My trip to GONDER
Gonder is a Royal and ancient historical city of
Ethiopia. It is the home of many Emperors and
Princess who lead the country from the 12th
century to the last decade of the 20th century.
There is a mid-sized airport in Gonder.
Ethiopian airline has daily flights to the city usually leaving Addis early in the morning.
There is a bus service to/from Addis Ababa, a
trip that takes two days. I took alternative one,
flying with Ethiopian Airline!
The Fasiladas’ Palace is the most imposing
palace and also the oldest one. This castle was
built by king Fasiladas to be used as residence
and reception palace.
Gonder, the former capital of Ethiopia is a
charming small city with a lot of places to stay,
some good restaurants and bars. The guides
here are very well organized and can Gonder
very well.
The most famous buildings in the city lie in the
seventeenth
century
Royal
Enclosure,
including
Fasilides
castle,
Mentewab's
Castle, Iyasu's Palace, Dawit's Hall, a
banqueting hall, stables, a chancellery,
library and three churches.
You arrive to Qousquam Castle through a
steep and unpaved path. People enter the
surrounding wall from the west and the first
thing that one can see is a modern round
church without any indications so some
visitors can get confused. The complex was
damaged by British bombing but you still can
distinguish a chapel, the castle and the queen’s
rooms. The construction of this residential
complex is attributed to Queen Mentwab and it
is called the “castle of love” or “Mentewab's
Castle”.
Some manuscripts say that the widow empress
(her husband was murdered by his enemies)
decided to build this castle to escape from the
court’s intrigues and conspiracies. Other
manuscripts say that Mentwab was very keen
of young boys and this castle allowed her to
stay far from the court’s gossip.
The most beautiful building is the palace,
where banquets and receptions took place.
There is nothing inside and some renovation
/rebuilding works are in progress but its main
facade is very interesting with some decoration
made with volcanic tuff.
The Fasiladas baths is a nice excursion at only
few kilometers from the city centre. Fasiladas
baths consist in a small pavilion surrounded by
a huge swimming pool.
This small oasis, encircled by a fortified wall
with beautiful shady junipers was the relaxing
place of the Kings of Gonder.
King Iyasou II seemed to be very fond of this
place and used it also for opulent feasts for his
court. The architecture of this building
corresponds to the Gonder Style – an Arabic
base with some European Baroque touches -. It
is a massive two story construction standing on
pier arches which were covered by water most
of the time. You reach the main floor by a stone
bridge.
Nowadays the huge swimming pool is only filled
with water for Timket festivity, between 19th
and 20th January. The Timket is one of the
most beautiful religious festivities in Ethiopia
which commemorates Jesus’ baptism. After a
kind of ceremony around the pool, people jump
into the water to have a bath and play.
The walls depict biblical scenes and saints and
the ceiling is covered with the faces of
hundreds of angels.
The Debre Berhan Selassie Church is a real
wonder and if you visit Ethiopia you cannot
miss it. Built at the end of the 18th century on
the top of a hill, it is famous for its stunning
pictures that decorate the inside walls. Like all
the buildings that I visited in Gonder, this
church is surrounded by an enclosure with
several towers covered with egg-shaped domes.
Take your time and walk around the walls
before going inside: hidden among exuberant
vegetation there are some surprises. The
outside of Debre Berhan Selassie is rather
plain, but its interior has made it one of
Ethiopia's top tourist attractions. It is
surrounded by a beautiful veranda and has
doors on three sides: west, north and south
while the east side is sacred and closed.
People enter to the church from the main door
in the west side and move forward to the
sancta sanctorum in the east where the tabot
is kept but only opened to clergy.
Icons of the Holy Trinity and the Crucifixion
have pride of place above the entrance to the
Holy of Holies.
Inside, the main wall shows the Trinity -always
represented by three old bearded mansurrounded by the symbols of the apostles.
Other remarkable paintings are the knightssaints, Christ’s life on the north wall and an
enchained devil on the south. But the most
famous paintings in this church are the
uncountable winged cherubs that invade the
wooden roof looking at the four directions with
their almond eyes.
Flash is not permitted inside but the
unemotional priest will accept all kind of still
positions to get good pictures. It seems that he
is used to it!
Gonder is an easy walking city and as soon as
you take the hilly streets that leave the centre,
crowds disappear, colors become greener and
you can breathe fresh air again. Locals have
many facilities to spend their free time: gardens
and terraces, restaurants or local pubs.
These dramatic Castles, unlike any other in
Africa, display richness in architecture that
reveals the Axumite traditions as well as the
influence of Arabia.
Seeing is believing!