Gondar
Gondar Palace during the 16th Century
Gondar became the capital of Ethiopia during the reign
of Emperor Fasilidas (1632-1667), who was responsible for the building
of the first of a number of castle-like palaces to be found here. The
oldest and the most impressive of Gondar's imperial structures is the
two-storeyed palace of Emperor Fasilidas, which is built of roughly hewn
brown basalt stones held together with mortar.
The city retained its pre-eminence until the middle
of the nineteenth century, when Emperor Tewodros II moved his seat of
government to Debre Tabor and later to Mekdela. As a result, Gondar declined
in importance and was subsequently looted in the 1880s by the Sudanese
Dervishes.
By the early nineteenth century the city was a mere
shadow of its former self. More recently, several hisoric buildings were
damaged by British bombing during the Ethiopian liberation campaign of
1941. Most of Gondar's famous castles and other imperial buildings nevertheless
have survived the ravages of time and together constitute one of Ethiopia's
most fascinating antiquties.
