Gonder was the imperial capital of the very historic and marvelous begemder province.
This place was ruled by the Solomonic emperors of Ethiopia. The locals here used to cut nearby trees for firewood. This was the capital of the region especially during the first century of Solomon’s rule.
The rulers used to spend the rainy season near the famous Lake Tana. They would later return here again and again to the same location. There were many encampments that flourished here. Including the dankaz, gorgora, and ayba.
Located in the Simen Mountains, the Gonder range is the highest range in all of Africa. . It late also became the capital of the Ethiopian empire. An emperor called fasial in the seventeenth century. Surrounded by high stone walls the massive structure lies at the center of the lively town. If you have a fancy for imperial buildings then this is a complete one-stop shop for you. , the least number of castles that you’ll see is five. The oldest one is almost attributed to fasil and the most recent one is as new as the eighteenth century.
This was also the administrative and commercial center of the empire. Later on Gonder turned out to even become a religious center attracting a lot of priests and pilgrims. The most valued site today is the debre berhan selassie, which is very famous for its beautiful seventeenth-century architecture and design.
The old city of Gonder was divided into different neighborhoods. There was Addis Alem. This was where the Muslim inhabitants lived.
If you plan to take a trip through one of the tourist agencies then you need a minimum of about twelve days to be sufficient to have a worthwhile journey.
The best time to visit this place is around December and January.
The monolithic rock churches Lalibela are mysteriously engaging and have baffled many since the twelfth and thirteen centuries.
This mountain was an important place for the zagwe dynasty. Although the reason each church was built this was is still a mystery and has never been truly proved. The churches are carved below the underground level and some of them go down all the way till thirty feet. . The entire place is connected to courtyards and trenches that connect again and form a tangled made of tunnels and passages that lie between one building and the other. The churches are to Ethiopia as the pyramids are to Egypt. This is a national treasure. The town of Lalibela is set at about eight thousand feet and that is in itself quite an attractive reason to bring in tourists.
Lalibela lies in the north in the Ethiopia region. This place is known to be one of the holiest cities after the holy city of Askum.
This place is located in the simen wollo zone which lies in the Mahara ethnic division.
Lalibela was earlier called roha. The king had been given this name because of a story that during his birth, a swarm of bees had surrounded him. This according to his mother was a sign that he would reign over the Ethiopian empire.
The churches here have similar names. The Jordan River passing through the land is also a famous landmark.
The famous Portuguese explorer pero da covilha came here often.
This rural town is known all over the world for its monolithic churches which play an important part in the history of this kind of rock architecture. . The thirteen churches here are assembled in four groups.
There is said to be some form of controversy about when the churches were actually built. . Experts believe that the works resemble the work from the fourteenth century.
There were rumors that these churches were built by the knight’s templar. Although this theory was later negated. Later it was found out that this was built by mainstream Ethiopian architecture.
The locals here are however quite sensitive regarding the origin of the churches. They believe that the churched evidently are from the Axumite origin.
One of the most significant attributes of the churches is that the engineering works here in the churches are just amazing and way ahead of their time.
