Gondar or Gonder is a city and separate woreda in Ethiopia. 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. It has a latitude
and longitude of 12°36′N 37°28′E with an elevation of 2133 meters above sea
level. It is surrounded by the Gondar Zuria woreda.
Gondar previously served as the capital of both the Ethiopian Empire and the
subsequent Begemder Province. The city holds the remains of several royal
castles, including those in Fasil Ghebbi, for which Gondar has been called
the "Camelot of Africa". History
Until the 16th century, the Solomonic Emperors of Ethiopia usually had no
fixed capital town, 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 each
year. 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', which also contributed to
Gorgora's 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 ruled
that the inhabitants of Gondar are to be segregated by religion. This caused the
Muslims to move into their own quarter, Islamge 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. 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. Points of interest
Gondar traditionally was divided into several neighborhoods or quarters: Addis
Alem, where the Muslim inhabitants dwelled; Kayla Meda, where the adherents
of Beta Israel lived; Abun Bet, centered on the residence of the Abuna, or
nominal head of the Ethiopian Church; and Qagn Bet, home to the nobility.
Gondar is also a noted center of ecclesiastical learning of the Ethiopian
Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and known for having 44 churches – for many years more
than any other settlement in Ethiopia. Gondar and its surrounding countryside
constitute the homeland of most Ethiopian Jews.
The modern city of Gondar is popular as a tourist destination for its many
picturesque ruins in Fasil Ghebbi, from which the emperors once reigned. The
most famous buildings in the city lie in the Royal Enclosure, which include
Fasilides' castle, Iyasu's palace, Dawit's Hall, a banqueting hall,
stables, Empress Mentewab's castle, a chancellery, library and three churches.
Near the city lie Fasilides' Bath, home to an annual ceremony where it is
blessed and then opened for bathing; the Qusquam complex, built by Empress
Mentewab; the eighteenth century Ras Mikael Sehul's Palace and the Debre
Berhan Selassie Church. Downtown Gondar shows the influence of
the Italian occupation of the late 1930s. The main piazza features shops, a
cinema, and other public buildings in a simplified Italian Moderne style still
distinctively of the period despite later changes and, frequently, neglect.
Villas and flats in the nearby quarter that once housed occupation officials
and colonists are also of interest. The town is home to the University of
Gondar, which includes Ethiopia's main faculty of medicine.
Demographics Based on the 2007 national census
conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia, Gondar had a total
population of 207,044, of whom 98,120 were men and 108,924 women. The majority
of the inhabitants practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 84.2%
reporting that as their religion, while 11.8% of the population said they were
Muslim and 1.1% were Protestant. The 1994 national census reported a
total population of 112,249 in 21,695 households, of whom 51,366 were men and
60,883 women. The three largest ethnic groups reported in Gondar Zuria were the
Amhara, the Tigrayan, and the Qemant; all other ethnic groups made up 1.98% of
the population. Amharic was spoken as a first language by 94.57%, and 4.67%
spoke Tigrinya; the remaining 0.76% spoke all other primary languages
reported. 83.31% adhered to Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, and 15.83% of the
population said they were Muslim. There are now also a sizable number of
Ethiopian Jews, some of whom live in temporary camps, hoping to emigrate to
Israel. Transport
Air transport is served by Gondar Airport, also known as Atse Tewodros
Airport, after the Emperor of Ethiopia Tewodros. It is 18 km south of the city.
Travel within Gondar is mostly done by mini-buses and 3-wheeler motorcycles.
Intercity bus service is provided by the Selam Bus Line Share Company.
Climate Köppen-Geiger climate classification
system classifies its climate as humid subtropical, bordering with subtropical
highland. Sister city
As designated by Sister Cities International, Gondar is a sister city
with: Corvallis, Oregon, United States
Montgomery County, Maryland Rishon LeZion, Israel
See also List of Gondarine churches
Gultosh - a deserted village near Gondar References
External links Ethiopian Treasures - Fasilados Castle,
Felasha Village - Gonder Pictures from Gonder