Gondar I

Gondar was the seat of the emperor of the Abyssinian, or Solomonic, Empire between the 17th and 18th century. Given its history, the town is home to breathtaking castles and churches.

On Friday we went to explore the Fasiladas Complex, dubbed Africa's Camelot. Before describing this amazing place, a bit of background: Gondar was founded by Emperor Fasiladas in 1632. According to our guide, three reasons convinced Fasiadas to settle Gondar in its current location: first, it's surrounded by mountains, so it's hard to attack; second, it's free from malaria because of its altitude (2200 mts above sea level); third, it was in the middle of two trade routes to Sudan and the Red Sea.

Fasiladas also made Orthodox Christianity the empire's official religion. That did not mean, however, that other religions were excluded, although some religious persecution did take place.

Finally, Fasiladas built the first of seven castles in the Fasiladas Complex. This complex housed six different emperors.

Now, to our visit:

The castles are made of stone and can best be described as hybrids of Portuguese, Italian and local architecture. In fact, Fasiladas' castle was adorned with Christian, Jewish and Indian motifs. They are one, two or three stories high, with high, domed towers in each corner. Most have multiple rooms, and Fasiladas' castle, the one I liked most, even has a little court room, since the emperor dispensed justice. The complex also has a massive dining hall, a sauna and a stable. Furthermore, it is connected by small bridges to four surrounding churches.



Fasiladas died in 1667, and was succeeded first by his son, Yohannes I, and later by his grandson, Iyasu I. Each one built his own castle in the compound. After Iyasu I, there was some infighting between his 13 sons (each borne by a different mother). This 10 year period is known as the dark age. Eventually, an Empress, Mentwab, took over. Interestingly, out of all Gondar rulers, she was the one who stayed in power the longest: 25 years. She eventually retired, and left her son in power. He was the last real emperor of Gondar. After him, the empire imploded and regional kings wrestled control over their provinces from the emperor.

One final interesting fact: during Mussolini's time, the Italians conquered and partially ruled Ethiopia for five years. During their advance towards Addis Ababa, the bombed Gondar, damaging part of the Royal Enclosure (the formal name for Fasiladas' Complex). After they had taken over the country (and Haile Sellassie had escaped to England), the Italians made one of the castles in the Fasiladas' Complex their military headquarters for the region. As such, they decided to "fix it", adding glass doors and rounded glass windows. They completely ruined it. Not only that, but they also decided to "preserve" the dining hall's room by remaking it out of concrete. Now the walls are cracking because the concrete is too heavy. Fortunately, UNESCO, with Norwegian financial support, is working to renovate the complex.



Lastly, once World War II started, the British declared war on Italy and supported Ethiopian independence (until then, they ignored Sellassie's pleas for help). During the "liberation", British airplanes bombed the complex, further damaging it.