Second day of our great Ethiopian road trip we stopped in Gondar to check out some of the very cool Castles, Dobe Birhan Selassie Church and Fasiledas Bath, which is only filled once a year for Timket, which happened to be the next day!

On the way there the scenery was stunning. We enjoyed the villages, the mountainous scenery, etc. We stayed at the super impressive Goha Hotel, located on the top of a hill overlooking the town it has great views.

Once in Gondar we added a couple sites to our itinerary, including visiting Kuskuam and Dobe Birhan Selassie Church, both well worth the visit.

First stop was at Empress Mentewab's Kuskuam Complex. Built in 1730 after the death of her husband, she moved her to not by tempted by "boys" and to be away from the gossip in the center of the city. Even though most of the buildings have been damaged or destroyed over the years her remains happen to still be in a small box in the tiny museum.


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Fasilides' Bath

Fasilides was an emperer of Ethiopia from 1632 to 1667. Emperor Fasilides was a prolific builder and was responsible for most of the really cool sites in Gondar. The Bath is still used ceremonially just once a year for the Timket Festival in Gondar to commemorate the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River.

We happened to be there the day before the festival when the pool was being slowly filled from a nearby spring. On Timket thousands of locals gather for prayer and then jump into the pool in large numbers.


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Fasil Ghebbi

Fasil Ghebbi in the center of Gondar is the Royal Enclosure inside which the highlight is the surprisingly spectacular Fasilides Castle. The complex contains a number of buildings in various states of ruin, including Fasilides' Castle, Iyasu I's palace, Dawit II's Hall, a banqueting hal, stables, Empress Mentewab's castle, a chancellery, library and three churches.

Construction of this complex started in 1636 and completed in 1640. Gondar remained the capital until 1855 and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was opened to the public in 2005.


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Debre Birhan Selassie Church

Debre Birhan Selassie (Trinity and the Mountain of Light) Church was built in the 17th century and named after Emperor Eyasu II's nickname.

It is mostly famous because it was the only church to survive the invasion by the Sudanese Mahdist Dervishes in 1888. It is said the church survived because a swarm of bees descended on the church and kept the soldiest back. Oh, and the Archangel Michael himself is said to have stood at the gates with a flaming sword drawn.


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Goha Hotel

Our hotel in Gondar was the very nice Goha Hotel, built on a hill with a spectacular view of the town and surrounding valleys below. Kinda wish we could have stayed here a few more days.


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