Visit of Gondar (Ethiopia)
Gondar or Gonder is a city in Ethiopia, which was once the old imperial capital and capital of the historic Begemder Province. As a result, the old province of Begemder is sometimes referred to as Gondar. 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.
Until the 16th century, the Solomonic Emperors of Ethiopia usually had no fixed capital, 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 again and again. 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' (modern pronunciation 'Gʷe'; Gonder was originally spelt Gʷandar), which also contributed to Gorgora's (founded as Gʷargʷara) 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 ordered that the inhabitants of Gondar be segregated by religion. This caused the Muslims to move into their own quarter, Islamge (Ge'ez: እስላምጌ Islam place, or Islam country) 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.[6] 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.
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Ethiopia Tourist Attractions: 11 Top Places to Visit
Planning to visit Ethiopia? Check out our Ethiopia Travel Guide video and see top most Tourist Attractions in Ethiopia.
Top Places to visit in Ethiopia:
Lake Tana, Simien Mountains National Park, Blue Nile Falls, National Museum of Ethiopia, Holy Trinity Cathedral, Awash National Park, Mago National Park, Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion, Ras Dashen Mountain, Rock-Hewn Churches, Lalibela, Great Ethiopian Run
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Ethiopia (Beautiful Gondar / 2015) Part 8
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Gondar or Gonder (Amharic: ጎንደር?, 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 (the Royal Enclosure), for which Gondar has been called the Camelot of Africa.
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 (the Royal Enclosure), 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.
Air transport is served by Gondar Airport (ICAO code HAGN, IATA GDQ), also known as Atse Tewodros Airport, after the Emperor of Ethiopia (Atse) Tewodros. It is 18 km (11 miles) south of the city.Intercity bus service is provided by the Selam Bus Line Share Company.Wikipedia
Northern Ethiopia
The Johannesburg Branch of the South African Archaeological Society organized a trip to the northern part of Ethiopia in 2009. A flight from Addis Ababa took the members to Axum, the former capital of the Axumite Empire, a lesser known of the great civilisations. Crossing the up to 4500 meter high Semien Mountain Range, they descended to Gondar with its medieval castles, residences of ethiopian emperors during the 16th and 17th centuries. On Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile, are very interesting ancient churches and monasteries. A short flight took them to Lalibela with its world-famous rock hewn churches. They continued with 4x4 vehicles to the Afar Region in the north west of Ethiopia, a seldom visited arid desert, where they were fortunate to meet american palaeontologists at the site where Lucy the famous 3.2 million year old hominid was found in 1974. Further east lies the walled city of Harar, one of the holy cities of Islam.
Die Niederlassung der South African Archaeological Society in Johannesburg veranstaltete im Jahre 2009 eine Reise zum nördlichen Teil Äthiopiens. Ein Flug von Addis Ababa brachte die Teilnehmer nach Axum, der ehemaligen Hauptstadt des Aksumitischen Reiches, eine weniger bekannte der großen Zivilisationen. Nachdem sie das bis zu 4500 Meter hohe Gebiet der Semien Berge überquert hatten, erreichten sie Gondar mit seinen mittelalterlichen Festungen, den Wohnsitzen der äthiopischen Herrscher während des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts. Am Tanasee, der Quelle des Blauen Nils, befanden sich historische Kirchen und Klöster. Ein kurzer Flug brachte sie nach Lalibela mit seinen weltbekannten, in Basaltlava gemeißelten Kirchen. Mit 4×4 Fahrzeugen setzten sie ihre Reise zur Afar Region fort, den Nordwesten Äthiopiens. In der trockenen und selten besuchten Wüste hatten sie das Glück, amerikanische Paläontologen an jenem Platz zu treffen, an dem im Jahre 1974 Lucy, der bekannte 3,2 Millionen Jahre alte Menschenaffe, gefunden wurde. Weiter östlich lag die ummauerte Altstadt der islamischen Hochburg Harar.
Timeless Ethiopia Tour: One of the lowest places in the world
Dallol (Amharic: ዳሎል) is a locality in the Dallol woreda of northern Ethiopia. Located in Administrative Zone 2 of the Afar Region in the Afar Depression, it has a latitude and longitude of 14°14′19″N 40°17′38″E with an elevation of about 130 metres (430 ft) below sea level. The Central Statistical Agency has not published an estimate for this settlement's 2005 population; it has been described as a ghost town.
Dallol currently holds the official record for record high average temperature for an inhabited location on Earth, where an average annual temperature of 35°C (95°F) was recorded between the years 1960 and 1966. Dallol is also one of the most remote places on Earth, although paved roads to the village of Hamedela, which is close, are being built. Still, the most important mode of transport besides jeeps are the camel caravans which travel to the area to collect salt.
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Ethiopia (Kombolcha to Awash)Afar Region Part 31
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Awash is a market town in central Ethiopia. Located in Administrative Zone 3 of the Afar Region, above a gorge on the Awash River, after which the town is named, the town lies on the Addis Ababa - Djibouti Railway, which crosses the gorge by a bridge there. It is the largest settlement in Awash Fentale woreda.Awash lies outside the Awash National Park, which is known for its wildlife, for the Mount Fentale caldera and for the Filwoha Hot Springs. Its market is held on Mondays, where Afar and Kereyu crafts can be found.
An iron bridge over the Awash had been built at the present location of Awash by Emperor Menelik II's favorite, Alfred Ilg, around 1890; this bridge replaced an earlier wooden one. The construction had to face the great difficulty of transporting the girders from Djibouti, but once the material had arrived, the structure had been finished in ten days; however Emperor Menelik had used for other purposes the cement imported from Europe to build the bridge with. When Count Gleichen encountered the bridge in 1897, during his mission to Emperor Menelik, he found the bridge would be too weak to stand anything but ordinary pack-animal traffic. For nine months in the year it is blocked at each end by a broad abattis of thorn-bush, - to prevent people from using it when the river is fordable, - but during the rains it is left open.
Awash grew up around the railroad station, which was opened not long after 1917 when the railway had reached this far into Ethiopia. A hotel for passengers was built in Awash about that time.[3] The fourth post office in Ethiopia (after Harar, Dire Dawa and Addis Ababa) was established in Awash on 1 September 1923, but it may not have been much of a point of origin and arrival but rather a place on the line between the capital and the coast.During the Italian occupation, Awash still provided a post office, a telegraph station, the hotel, and restaurant. The town was occupied in April 1941 by the 22nd East African Brigade of the King's African Rifles, who had advanced for three days from Dire Dawa. Elements of this brigade afterwards continued their advance across the Awash at this point on 3 April 1941, although the road and rail bridge had been demolished by the retreating Italians. By 1953, the bridge had been rebuilt.One of the five camps to train conscripts of the People's Militia (reconstituted in the spring of 1977 as the Red Army) was located at Awash.
On January 14, 1985 a train derailed at Awash on the Addis Ababa - Djibouti Railway plunging four of its five carriages into a ravine; the crash was estimated to have killed at least 428 and injured 500 of the estimated 1,000 on board. It was the worst rail accident in African history. It is believed that the cause of the crash was the excessive speed of the train round a curve on a bridge across the ravine. The derailment happened at 13:40 between Arba and Awash.
Ethiopian Capital City Addis Ababa Part 69
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Addis Ababa:
Addis Ababa sometimes spelled Addis Abeba (the spelling used by the official Ethiopian Mapping Authority), is the capital city of Ethiopia. Founded in 1886, it is the largest city in Ethiopia, with a population of 3,384,569 according to the 2007 population census with annual growth rate of 3.8%. This number has been increased from the originally published 2,738,248 figure and appears to be still largely underestimated.As a chartered city (ras gez astedader), Addis Ababa has the status of both a city and a state. It is where the African Union and its predecessor the OAU are based. It also hosts the headquarters of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and numerous other continental and international organizations. Addis Ababa is therefore often referred to as the political capital of Africa due to its historical, diplomatic and political significance for the continent.
The city is populated by people from different regions of Ethiopia – the country has as many as 80 nationalities speaking 80 languages and belonging to a wide variety of religious communities. It is home to Addis Ababa University. The Federation of African Societies of Chemistry (FASC) and Horn of Africa Press Institute (HAPI) are also headquartered in Addis Ababa.
Overview:Addis Ababa lies at an altitude of 7,546 feet (2,300 metres) and is a grassland biome, located at 9°1′48″N 38°44′24″ECoordinates: 9°1′48″N 38°44′24″E. The city lies at the foot of Mount Entoto and forms part of the watershed for the Awash. From its lowest point, around Bole International Airport, at 2,326 metres (7,631 ft) above sea level in the southern periphery, the city rises to over 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) in the Entoto Mountains to the north.
Based on the 2007 census conducted by the Ethiopian national statistics authorities the population of Addis Ababa is 3,384,569 million; all of the population are urban inhabitants. For the capital city 662,728 households were counted living in 628,984 housing units, which results in an average of 5.3 persons to a household. Although all Ethiopian ethnic groups are represented in Addis Ababa due to its position as capital of the country, the largest groups include the Amhara (47.04%), Oromo (19.51%), Gurage (16.34%), Tigray (6.18%), Silt'e (2.94%), and Gamo (1.68%). Languages spoken include Amharic (71.0%), Oromiffa (10.7%), Gurage (8.37%), Tigrinya (3.60%), Silt'e (1.82%) and Gamo (1.03%). The religion with the most believers in Addis Ababa is Ethiopian Orthodox with 74.7% of the population, while 16.2% are Muslim, 7.77% Protestant, and 0.48% Catholic.
In the previous census, conducted in 1994, the city's population was reported to be 2,112,737, of whom 1,023,452 were men and 1,089,285 were women. At that time not all of the population were urban inhabitants; only 2,084,588 or 98.7% were. For the entire administrative council there were 404,783 households in 376,568 housing units with an average of 5.2 persons per household. The major ethnic groups included the Amhara (48.3%), Oromo (19.2%), Gurage (13.5%; 2.3% Sebat Bet, and 0.8% Sodo), Tigray 7.64%, Silt'e 3.98%, and foreigners from Eritrea 1.33%. Languages spoken included Amharic (72.6%), Oromiffa (10.0%), Gurage (6.54%), Tigrinya (5.41%), and Silt'e 2.29%. In 1994 the predominant religion was also Ethiopian Orthodox with 82.0% of the population, while 12.7% were Muslim, 3.87% Protestant, and 0.78% Catholic.
According to the 2007 national census, 98.64% of the housing units of Addis Ababa had access to safe drinking water, while 14.9% had flush toilets, 70.7% pit toilets (both ventilated and unventilated), and 14.3% had no toilet facilities. Values for other reported common indicators of the standard of living for Addis Ababa as of 2005 include the following: 0.1% of the inhabitants fall into the lowest wealth quintile; adult literacy for men is 93.6% and for women 79.95%, the highest in the nation for both sexes; and the civic infant mortality rate is 45 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, which is less than the nationwide average of 77; at least half of these deaths occurred in the infants’ first month of life.Wikipedia
Ethiopia (Bahir Dar/Awra Amba Village) 2015 Part 7
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Awra Amba is an Ethiopian community of about 400 people, located 73 kilometres east of Bahir Dar in the Fogera woreda of Debub Gondar Zone. It was founded in 1980 with the goal of solving socio-economic problems through helping one another in an environment of egalitarianism—in marked contrast to the traditional norms of Amhara society. The name means Top of the Hill in Amharic.
Founded by Zumra Nuru, who currently serves as co-chairman of the community, with 19 other people who shared his vision, as of 2007 Awra Amba has some 400 members, and is lauded as a model to alleviate poverty and promote gender equality in a country where women are generally subservient to men.
he fact that its members work together, are diligent, disciplined and self-confident makes the Awra Amba community distinct from other Amhara communities. Women have equal rights as men and there is no distinction in divisions of labor between men and women. All people in the community have no religion as distinct from most communities in Ethiopia. They believe in hard work and being good to people. They keep their houses and their surrounding clean. Theft is seen as very obscene.
The community is ostracized, as it does not belong to either of the two primary religious groupings -- Islam or Christianity. Members of the Awra Amba community therefore were not given agricultural land to cultivate, but instead were pushed into the most infertile and malaria infested corner of the district. As they cannot live on farm activities, they have diversified into the weaving business, using both traditional and modern weaving machines. In addition, using three grinding mills provided the Regional Micro and Small Scale Enterprise Development Agency, they offer milling service to neighbouring farmers. The village hopes to earn more money in order to build potable water and sewage systems, pave the road, and create an education fund for the children.
The village is unique not only for its attitudes toward gender, religion, and education, but for the social security it provides its members in need. There are formal committees to provide services which include: education, to receive guests, to take care of patients, the elderly and children, and community health. They have established a literacy campaign for adults, a library, and a preschool. Despite living in a culture which practice early marriage, the people of Awra Amba have decided girls should marry only after reaching the age of 18, and boys at or above 22.
Ethiopia: A Land of Rare Species
The range of terrain and climate make Ethiopia the fourth largest biodiversity zone on earth – with more unique species of flora than any other country in Africa – and a wildlife lover’s paradise.
Ethiopia’s birdlife is among the best in Africa thanks to its incredible range of different habitats and proximity to the equator. Of the 860 species found here, 18 are endemic.
Make time to visit Ethiopia, and discover for yourself the origins of so much history and culture - still vibrantly alive in a landscape of dramatic beauty. Come and you will witness how Ethiopia is original in many ways.
ethiopia.travel
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Ethiopia Tourist Attraction : Gondar
: Ethiopia Tourist Attraction : Gondar