Visit of Gondar (Ethiopia)
Gondar or Gonder is a city in Ethiopia, which was once the old imperial capital and capital of the historic Begemder Province. As a result, the old province of Begemder is sometimes referred to as Gondar. Located in the Semien Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, Gondar is north of Tana Lake on the Lesser Angereb River and southwest of the Simien Mountains.
Until the 16th century, the Solomonic Emperors of Ethiopia usually had no fixed capital, instead living in tents in temporary royal camps as they moved around their realms while their family, bodyguard and retinue devoured surplus crops and cut down nearby trees for firewood. One exception to this rule was Debre Berhan, founded by Zara Yaqob in 1456; Tegulet in Shewa was also essentially the capital during the first century of Solomonic rule.
Beginning with Emperor Menas in 1559, the rulers of Ethiopia began spending the rainy season near Lake Tana, often returning to the same location again and again. These encampments, which flourished as cities for a short time, include Emfraz, Ayba, Gorgora, and Dankaz.
Gondar was founded by Emperor Fasilides around the year 1635, and grew as an agricultural and market town. There was a superstition at the time that the capital's name should begin with the letter 'Gʷa' (modern pronunciation 'Gʷe'; Gonder was originally spelt Gʷandar), which also contributed to Gorgora's (founded as Gʷargʷara) growth in the centuries after 1600. Tradition also states that a buffalo led the Emperor Fasilides to a pool beside the Angereb, where an old and venerable hermit told the Emperor he would locate his capital there. Fasilides had the pool filled in and built his castle on that same site.The emperor also built a total of seven churches; the first two, Fit Mikael and Fit Abbo, were built to end local epidemics. The five emperors who followed him also built their palaces in the town.
In 1668, as a result of a church council, the Emperor Yohannes I ordered that the inhabitants of Gondar be segregated by religion. This caused the Muslims to move into their own quarter, Islamge (Ge'ez: እስላምጌ Islam place, or Islam country) or Islam Bet , within two years. This quarter came to be known as Addis Alem.
During the seventeenth century, the city's population is estimated to have exceeded 60,000. Many of the buildings from this period survive, despite the turmoil of the eighteenth century. By the reign of Iyasu the Great, Gondar had acquired a sense of community identity; when the Emperor called upon the inhabitants to decamp and follow him on his campaign against the Oromo in Damot and Gojjam, as had the court and subjects of earlier emperors, they refused. Although Gondar was by any definition a city, it was not a melting pot of diverse traditions, nor Ethiopia's window to the larger world, according to Donald Levine. It served rather as an agent for the quickened development of the Amhara's own culture. And thus it became a focus of national pride... not as a hotbed of alien custom and immorality, as they often regard Addis Ababa today, but as the most perfect embodiment of their traditional values. As Levine elaborates in a footnote, it was an orthogenetic pattern of development, as distinguished from an heterogenetic one.
The town served as Ethiopia's capital until Tewodros II moved the Imperial capital to Magadala upon being crowned Emperor in 1855; the city was plundered and burnt in 1864, then devastated again in December, 1866.[6] Abdallahi ibn Muhammad sacked Gondar when he invaded Ethiopia June 1887. Gondar was ravaged again in 23 January in the next year, when the Sudanese invaders set fire to almost every one of the city's churches.
After the conquest of Ethiopia by the Kingdom of Italy in 1936, Gondar was further developed under Italian occupation. During the Second World War, Italian forces made their last stand in Gondar in November 1941, after Addis Ababa fell to British forces six months before. The area of Gondar was one of the main centers of activity of Italian guerrilla against the British forces until summer 1943.
During the Ethiopian Civil War, the forces of the Ethiopian Democratic Union gained control of large parts of Begemder, and during parts of 1977 operated within a few miles of Gondar, and appeared to be at the point of capturing the city.As part of Operation Tewodros near the end of the Civil War, Gondar was captured by the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front in March 1991.
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Quick Guide to Ethiopia: Top attractions to add to your #AfriTravel itinerary
With 90-days visa free available to South Africans, why not plan your next Afri-Travel escape in Ethiopia. Here are the top attractions to plan around.
Known as the African country that was never colonised, Ethiopia has a vast ancient history still seen today in its archaeological artefacts and ruins of Christian temples from long ago.
It's also quite famous for its cuisine found in restaurants around the world, but you can experience it firsthand in its country of origin.
This east African country is also the origin point for the Nile river - the longest in the world - where the Blue Nile falls thunderously creating a massive waterfall.
Ethiopia holds important insights into Africa's past, and is a must-visit when travelling through the Horn of Africa.
READ MORE: Ethiopia: Old-world Africa, brimming with modern life
Here's a look at one of the top ten searched African destinations for South Africans and what you need to know should you want to visit:
Woldia University ወልዲያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ Tesfa Arts
Weldiya (Amharic: ወልደ,wäldiya, Son) is the capital of the Semien Wollo Zone, and woreda in northern Ethiopia. Located north of Dessie and southeast of Lalibela in the Amhara Region, this town has an elevation of 2112 meters above sea level.
A notable landmark is a church Weldiya Gebriel.
Based on the 2019 national census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this town has a total population of 180.000, of whom 81.750 are men and 98.250 women. The majority of the inhabitants practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 80.49% reporting that as their religion, while 18.46% of the population said they were Muslim.
The 1994 national census reported a total population for Weldiya of 24,533 in 5,413 households, of whom 11,689 were men and 12,844 were women. The two largest ethnic groups reported in this were the Amhara (93.92%), and the Tigrayan (4.32%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.76% of the population. Amharic was spoken as a first language by 95.2%, and 3.75% spoke Tigrinya; the remaining 1.05% spoke all other primary languages reported. 79.75% of the population practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, and 19.44% of the population said they were Muslim.
There is a rising university, Weldiya University, and about a dozen other governmental and private primary and secondary schools.
Visit of Axum (Ethiopia)
Axum was the center of the marine trading power known as the Aksumite Kingdom, which predated the earliest mentions in Roman era writings. Around AD 356, its ruler was converted to Christianity by Frumentius. Later, under the reign of Kaleb, Axum was a quasi-ally of Byzantium against the Persian Empire. The historical record is unclear, primary sources limited mainly to ancient church records.
It is believed it began a long slow decline after the 7th century due partly to Islamic groups contesting trade routes. Eventually Aksum was cut off from its principal markets in Alexandria, Byzantium and Southern Europe and its trade share was captured by Arab traders of the era. The Kingdom of Aksum was finally destroyed by Gudit, and eventually the people of Aksum were forced south and their civilization declined. As the kingdom's power declined so did the influence of the city, which is believed to have lost population in the decline similar to Rome and other cities thrust away from the flow of world events. The last known (nominal) king to reign was crowned ca. 10th century, but the kingdom's influence and power ended long before that.
Its decline in population and trade then contributed to the shift of the power center of the Ethiopian Empire so that it moved further inland and bequeathed its alternative place name (Ethiopia) to the region, and eventually, the modern state
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Bahir Dar, the most beautiful city in Ethiopia
Ethiopia 106: Road from Addis Ababa to Lake Langano
Road from Addis Ababa to Lake Langano
The Simien Mountains National Park (Ethiopia)
Simien Mountains National Park is one of the National Parks of Ethiopia. Located in the Semien (North) Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, its territory covers the Simien Mountains and includes Ras Dashan, the highest point in Ethiopia.
It is home to a number of extremely rare species, including the Ethiopian wolf, Gelada Baboon, and the Walia Ibex, a wild goat found nowhere else in the world. The Caracal also occurs within the Simien Mountains. More than 50 species of birds inhabit the park, including the impressive Bearded Vulture, or Lammergeier, with its 10-foot (3m) wingspan.
The park is crossed by an unpaved road which runs from Debarq, where the administrative headquarters of the park is located, east through a number of villages to the Buahit Pass, where the road turns south to end at Mekane Berhan 10 kilometers beyond the park boundary.
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HoboTraveler.com Walking Through the Market in Awasa Ethiopia
Andy of HoboTraveler.com daily travel diary walking through the large market in Awasa, Ethiopia. Pay attention to the large amount of dust.
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Dessie Wollo
10/10/2016 Dessie vacation
Longest tunnel in Ethiopia
This is the longest tunnel found in Ethiopia. It is found in Debre-Berihan. And made by Italy and bullied in 20th century. It is the coolest place to visit and enjoy.