, Fre Seyon's masterpieces. 20
church, where a copy of that panel can be seen, together with the original of a The stylistic development of E thiopian painting was fos tered by the political
magnificent painting on canvas also attributed to Fre Seyon, with an enthroned stability and relative economic pros perity that followed the establishment of
Christ in the upper half and M ary with the Child in the lower one. 14 There is Gondar by E mperor Fasiladas. As it occurred in architecture, this development
a consensus among scholars that Fre Seyon had a leading role in the creation marked the beginning of what is commonly known as Gondarine style. Scholars
of a new style, in which tradition creatively encountered external influences. To generally agree on a twofold periodisation: the first style dates to the 17th
Fre Seyon, fo r instance, a leading scholar has acknowledged the introduction century and the second to the l 8th .2 1 The dramatic First Style contrasts with
to Ethiopian painting of elements that wo uld all be of Italian Tuscan origin, the narrative Second Style;22 whereas figures are characterised by their outlines
such as the gray dove held by the Child, the gesture of the caressed chin, and in the First, in the Second they are shown "in the round" on backgrounds
the sprig of flowers held by M ary. 15 painted in vivid colours;2 3 in the First, the dark lines delineating the figures
The creation of this new style was a process catalysed by the political and are filled in with flat, contrasting colours - mostly yellow, green, red and blue
ecclesiastical reforms carried out by E mperor Zara Yaqob during his reig n - backgrounds are flat, a red was h schematically covers part of faces, patterns
are geometric, as in the case of those made of short lines and dots decorating
( 1433-68). On the one hand, he strongly promoted devotion to the Virgin M ary,
robes. In the Second, forms are fluid, figures are more realistically created by
to the extent that he ordered the reading in church of the Book of Miracles of
the means of lig ht, shade, and graduated colours, generally used in darker
M ary, a collection of stories and traditions which had its origin in mid-1 2th-
shades, faces are ro unded and rosy, backgrounds are soft and luminous, an
century France and was translated into the E thiopian lang uage during the
effect obtained by juxtaposing the bright yellow colour to dark red and green
reig n of his fath er and himself. 16 T he E thiopian painte rs of the time responded
and by blending colours into the adj acent areas; a sense of depth is given often
positively to the E mperor 's direction, as is shown in another masterpiece of
by painting fully only the figures in the first row of a group . Religious themes
the 15th century, the Tana Qirqos folding processional icon, where the new
prevail in the First, whereas the Second pays more attention to nonreligious
central role given to St. M ary's representation was taken literally, by depicting
aspects of Ethiopian life , such as battles, banq uets, and country scenes; in
the Virgin at the centre of a 480 cm long row of patriarchs, saints, and apostles.
addition, portraits become a key theme in the Second Style.24 The table below
Particularly, it is under Zara Yaqob that the Virgin with the Child became one of
synthesises the maj or differences between the two styles.
the major iconographic themes of E thiopian painting, although its introduction
dates back at least to the 14th century, as we see in Q orqor M aryam Church,
First Gondarine Painting Style Second Gondarine Painting Style
Tigray. 17 The centraLty of such a theme emerges clearly in Fre Seyon's work as
well as in the l 5th-century paintings, while the emperor himself wo re an image Dramatic Narrative
of M ary and the Child on his chest. 18 On the other hand, it was mostly due
Geometric patterns Fluid form s
to Zara Yaqob's diplomatic efforts that contacts between Ethiopia and Europe
intensified during the 15th century, facilitating the arrival of foreign artists in Figures marked by outlines Figures " in the round "
the country. Particularl y, evidence exists that the Venetians Gregorio Bicini and
Dark lines delineating figures Light, shade, graduated colours
Nicolo Brancaleone, and the Portuguese L azaro de Andrade were working as
painters in l 5th- and l 6th-century E thiopia, most probably together with many Flat backgrounds Soft and luminous backgrounds
oth er Europeans artists, including those linked to the presence of the J esuit Mostly religious themes Also nonreligious, life
missions in the 16th century. 19 Scholars also found some possible influences

16 17
ARADA GUIDES I A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO GONDAR AND LAKE TANA INTRODUCTI ON/ NOTES

10
One of the most important and spectac ular examples of wall painting in the Bruce, Travels lo Discover the Sources ofthe Nile, Edinburgh, Ramsay, 18 13, IV, pp. 12 1-2.
11
First Gondarine Style is Dabra Sina Church at G orgora, on the shore Guidi , Ignazio, Annafes lohannis I, 'Iyasu I, Bakiiffii, CSCO Scriptores Aethiopici, Paris,
of L ake Tana. With regard to the Second Style, it is the paintings of Narga Poussielgue, II (versio), 1903, p. 60.
12
Selassie Church, on Narga Island that represent it at its best. The latter is Conti Rossini, Carlo, 'I I convento di Tsana in Abissinia e le sue laudi alla Vergi ne', Rendiconti
also assumed to mark the transition from the First to the Second Style, during della Reale Accademia dei Lincei, XIX, 191 0, p. 583; Tadesse, Tamrat, State and Clmrch in
Etl,iopia (1270- 1527), O xford , Clarendon, 1972, pp. 190, 193 .
the regency of the beautiful Mentewab, starting in the 1730s. 25
u Bosc-Tiesse, Claire, L es l ies de la memoire - Fabn·que des images et ecrit11re de L'histoire dans Jes
G onda r and L ake Tana offer a wealth of historic sites and artwork, many egfises du lac Tiinii, E"thiopie, Xlll f'-X\/1//' siede, Paris, Publications de la Sorbon ne, 2008, p. 32.
14
of them off the beaten tourist tracks and still unstudied . Castles, churches, H eldman, Marilyn, 7Yie M arian Icons of the Painter Fre Scyon: A study of fifteen th-century
and paintings provide visitors with a sense of the cultural and artistic Ethiopian art, patronage, and spirituality, Wiesbaden, H arrassowitz, 1994, p. 51.
15
splendour that made this region famous in the world from a remote past and H eldman ( 1994), p. 178 .
1
make travelling today through the region's history and natural resources an ' Cerulli , E nrico, Storia de/la letterat11ra etiopica, Milano, Nuova Accademia, 1956, pp. 8 1-83 ;
extraordinary experience. With the intent of facilitating the discovery of such Conti Rossini ( 191 0), p. 591 .
17
a heritage, this guide is divided into three main sections: Gondar, Gorgora, Chojnacki , Stanislaw, 'Pein tu re parietale, icones, manuscrits, croix et autres objets liturgiques',
in W. Raunig (ed.), L:art e11 Etl,iopie, Paris, H aza n, 2005, pp. 17 1-249, p. 173 .
and Bahir D ar. Each section deals in detail with the key monuments and 18
with sig htseeing in the area, providing all key information on travel, access, Cerul li , E nri co, '~Etiopia de! secolo XV in nuovi documenti storici ', Afnca ftaliana, 5, 1933,
p. 86.
accommodations, and transport. 19
Chojnac ki , Stanislaw, 'N otes on Art in Ethiopia in the 15th and E arly 16th Century', Journal
of Ethiopian Studies , VIII , 2, 1970, pp. 21-65, pp. 63-5.
20
L epage , Claud e, 'H istoire de l'ancienne peinture eth iopienne (X' -XV' siecle). Resultats des
NOTES missions de 197 1 a 1977', Comptes-re11d11s des seances de !'Academic des inscriptions et be!Les-Leures ,
CXXI, 2, 1977,pp. 325-76, p.365.
1 21
O got, Bethwell A., (ed.), 'Africa from the Sixteenth to the E ighteenth Century', General History Chojnacki (2005), p. 192.
of Africa, Pa ris/O xford/Berkeley, J ames Currey/UCP /UN E SCO, 1992, V, pp. 703-4. 22
J ager, Otto and H ammerschmidt, Ernst, IIL111ninierte Athiopische Ha11dsc/11ifien, Wiesbaden,
2
Conti Rossini, Carlo, Historia Regis Sarsa Dengel (Malak Sagad), Paris, Poussielgue, 1907, II; 1968, quoted in Chojnacki, Stanislaw, 'Attempts at the Periodization of Ethiopian Painting:
Perruchon, J ules, 'Notes pour l'histoire d'Ethiopie. Regne de Sarsa-D engel ou Malak-Sagad A Summary from 1960 to the Present', in B. Teferra and R. Pankhurst (eds.), Proceedings of
I" ( 1563 - 1597)', Revue Semitique, IV, J uillet 1896, pp. 273-8. the Sixth International Conference on the History of Ethiopian Art, Add is Ababa, 5-8 N ovember
3
Paez, Petrus, 'Historia Aethiopiae', in C. Becca ri (ed.), Rerum aethiopicarmn scriptores occidentales 2002, Addis Ababa , I nstitute of Ethiopian Studies, 2003, pp. 3-3 0, p. 4.
23
inediti a saeculo XVI ad XIX , Roma, De Luigi , ( 1903-1 7), II ( 1905), L ib. I, p. 203. Buxton, D avid R. , The Abyssiniaiis, L ondon, Thames & Hud son, 1970, p. 140.
4 24
Conti Rossini ( 1907), pp. 50, 13. Leroy, Jules, La P1tt11ra Etto-pica , M ilano, E lecta, 1964, pp. 34- 35; Chojnacki (2005), pp.
5
Bruce, J ohn, Travels to Discover the Sources ofthe Nile, II , Ed inburgh, Ru thven, 1790, II, p. 244. 8- 9, 18; M ercier, J acques, 'Ethiopian Art H istory', in D. E . H orowitz (ed.), Ethiopian Art _
6
The Walters Art Mnsemn, Lingfield, T hird M illenium, 200 1, pp. 45 -73, p. 62.
Almeida , Emmanuelis, 'H istoria de Ethiopia a Alta ou Abassia', in C. Beccari (ed.), Rerum 25
aethiopicarnm scriptores occidentales inediti a saeculo XVI ad X IX, Roma, D e Luigi, ( 1903- 17), Bosc-T iesse (2008), p. 14.
VI ( 1907), Lib. V, p. 75; Paez ( 1903 - 17), II ( 1905), L ib. I, p. 204.
7
M unro-H ay, Stuart, Ethiopia, n ie Unknown Land: A wltural and historical guide, L ondon,
Tauris, 2002, p. 78.
8
Van Donze!, E mericus J., A Yemenite Embassy to Ethiopia, 1647-1649: AI-Haymi's Sirat al-
H abasha, Wiesbaden/Stuttgard , Steiner, 1986, p. 60 .
9
L obo, J erome, A Voyage to Abyssinia, transl. by Sam uel J ohnson, L ondon, Elliot, 1789, p. 114.

18 19
 T
he city lies on a flat ridge of mountains located between the Angareb and
Qaha Rivers valleys and includes peaks up to 3,000 m above sea level,
which decline southwards to Lake Tana, at a distance by air of about
30 km. Its position makes the city a strategic and healthy place, not affected
by malaria. Emperor Fasiladas certainly took that fact into account when he
decided to establish this new capital. He was the first to build his palace here,
followed by his successors in the 17th and 18th centuries. The outcome is an
extraordinary historic complex that, since then, has been enchanting travellers

GONDAR and visitors with its fabulous beauty and that UNESCO included in the World
Heritage List in 1979.

TOUR INFORMATION

: Directions:

By air, daily flights link Addis Ababa to Gondar, which is also directly connected
witl1 Bahir D ar, Aksum, and Lalibela. Timetable and booking are available on
the Ethiopian Airways website (www.ethiopianairlines.com) or at tl1e Gondar
office (fig. 1.2:5), Tel.: 058-1110129; e-mail: [email protected].
Gondar is served by the Atse Tewodros Airport, located about 4 km south of
Azazo, a small town about 10 km southwest of the city. No public transport
service is available to or from the airport, but there are taxis or, from Azazo
town, private minibuses charging a few birr to Gondar. By road, Gondar can
be reached from Addis Ababa via Bahir Dar on the newly improved highway.
Plenty of minibuses run between Gondar Bus Station (fig. 1.2:51) and Bahir
Dar and cover the approximately 180 km in 3 to 4 hours. A road links Gondar
with Aksum and Adwa through the Semien Mountains

: Tourist Information:
A Tourist Information Centre (fig. 1.2: 14) operates downtown,just uphill of the
Piazza View Amusement Area adjacent the Quara Hotel (fig. 1.2: 16). It is run
by the Gondar branch of the Tourism and Culture Commission. Opening hours:
Monday to Friday, 8.30am- 12.30pm; 1.30pm-5.30pm. Tel.: 058-1110022.
Maps ofGondar and brochures are on sale here. Information provided includes
transport prices and routes, as well as details on organised tours to Gondar and
its surroundings, Semien Mountains, Gorgora, and Lake Tana.

1.1 Castle of Fasiladas viewed from the north.

21
ARADA GUIDES I A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO GONDAR AND LAKE TANA
CHAPTER 1/ GONDAR

: Accommodation : Quara Hotel

Gondar offers a variety of accommodations ranging from budget to comfort Four-storey new hotel with an annex built during the Italian colonial
class. The guide lists most of them as high range, mid-range, and budget. occupation. 12 single room; 19 DB rooms; 19 TW rooms; 2 suites. All rooms
A classification of the quality of all the hotels is still not available from the have a private bathroom and sat-TV. Annex (former Grand Hotel): 16 rooms
Ethiopian Tourism Commission. All accommodations listed below are in the (sha_red bathroom). Restaurant, bar, parking, Internet, sauna bath. Price range:
city and have their location shown in fig. 1.2. The hotel staff provided the foreigners, 422-670 birr; nationals, 20% discount. Tel.: 058- 111 0040/ 1113808.
information below. The international telephone dialing code for Ethiopia is Mid-Range
+ 251. When calling from abroad, the "O" of the area code must be omitted.
Capra Walia Inn
DB= double bedroom; TW = twin bedroom.
Small, recent hotel, 100 m far from the Fogera Hotel. 12 DB rooms; 2 TW
H igh Range rooms. All rooms have a private bathroom. Restaurant, bar, parking, sat-TV,
Florida International Hotel Internet. Price range: fo reigners, 27-35 USD ; nationals, 217-544 birr. Master
Recently opened about 3km southeast of the city centre, near the University and Visa cards accepted. Tel.: 058-1120314; 091-8703357; e-mail: caprainn@
yahoo.corn
of Gondar, Maraki Campus. 60 rooms, all with private bathroom and sat-TV;
suites. Restaurant, bar, parking, wi-fi. Credits cards accepted. Price range: 48- Fogera Hotel
58 USD. Tel.: 058-11 12260/50/55 Small hotel dating back to the Italian colonial occupation. 12 TW rooms all
with a private bathroom. Restaurant, bar, parking, sat-TV, Internet. P~ice
Goha Hotel
range: foreigners, 35-40 USD (birr also accepted); nationals, 250 - 350 birr.
Large, recent hotel on the top of Gannet Terara Hill, with a spectacular view
Visa card accepted. Tel.: 058-l ll0405 .
over Gondar. 58 TW rooms; 4 suites. All rooms have a private bathroom
Lammergeyer Hotel
and sat-TV. Restaurant, bar, parking. Price range (foreigners and nationals):
59-97 USD . Master and Visa cards accepted. Tel.: 058-1110634, 1110358; Small, new hotel in the outskirts of Gondar, on tl1e way to Azazo. 8 single
Fax.: 058-11 11 920. rooms; 8 DB rooms; 4 TW rooms. All rooms have a private bathroom and
sat-TV. Restaurant, bar, parking, wifi Internet. Price range: foreigners, 30-45
Landmark Hotel
USD; nationals, 172-230 birr. Visa card accepted. Tel.: 058-1122903· 091-
Opened in the early 20 I Os, it is located at the foot of Mount Genet, with a 8772987. '
beautiful view over the city. 70 rooms, all with private bathroom and sat-TV;
suite rooms and apartments. Restaurant, bar, parking, wi-fi. Credits cards Budget
accepted. Price range: 60-92 USD. Tel.: 058-1122929/30; e-mail: info@ Ambaras Hotel
gonderlandmark.com; Web: http://www.gonderlandmark.com Two-storey, recently renovated. 20 DB rooms (private bathroom); 8 DB rooms
(shared bathroom); 12 TW rooms (private bathroom). Restaurant bar sat-TV
Lodge du Ch ateau
Internet, parking. Price range: foreigners, 250-400 birr; nation~ls, i20-200
New hotel of traditional design, opposite the eastern side of Fasil Ghebbi.
birr. Visa card accepted. Tel.: 058-1 lll 181.
14 DB and TW rooms. All rooms have a private bathroom and sat-TV.
Restaurant, bar, wifi Internet. Price range (foreig ners and nationals): 45-50 Atse Bakaffa Hotel
USD (breakfast and transfer from/to airport included; 10- 15 % discount in low Small, new hotel. 12 DB rooms; 12 TW rooms. All rooms have a private
season). Tel.: 058-1118965; 091-8152001; e-mail: lodge@lodgeduchateau. b~throom. Restaurant, bar, sat-TV, parking. Price range: foreigners, 300-400
corn; Web: http://www.lodgeduchateau.com brrr; nationals, 120-200 birr. Tel.: 058-lll7711.

22 23
ARADA GUIDES I A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO GONDAR AND LAKE TANA CHAPTER 1/ GONDAR

1.2 Map of Gondar

500m 1-------1

Water
reservoir

Angareb River

- -
24 25
ARADA GUIDES I A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO GONDAR AND LAKE TANA
CHAPTER 1/ GONDAR

'-...r
to Dafacha ~
Kidane Mehr~ Q

500m

Angareb Rive

Ei, Police Station ~ Addababay lyasus Church

~ Commercial Bank $ Wolde Yohannes Negudguad
~ Misrak Pension Church

e Fogera Hotel ~
~
City Hall
Ab -Egzi Church
0 Fasil Ghebbi Complex ~ Ethiopian @ Semien Park Hotel
Telecommunications Office G Ex Case I.N.C.I.S. ~ Fit Mikael Church
f) Addababay Takla Haymanot
Church ~ Quara Hotel G Landmark Hotel ~ Bus Station
9 Lodge du Chateau ~ Medhane Alem Church G} Goha Hotel/Gannet Terara Hill e Ledeta Maryam Church
C, Takla Haymanot Church ~ Ras Gimp e Dabra Berhan Selassie Church
~ Baata Church
~ Qirqos Church
E) Ethiopian Airways ~ Atse Bakaffa Hotel ~ Qaha lyasus Church
0 Terara Hotel ~ Balageru Traditional Music G stadium ~ Market
O United Bank (ex Italian G) Zone Administration Office ~ Bath of Fasiladas ~ Jamia Kabir Mosque
Cinema) (ex Palazzo del Comando EI) Tomb of the Horse ~ Dabra Met'maq Maryam
Truppe) Church
0 Taitu Pension $ Thermal Bath
~ Fit Abbo Church
~ High Court
Cl) Belegez Pension (ex Circolo Militare e G Qusquam Complex ~ Addis Alem Mosque
~ Mosque Coloniale) $ University of Gondar Teaching
~ Getaw Sheik Ali Shrine
~ Nile Hotel e Gabriel Church
and Referral Hospital
G) Lammergeyer Hotel ~ Florida Hotel
CBI Circle Hotel ~ Genetics Guest House
~
~ Ethiopia Hotel G, Capra Walia Inn e, Kiddus Yohannes Church Dafacha Bridge

~ Tourist Information Centre

$ Jan Tekel Addababay; Jan
~ Ambaras Hotel Coffee House

26 27
 C HAPTER 1/ GONDAR
ARADA GUIDES / A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO GONDAR AND LAKE TANA

Terara Hotel
Belegez Pension Two-storey hotel, mostly built during the Italian colonial occupation. 3 DB
One-storey, traditional type small hotel. 3 single rooms (private bat~room); 7
rooms (private bathroom); 28 DB rooms (shared bathroom). Restaurant bar
DB rooms (private bathroom); 4 DB rooms (shared bathroom). Pnce range:
parking, garden. Price range: foreigners, 120-200 birr; nationals, 50~ 100
foreigners, 250-400 birr; nationals, 100-200 birr. Tel.: 058- 111 4356; 091- birr. Tel.: 058-1110153.
8772997.
, Banks:
Circle Hotel A major bank offering foreign exchange service is the Commercial Bank
Four-storey hotel, circular in plan, built in the 1990s. 10 DB rooms; 16 ~W
of Ethiopia, with its main office (fig. 1.2:28) about 500 m northeast of the
rooms. All rooms have a private bathroom. Restaurant, bar, sat-TV, parking.
Ethiopian Telecommunications Office and another one opposite the entrance to
Price range: foreigners, 200-300 birr; nationals, 100-200 bi_rr. Tel.: 058-
the Bus Station. The United Bank has its downtown office at the former Italian
1111991. cinema (fig. 1.2:7). Opening hours: Monday to Thursday, 8am-12.30pm,
Ethiopia Hotel 2pm-4pm, and Friday, 8am-11.30am and 2pm - 4pm.
Small old fashioned hotel. 12 DB rooms (shared bathroom); 8 TW rooms
: Car Rental :
(shar~d bathroom). Restaurant, bar, parking. Price ranges: foreigners, 200-250
Most licensed local tour operators provide car rental service.
birr; nationals, 100-2 00 birr. Tel.: 058-1110203.
: Climate:
Genetics Guest House
Small, recent hotel. 5 DB rooms; 6 TW rooms. All rooms have a private Gondar's climate is conditioned by its 2,200 m altitude, with monthly average
bathroom. sat-TV. Price range: foreigners, 400 - 500 birr; nationals, 154-176 temperatures that rarely exceed 22 degrees Celsius during the hottest season of
the year, which is between March and May. The main rainy season is between
birr. Tel.: 091-8049191.
June and September, with peak rainfall in July and August. The latter are also
Misrak Pension tl1e coldest months of the year, with average temperatures around 16 degrees
One-storey small pension. 8 DB rooms (private bathroom); 6 DB rooms Celsius.
(shared bathroom). Price range: foreigners, 250-300 birr; nationals, 85 birr.
; Hospital:
Tel.: 058-1110069.
The University of Gondar Teaching and Referral Hospital (fig. 1.2:42) is
Nile Hotel located m the campus to the west of the city, near the Bath of Fasiladas.
Large building, just beside Circle Hotel. 40 DB rooms; 18 TV! roo~s. All
rooms have a private bathroom. Price range: foreigners, 160-250 bm; nat.J.onals, : Internet:
90-115 birr. Tel.: 058-111 1600. P laces offering e-mail and Internet services can be found around the Ethiopian
Telecommunications Office and Circle Hotel. If the connection speed is slower
Semien Park Hotel
Small, recent hotel. 24 DB rooms; 2 TW rooms. All rooms have a private than usual, try early morning and late evening.
bathroom. Restaurant, bar, sat-TV, parking. P rice range: foreigners, 300-450 : Market:
birr; nationals, 100- 150 birr. Tel.: 058-1110300. The area (fig. 1.2:55) is about 800 m southwest ofFasil Ghebbi. The market
is open daily and busiest on Saturday, which is the market day.
Taitu Pension
Small, new hotel. 11 DB rooms (private bathroom); 3 DB rooms (shared :Music:
bathroom); 5 TW rooms (private bathroom). P arking, sat-TV. Price range:
Traditional music is played live at Balageru Bar (fig. 1.2:20).
foreigners, 120- 180 birr; nationals, 50- 120 birr. Tel.: 058- 1122898.

29
28
ARADA GUIDES / A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO GONDAR AND LAKE TANA
CHAPTER 1/ GONDAR

: Pharmacies : 2
uncont~minated pond. Actually, at that time Gondar was most probably a
There is a pharmacy adj acent to the Quara Hotel (fig. 1.2: 16). small village and, according to tradition, two landlords, Wayne and Sayne,
: Souvenirs : owned the area corresponding to tl1e present downtown. 3 In exchange for gold
Souvenirandhandicraftshopscan be found in theEthiopian Telecommunications an~ land, Fasiladas would have bought from them tl1e land fo r his palace,
which became the capital of the Empire for more than two centuries.
Office's area and at the market. In order to protect and preserve the national
cultural heritage, E thiopian law strictly forbids the possession and export of
: The Name:
objects of historical or archaeological interest. To minimise the risk of buying
an item that belongs to that category, one is advised to seek assistance at the The name Gondar would come from guang dara, a word that in tl1e language
Tourism and Culture Commission. of the Kemant - an Agaw community living north of Lake Tana and west
of Takaze River - means 'between two rivers', the Angareb and Qaha! In
anotl1er story of the name, Gondar originates from the Amharic expression
HISTORY bagon eda~, 'one should reside beside the other', the sentence pronounced by the
commurnty elders to settle a dispute between Wayne and Sayne. 5
: The Legend :
In addition to admiring the healthy environment of Gondar, Fasiladas may have : The City:
decided to establish it as the imperial capital because of its strategic location, We ~now from an ancien\royal chronicle that Fasiladas ordered the building
not only in military terms, but also from a commercial point of view, being of h1~ castle 111 1635-36, only fou r yea rs after he became emperor, tlms
at the crossroad of key trade routes. Moreover, the forest supplied timber in marking the beginning of tl1e city's thriving development. One after tl1e
abundance, and the very fertile regions of Dembea to the south and Waggara other, five emperors and one empress subsequently had their palaces built in
to the north were nearby. H owever, a local, widespread legend claims that there Gondar, enriching the city witl1 what are now famous monuments worldwide:
was another key reason explaining the Emperor's choice. A version of such a Fasil Ghebbi, Qusquam, and Bath of Fasiladas. Such a unique urban
legend that is collected at Azazo T akla Haymanot Church says that when landscape was emphasised by a striking architectural contrast between the
. Fasiladas' father, Emperor Susenyos, was living in his Ganata lyasus palace royal castles and the people's dwellings. The French doctor J acques Poncet
at Azazo he heard a bird that was repeatedly singing "go". From this cry he was there in 1699- 1700 to treat Iyasu I, and tells us that 'the houses are only
unders~ood that the place where he should establish his capital had to have a 7
of one-storey'. In the second half of the 18th century, Gondar consisted of
name beginning with the letter G. After his predecessor Sarsa Dengel had about 10,000 families, living in houses 'chiefly of clay, the roofs thatched in
founded Guzara, Susenyos established his residence at Gorgora, and then 8
the f~n~ of cones'. The urban area was so covered with w anza trees (Cordia
Gomange, better known as Danqaz. After the death of Susenyos, Fasiladas abyss1111ca) that from a distance of around l Omiles, only the tower of the Castle
became emperor. While hunting in the forest, he wounded a sosa or duqulla (a ofFasiladas stood out from what appeared as a 'thick black wood'.9
sort of antelope), which ran away, leaving bloodstains on the grass. Fasiladas
followed the tracks until Gubate Bridge, where they disappeared. H e asked : Market and Trade:
people where the animal had gone and when they answered 'Gondar' he
P oncet noted that the town had no shops, but trade was nevertheless great:
understood that that was the right place, beginning with a G, where he should
all the merchants met in the Addababay (public square), where each of them
establish the capital. 1 In a similar version of tl1e legend collected in the 1930s,
had a proper place to sell the merchandise, exposing it on a mat. 10 All sorts
an old hermit appeared to Fasiladas while he had stopped near a pond to drink
o~ commodities were on sale at the market, which lasted from morning to
its water during the hunting of a buffalo and told him to build a castle on that
mg ht, Poncet writes. Gold and salt were the money with which the merchants

30
31
 CHAPTER 1I GONDAR
ARADA GUIDES I A COM PREHENSIVE GUIDE TO GONDAR AND LAKE TANA

proclaimed that Muslims had to be socially and geographically separated from

Christians. 15 However, we know from the Yemenite ambassador Al-Hasan
Ibn Ahmad Haymi, who visited the city in 1648, that a Muslim settlement
existed in Gondar at least since tlie reign of Emperor Fasiladas. ' 6 According
to an estimation made in 1770 by James Bruce, the Muslim town at Gondar
consisted 'of about 3,000 houses, some of them spacious and good' .17 Islam Bet
was later renamed Addis Alem, an area still characterised by a strong majority
of Muslim dwellers, whose number in Gondar - according to community
representatives - is about 50,000. 18 Out of them, 80 to 90 percent adhere to
the Hanafi School of Law (Madhhab ). It was introduced in Gondar from
Arabic countries by Sheik Feki Tuhar, who lived during tlie reign of Emperor
Tewodros II ( 185 5-68). The celebration of the Prophet's Birthday (Mawlid)
started in Gondar at that time. Before the spread of the Hanafi School in
Gondar, the majority of the urban Muslim community followed the rules of
the Maliki School of Law.

, The Beta Israel :

This name designates the Ethiopian Jews, who often reject the term "Falasha"
traditionally given to them by the Christians because of its pejorative meaning.
a: k d 11Indeed trade in Gondar has flourished since the reign ofFasiladas The name is said to derive from the condition of exile caused by the deprivation
trarnc e . , . · E · G d
and not only for being the political centre of the Ethiopian mpire. on a~ of the right to inherit farming land during the reign of Emperor Y eshaq I
lay at the intersection of three major caravan routes: one to the southwest o (1414-30). ' 9 During the reign of Yohannes I, the Jews were affected by the
the Empire, which was rich in gold, ivory, and slaves; one to the Red Se~ same discriminatory provision enacted against the Muslims. In fact, when the
ort of Massawa; and one to Sudan and Egypt. 12 In 17 66, Emperor Iyoas Scottish explorer James Bruce arrived in Gondar in 1770, he found that their
~nd his grandmother Mentewab decreed to move the market near the circular villages were scattered in the town's surroundings. 20 Among those villages,
D abra T sahay Church inside Qusquam Palace compound and to change there most probably was Wolleka, about 4 km to the north of Gondar and
the market day to Tuesday. ' 3 A few years later, in 1785' Neg~s Takla C?1yorgi~ ,: currently included in the tourist routes as the "Falasha Village" . Bruce also
.d d tl t· 'Let there be held a market on the Saturday as m the begmmng '. noticed that many of their dwellers were 'masons and thatchers of houses
d ec1 e 1a . ful · k t
and Saturday is still the day on which the busy and colour mam mar e is employed in Gondar'. 21As trade was a key activity for Muslims, craftsmanship
held a few hundred metres south west of Jan T ekel Addababay. was fundamental for the livelihood of Gondar's Jews. They were involved in
silversmithing, goldsmithing, and pottery making, with such skill that for
: The Muslims : centuries they gave fame to the term "made in Gondar". The origins of their
community in Etliiopia are still shrouded in mystery, and among the many
Given the fact that a large part of these trades occurre~ in Muslim r,egions,
hypotheses there is also the one assuming that they were Christian Ethiopians
it is not surprising that the Ethiopian Muslims constituted Gondar s ~ost
who converted to J udaism, a theory recently supported by some D A
important business community. They lived in Isla~ Bet (House of ~u~u~s, evidence. 22 Traditionally, the Beta Israel had their geographical epicentre in the
m Amharic), at the junction between the two nvers, Angareb an ~ a. Lake Tana region and north of it, and they spoke Agaw, a Cushitic language.
It was Emperor y ohannes I ( 1667-82), who, in his first year of reign,

33
32
AAADA GUIDES I A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO GONDAR AND LAKE TANA
CHAPTER 1/ GONDAA

However, we know from Bruce that as early as 1770 the "Falashas" living in
Dembea region had replaced Agaw with the Christians' Amharic language.23
Gondar's Jewish population was already scarce in the first decades of the 19th
century - only 400 according to the British traveller athaniel Pearce 24 - and
today it is almost nonexistent. In 1984-85 , when famine and civil war were
devastating Ethiopia, the Israeli government airlifted 20,000 Ethiopian Jews
to Israel in Operations Moses and another 15 ,OOO members of the community
during Operation Solomon in 1991. 25 Their emigration has been going on
since then, to the extent that in 2004 there were around 80,000 Ethiopian J ews
living in Israel. 26

: The City of the 44 Christian Churches :

Gondar not only had unique political and economic importance, but it was
also a major religious centre. Here, for centuries, three religious communities,
Orthodox Christians, Muslims, and Beta Israel had their churches, shrines,
mosques, and synagogues. The largest of these comm unities, the Orthodox
Christians, still proudly refer to Gondar as the city of the 44 Christian
churches, since there were so many churches in the city and its neighbourhoods
Gondar by the dam; 32 and Empress Mentewab established the beautiful
during the 17th and 18th centuries. 27 Emperor Fasiladas is reputed to have
round Dahra Tsahay starting in the l 730s. 33 Many of the numerous Gonda;
founded seven of them: in addition to the oldest two - Fit Abbo, in the Old
Orthodox churches also served as education centres, which became famous
Fit Quarte r, and Fit Mi_kael, in the ltchege Bet Quarter - they were
Gemja Ber Maryam; Addahahay lyasus; Elfin Giyorgis; Medhane ~ationwide for their excellence in teaching aqwaqwam, a specific genre of
Ale m; and Gabriel, in the Ahuna Bet Quarter. Two of them, Elfin liturgical chanting. 34 But Gondar also enjoyed a wide-spread reputation for
Giyorgis and Gemja Bet Maryam, were inside the royal compound. Local traditional medicine, and still, in the 1930s tl1e French anthropological mission
tradition 28 also attributes to Fasiladas the third church present in the royal led by Marcel Griaule observed that there were at least 90 traditional doctors
compound, Attatami Kiddus Mikael, although this report is contradicted (68 men and 22 women) operating in the city. 35
by a l 8th-century royal chronicle that says that the church was dedicated by
Emperor Da wit III in June of the first year of his short reign ( 1716-2 1). 29 : State and Church :
P opular legends explain these churches were built for a variety of reasons, Such a numerous and splendid evidence of the imperial dedication to religion
ranging from solving structural problems of the Castle of Fasiladas, to getting shows us that the heart of the Ethiopian Christian Orthodox Church was then
rid of snakes in the royal enclosure, to defeating a malaria epidemic. Whether it at Gondar. Here had their residence the abuna (the head of the Church), and
was motivated by a contingent problem or not, Fasiladas' example was followed the itchege (the prior of the monks). The farmer's quarter - the Ahuna Bet
by those who ruled after him, and the number of Gondar churches increased Quarter - was to the north of the royal enclosure, near Gabriel Church, while
consequently. Thus Emperor Iyas u I founded the churches of Addahahay the latter's area - the Itchege Bet- lay south and west of Addahahay Takla
Takla Haymanot and D ahra Berhan Selassie at the end of the 17th Haymanot Church. Thus, until the mid- l 9th century, Gondar was up to its
century; 30 Emperor Yostos established Ledeta Maryam in 1714; 31 Bakaffa twofold task of being both the political and the religious capital of the Christian
founded Dafacha Kidane Me hret, on the top of the hill separated from Empire of Ethiopia, though sometimes overlapping. The imperial power, in

34 35
 CHAPTER 1/ GONDAR
ARADA GUIDES I A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO GONDAR AND LAKE TANA

gentlewomen wore dresses of dazzling whiteness, had good taste, polite and
distinguished manners, and were devoted to luxury and pleasure. 42

: The Political Decline:

The disintegration of Gondar's political power began in the late 18th century,
when the governor of Tigray Ras Mikael Sehul first deposed and then
assassinated Emperor Iyoas I in 1769. 43 It was the tragic inauguration of a
long period of political crisis and turmoil commonly known as the Zamana
Masafent (literally, the Age of the Princes), which lasted for almost a century.
Ras Mikael thus consolidated his position as Gondar's most powerful warlord
- the last one - but the murder of I yoas I sparked the armed reaction of a
group of Amhara and Oromo lords. Ras Mikael's response was the unleashing
1 .6 Fasil Ghebbi , Gondar (Heuglin, 1868). of a period of terror in Gondar in 1770, when even high churchmen were
executed, until a coalition of regional chiefs defeated the Ras in 1771. 44 The
fact did not restrict itself to church construction. Bruce tells us that in the already weak imperial power was then further undermined by a nobleman of
sec~nd half of the 18th century, the emperor appointed by proclamation and the Northern Wollo Yejju dynasty, Ras Ali Gwangul, who took control of the
deposed 'at his pleasure' the abuna. 36 Moreover, the abuna ordained priests and city as well as the Amhara and Begemder regions until his death in 1788. 45 His
deacons, but all civil and ecclesiastical officers were appointed by the emperor. heirs kept the reins of power and founded D abra Tabor, which became the
new administrative capital from the l 820s. 46 The first half of the 19th century
: Luxury and Nobility: was the last season of Gondar's splendour. Even deprived of its political
For an l 8th-century Ethiopian royal chronicler, Gondar was first among the primacy, the city was still playing its leading economic and cultural role, as
cities that fulfilled all desires. 37 Imperial Gondar thrived on war chests, trade, many European travellers acknowledged. For the French scholar and traveller
and the revenues from feudal taxation. Local aristocracy lived the high life and Arnauld D' Abbadie it remained the 'real moral capital' of Ethiopia, particularly
enjoyed luxury goods in the castle's enclosure and in their residences of the because of the presence of the abuna and the itchege, its two weekly markets,
Qagn Bet (Right House, in Amharic ), a large area located to the west ("right") and the importance of trade and manufacture. 47 Much more pessimistically,
of the castle's enclosure, adjacent to the Itchege Bet.38 When the Yemenite he also highlighted a decrease of the urban population to around 12,000 from
ambassador visited the Castle of Fasiladas in 1648 he was impressed by the 30,000 estimate made by Bruce in 1770. D' Abbadie also reported on the
'beds glittering with gold' and 'magnificent sofas inlaid with pieces of jewelry dilapidated conditions of the once sumptuous Qusquam church and palace.
and gems, and chairs' .39 Travellers of the 18th century also describe the
: The End of Imperial Gondar:
presence of precious mirrors from Venice, gilt and ivory decorations, 'immense
40
quantity of the finest gold stuff, Indian cloths, and European furniture' . The The final phase of in1perial Gondar began in 1855, when a nobleman from
elegance of the Gondar nobles and courtiers also struck foreign visitors, who Qwara, R as Kassa Hailu, overcame the regional warlords and became
tell us about gowns of silk brocade embroidered with gold and golden girdles emperor, taking the name of Tewodros II. He put an end to the troubled
'set with marvellous stones and precious gems'. 41 Gondar enjoyed the veritable Zamana Masafent by reviving tl1e monarchy, but did not aid the city in any
status of a fashion capital, to the extent that still in the 1840s it was described way. Tewodros did not love Gondar, to the extent that for the French traveller
by two French captains as the 'Paris de l' Abyssinie', where gentlemen and and diplomat Guillaume Lejean he even refused to repair its ruined majestic

36 37
 CHAPTER 1/ GONDAR
ARADA GUIDES I A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO GONDAR AND LAKE TANA

visited the city in the late 1870s and was struck by its 'horrid poverty' and by
its abandonment not only by Yohannes, but also by the abuna and the itchege,
who were following ilie imperial court. 54 Around 1880, Gondar's population
had shrunk to 8,000 or even 4,000, according to the estimates reported by
two European explorers who visited it. 55 The situation dramatically worsened
at the end of the 1880s, after the followers of the Muslim cleric Muhammad
Ahmad - self-proclaimed the Mahdi (Redeemer of the Islamic faith) in 1881
- had gained control of Sudan by successfully revolting against the Turkish-
Egyptian regime and had turned ilieir jihad against Christian Ethiopia. The
Mahdist forces, sometimes called the Dervishes, sacked Gondar in January
188 8, massacring the inhabitants and burning all the churches, and again
in June 18 89, tl1ree months after the death of Emperor Yohannes IV at the
battle of Matamma. 56 When the British traveller Percy Powell-Cotton visited
Gondar in 1900, he reported that only the encircling wall remained of the Islam
1. 7 Aerial photograph of Gondar in the mid -1930s (Bosio. 1937). Bet and, among the city-centre churches, only Medhane Alem had escaped
destruction. 57 In spite of the damages suffered by the imperial buildings, he
castles. 48 But the emperor went much further than that and turned his rage was nevertheless impressed by ilie city, to the extent that he gave a road in his
against Gondar several times during the 1860s, blaming its dwellers for Hampstead London estate the name "Gondar Gardens".
supporting rebels. In 1864, he 'ordered that city to be sacked, and the houses
: The Italian Invasion :
of the principal families to be destroyed' under tl1e pretext, according to the
49
British envoy Hormuzd Rassam, that the inhabitants refused to pay the taxes. Gondar emerged exhausted from the tragic late 19th-century events, during
Earlier that year, he issued a decree ordering the conversion of all Muslims to which the two quarters inhabited by Ethiopian Jews and Muslims appear to
Christianity and, according to Lejean, he ordered the destruction of the Islam have suffered most. 58 The former had moved further out of the city, and the latter
Bet, forcing the Muslim residents to emigrate. 50 But the worst event came in had their once primary trading role dramatically reduced. Notwithstanding, a
1866, when the emperor sent the army against the city, burned it down, and 1930-31 census shows iliat Gondar was still a city of merchants and craftsmen,
plundered all the churches. Foreigner witnesses and Ethiopian chroniclers of particularly weavers from Islam Bet. 59 Bur politically and strategically the city
the time agree the remaining 10,000 inhabitants were driven out the city, fire had been definitively overshadowed by the new capital Addis Ababa, founded
was spread from house to house and Gondar became a 'heap of blackened by Emperor Menelik II around 1886. 60 This was Gondar's situation when an
ruins' .51 The urban churches were set on fire and the houses of the abuna and army column led by Secretary of the National Fascist Party in Italy, Achille
itchege were burnt down, and only the churches located outside Gondar were Starace, entered the city on 1st April 1936, following the Italian aggression in
spared. 52 Then Tewodros II brought the booty from the pillaged churches to Ethiopia proclaimed by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini six months earlier
53 and he inaugurated about 6 years of Italian rule. The Italian administratio~
Dabra Tabor, which he proclaimed the new Gondar.
expressed an early interest in having Gondar's urban structure be suitable
: A Wounded City: for its colonial purposes, and in September 1936 charged the Italian architect
Gherardo Bosio with the drawing of the city's master plan. But it was only
Unlike his predecessor, Emperor Yohannes IV ( 187 1-89) mostly limited
in 1939 that Gondar's urban design began to change substantially, a delay
himself to neglecting Gondar. The Italian explorer Pellegrino Matteucci

39
38
ARADA GUIDES I A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO GONDAR AND LAKE TANA
C HAPTER 1/ GONDAR

explained by a phase in which Italian authorities seemed more interested in

building the "new Gondar" in Azazo. 61 A final, reduced version of Bosio's
master plan was officially approved in December 1938 and hinged on two
fundamental principles. The first was the acknowledgment of the city's
historical interest and touristic potential. The restoration of the castles and
other key imperial monuments had already begun in May 1938 and had
to be continued, with the purpose of using some of them as administrative
offices. Some Christian churches were also rehabilitated, including Qusquam,
Baata and Dabra Berhan Selassie. 62 The second principle was the separation
betw:en Ethiopian and Italian residential and services areas, consistent with
the racial laws approved by Mussolini's regime in 1938. All of the area north
of Fasil Ghebbi, including the western and eastern districts, was reserved for
the Italians and strongly privileged in terms of services and infrastructures,
whereas south of the Ghebbi was for the Ethiopians.

: Contemporary Gondar :
The Italians were driven out of Gondar by the British and patriotic forces (the
arbagn.och) in 1941, shortly before the final defeat and the end of the Italian
colonial empire. Gondar in the 1940s was a city of about 12,000 people. After
the liberation, it had its own municipal council, initially housed in the former
guerrilla activity, and many regional offices were transferred to Bahir Dar. 66
Italian Post Office, and led by the kantiba (a mayor). 63 The city administration
At the end of January 1991 the forces of the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary
took over the Italian-established network of services and infrastructures, but
Democratic Front (EPRDF) took Gondar during the Operation Tewodros.
had to face the problems of lack of funds and skilled labour. Although the
Today Gondar has a population of about 207 ,OOO people67 and is the capital of
Italian-built factories were mostly dismantled by the British or looted,6" the the North Gondar Zone, Amhara Region.
commercial activities formerly run by Italians were taken over by Ethiopians,
while the imperial family and the local nobility were endowed with the best ON SITE
colonial buildings. Thus, the present Terara Hotel was given to Empress
Menen after whom it was named after in 1947; the Grand Bar, currently part of : Fasil Ghebbi :
the Qw~ra Hotel, to Prince Makonnen; the Italian bakery and other buildings
This outstanding testimony of l 7th- and l 8th-century Ethiopian history
near the recently built Circle Hotel to Princesses Aida Das ta and Yas hash
was the residence of the founder of Gondar, Emperor Fasiladas, and his
W arq Yilma, and to D ejazmatch Asrata Kassa; the F ogera Hotel to Dejazmatch
successors. It ranks first among the most important sites of the region for
Kassa Mashasha; the unfinished Banco di Roma in Piazza to Ras Wubinah. 65
the impressiveness of its imperial architecture, which was included in the
Unfortunateiy, the city's urban as well as touristic development was halted by
UNESCO World Heritage list in 1979, with the official name of Fasil
the Derg, the military junta led by Mengistu Haile Mariam that took power Ghebbi (the Compound ofFasil). The current entrance is through the ancient
in Ethiopia after overthrowing Emperor Haile Selassie in 197 4. The city Womber Ber (the Gate of the Judges) (fig. 1.10:B), while the exit of the
suffered for being considered by the junta as the epicentre of anti-government compound is the Balderas Ber (fig. 1.10:I).

40 41
ARADA GUIDES I A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO GONOAA AND LAKE TANA

Directions and Access

Fasil Ghebbi's oval-shaped, large compound is the heart, and at the heart
(fig. 1.2:1) of downtown Gondar. Entrance fee is 100 birr for foreigners
or l O birr for nationals, a fee that permits the use of a camera. For the use
of a video camera, there is an additional fee of 7 5 birr. The ticket is valid
for one day and includes the Bath of Fasiladas. Fasil Ghebbi is open daily
from 8.00am-6.00pm. The ticket office can be contacted by telephone at
058-1111536. The cost of guiding services for Fasil Ghebbi only is 250 birr
(1-5 people), or 300 birr (more than 5 people); for Fasil Ghebbi and Bath
of Fasiladas the fee is 300 birr ( 1-5 people), or 400 birr for more than 5
people. The service is carried out by the members of the Gondar Private Tour
Guides Association, chaired by De salegn Yilma. The association's secretary
is Mesrak Teshone (Tel.: 091-8737131).
0 Castle of Fasiladas ~ PalaceofMentewab 0 Azzaz Tucu rie Ber (Gate of Azzaz
On Site 9 Water reservoir ~ Thermal Bath Tucurie)
The royal compound is enclosed by a stone wall over 870 m long, 68 only part of E) Thermal Bath al) House of the Chiefof the Cavalry 0 Takla Haymanot Ber
which is original. The twelve doors opening into it were given evocative names, 0 Castle of lyasu I a> Attatami Kiddus Mikael Church 0 Qwali Ber(GateofEspousals)
as shown in fig. 1.10, and were sometimes changed during the centuries. The 0 Small Castle ofFasiladas ~ Elfiii Giyorgis Church 0 Elfiii Giyorgis Ber(GateofElfiii
Giyorgis Church)
Amharic word makkababiya (enclosure) designates the compound in the l 8th- 0 LibraryofYohannesl '1i) Gemja Ber Maryam Church
~ Ticket Office
4D Embelta Ber(GateofMusicians)
century royal chronicles. 69 The building of the defensive enclosure would have G Chancellery of Yohannes I
mSquare) 0 Balderas Ber(GateoftheHouseof
started under Emperor Fasiladas and taken the present configuration during 0 Lions' cages Jan Tekel Addababay (Jan Tekel
the Chief of the Cavalry)
the reign of Emperor Iyasu Il. 70 Big stone crosses once stood on the top of the 0 CastleofEmperorDawitlll
si Addababay lyasus Church
t) Ras Beror Kweraiioch Ber (Gate
~ Thermal Bath of the Ras or Nobility)
towers adjacent to the wall, as reported by the French doctor Jacques Poncet, ~ - AddababayTakla Haymanot
CD House of the Nuptials
Q Katchin Ashewa Beror Reghev
() Jan Tekel BerorFirBer(MainGate) Ber (Gate of Pigeons)
® CastleofBakaffa 0 Womber Ber (Gate of the Judges) 0 Encoye Ber(Gateofthe Princesses)
42
~ Adey Gimp or Katchen Fetel 0 Taskaro Ber(GateofFunerals) ® Gemja Ber (Gate of the Treasure)
ARADA GUIDES/ A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO GONDAR AND LAKE TANA
CHAPTER 1/ GONDAR

who visited the site in 1699. 71 Bruce, in the second half of the 18th century,
highljghts the fact that the compound was encompassed by a 'substantial stone
wall thirty feet high, with battlements upon the outer wall, and a par:apet roof
between the outer and inner' which made the top of the wall accessible, thus
allowing him to 'go along the whole and look into the street'. 72 A walkable tract
of the wall between the Palace of Mentewab and the House of the Chief of the
Cavalry remains at the northern end of the compound.

: Castle of Fasiladas or Fasil Gimp :

History
An ancient royal chronicle of the reign of Fasiladas say~ t~at the ~mperor
ordered the buililing of this castle in 1635-36, 73 at the beg111mng of his reign,
which lasted from 1632 to 1667, just after he had chosen Gondar as the new A fifth tower, square in plan, rises up from the roof of the second floor, partly
capital of the empire. The construction works were completed at l.east by 1648, incorporating the round tower at the southern corner. Doors and windows
when the Yemenite ambassador Al-Hasan Ibn Ahmad Haymi entered the lighten tl1e castle's massive structure which has arches made of red tufa stones
town and was impressed by what he described as 'a high buildi~g' among _'the from the Ousquam area and a crenellated wall running all around the terraced
most wonderful of splenilid constructions and the most beautiful of glonous roof of both the building and the square tower. Most of the construction is
marvels built of stone and lime'.74 The Castle of Fasiladas is with no doubt original, but the Italians reconstructed the terraced roof and the floors when
the most astonishing expression of the Gondarine architectural style that, in they restored the castle in 1938, and the wooden stairs and balconies had the
fact appeared in the northern Ethiopian highlands several decades before bannisters changed again at the end of the 1960s. 79 Internally, two walls divide
Go~dar with the 16th-century Guzara Castle and perhaps Bahiri Gimp, the building into three sections, of which only the central one at both floors
and ilisappeared by the mid-l 8th century. 75 According t~ the abov.e-mention.ed is not further partitioned. The ground floor is accessed through four doors,
Yemenite ambassador, the Castle of Fasiladas was built by Indians, a claim and it has no windows, except for two slits lighting the staircase leading to
repeated more than one century la ~er by J am~s Bru~e, who also reports t,1~~ the first floor. However, visitors are currently allowed into the first floor only
involvement of Ethiopian workers 1111structed 111 architecture by the] esu.it~ . (fig. 1.13), which can be mainly accessed from the northwestern side through
Other foreign travellers, for instance Gobat and Lefebvre, who b~th v1s1ted the massive external stone staircase, largely rebuilt in 193 8. The arched
Gondar in the 19th century, attributed the castle to the Portuguese. All these door (D 1) at the top of the stairway opens onto tl1e first of the three major
claims could be true, inasmuch as they refer to architects coming from t~e consecutive rooms, which according to local tradition respectively functioned
Portuguese colonies in Inilia, from where many of the J esuits who were. m as reception hall, women's dining room, and men's dining room. In fact, it is
Ethiopia at that time had come. However, although it se~ms clear th~t fo~e1_gn not known what were their actual functions during the king's time, although
architectural influences played a key role in the Gondanne style, therr ong111s it is legitimate to think that they could have served the sovereign's reception
remain uncertain. and hearing exigencies. Inside the first room can be seen three Stars of David,
the symbol of the Ethiopian royal family's Solomonic descent - the first (fig.
On Site 1.11) above the entrance door; the second above the opposite door; and the
The castle is an elegant, strong building made of stones and lime mortar. It has third high at the centre of the partition wall that divides the ftrst room into
two storeys and is almost square in plan, being 22.2 m x 20.7 m.78 Eacho~ the two, to the left the entrance to the castle. Below the tl1ird Star are three of the
four corners is strengthened by an egg-shaped domed tower, about 20 m high. five wall decorations featured on the the first floor, while the other two are

44 45
 CHAPTER 1/ GONDAR
ARADA GUIDES / A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO GONDAR AND LAKE TANA

crenellated wall leads to a balcony (fig. 1. 15) used for official purposes, as well
as the balconies and the top of the square tower rising from tl1e roof. A stone
stairway links the terraced roof of the castle to the square tower's first floor,
from which an external wooden staircase leads to the second floor of the tower
and its top terrace. These upper balconies and terraces were used for the kings'
1.13 (left) Plan of the first floor of the Castle of Fasiladas (after Angelini , 1971); 1.14 (right) coronations and proclamations as well as by the afenegus (the spokeperson,
Main entrance to the castle . literally, "mouth of the king") to transmit the king's sentences and orders.
For instance, we know from a ancient royal chronicle that after the death of
on the opposite wall (fig. 1.12), to each side of the door (~2). T~e!~ shape Fasiladas, his son Yohannes I was brought on the terrace of the square tower
has been considered a signature left by craftsmen from Islamic India. These and his royal investiture was announced to all the Empire's dignitaries and
decorations can also be found in the Library of Yohannes I and seem to governors before his coronation. 82 The barrel-vaulted room built on the castle's
imitate the open-work, marble windows of historic northern India palaces. Red terraced roof near the northern corner is said to have functioned as a private
and green painted wall decorations can be clearly seen near the fireplace (fig. chapel of the Emperor. 83 Unfortunately, to date, visitors are not allowed on
1.16) adjacent the northern tower. Many cattle horns once protruded from the terrace roof, nor the top of the square tower, from which on clear days
the internal walls of the round towers and near the small niches and fireplaces, Lake Tana may be visible. It is advisable to exit the castle using the door
and they functioned as hangers, 81 as can be still seen in the Thermal Bath. (D7) near the eastern corner, at close view of the Castle oflyasu I. That door
Each of the three doors (D2-D4) opening onto the south western fa<;ade leads opens onto a stone stairway along the edge of the walls of an underground
to a long balcony, while smaller balconies are accessed through the doors on cistern (fig. 1.10 :2), of which can be seen the internal narrow (and very unsafe)
the southeastern (D 5 and D6) and northwestern (D 10 and D 11) sides. The stone stairway and the remains of the brick arches once supporting a barrel
door at the centre of the southeastern side (D 5) leads to the terraced roof of the vault. The water reservoir, fed by the two stone gutters cut into the castle's
northern end of the ruined building that linked the castle with the W omber nortl1eastern side, was built on the model of those introduced in Ethiopia by
Ber and that most probably functioned as barracks for the imperial guards. the Jesuits, first in Fremona and then in Danqaz.84 A few steps southeast of
Below the balcony of the window beside (D6) is the site where it is said that the reservoir is a small, ruined building that functioned as a thermal bath (fig.
hydromel and local beer were kept for fermentation . On the terr~ced. roof of 1.10:3). About 20 m separate the Castle of Fasiladas from the south western
the castle, at the centre of southwestern side, an arched door opening into the side of the Castle oflyasu I.

46 47
 CHAPTER 1I GONDAR
ARADA GUIDES / A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO GONDAR AND LAKE TANA

On Site
The building has a rectangular plan of 18.7 m by 7.2 m. 88 A crenellated wall
runs all around the terraced roof of the palace, which is two storey and has six
1 .17 The Castle of \yasu I in the mid-1930s (Monti della Corte. 1938) .
symmetrical red tufa arched openings on each of the two long sides. But the
architectural interest of the building goes fa r beyond that. Coming from the
: Castle of lyasu I : Castle ofFasiladas after exiting the northeastern door, one finds a low bridge-
The castle was built by Emperor Iyasu I, grandson of Emperor Fasiladas. Also type stone staircase that leads to an arched door, to the right of a square tower,
known by the royal name of Adiam Sagad, lyasu reigned after the death of his now partly ruined, but still intact and dome roofed in 1938. The arched door
father Emperor Yohannes, between 1682 and 1706. He was a valiant military opens onto the first floor, from where it is possible to admire the particularity
leader, able to defend the empire from the Oromo attacks, as weJJ as a pious of the castle's architecture. Its outstanding design features a barrel vault for
Christian sovereign. The French doctor Jacques Poncet, who had come to both tl1e building's roof (fig. 1.19), partly collapsed, and the northern tower's
Gondar to treat Iyasu in 1699, was struck by the fact that the king wanted to roof (fig. 1.1 8), the shape of which gained tl1e castle the nickname Koretcha
take Communion and participate in the public celebration on Assumption Day Gimp (Saddle Castle). The vault's construction technique relies on the same
in spite of his serious illness. 85 It was Iyasu who, at the end of the 17th century, type of supporting brick arches used for the undergrou nd water reservoir
founded Dahra Berhan Selassie, one of the most beautiful churches in outside the Castle of Fasiladas. The vault survives in the northeastern section
Gondar. His death was a particularly cruel episode of Gondar court's intrigues of the building and can be seen, with its collapsed first floor, by entering one
and power struggles. On the orders of his son, Takla Haymanot, who had been of the corresponding doors at ground floor. Exiting the northeastern door and
enthroned in Gondar by a group of rebellious nobles, Iyasu was first forced to turning to the right, one can observe anotl1er beautiful feature of tl1e castle
reside in his palace on Chakla Manzo Island and then assassinated there in that is the external stone staircase spiralling up the round tower and leadin~
to the first floor. While at the back of the castle, one can take a quick look at
1706.s6 Perhaps this castle was the magnificent residence built for the emperor
the so-called "Small Castle of Fasiladas" (figs. 1.10:5; 1.20), a construction
by Walda Giyorgis and mentioned in the royal chronicles as having i~ory
about 10 m to the north of the round tower of the Castle ofl yasu I. The short,
decorations and ornate ceilings with gold and precious stones; calcedoman-
round tower-like structure had a dome roof, now completely collapsed like
coloured wood panelling; palm trees painted on walls and ceilings; mirrors;
87 most of the building once annexed to it. Its traditional name seems to suggest
and the water of a small canal running in the middle of the courtyard.

49
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