GONDAR – Castles and Dance – Amhara Region/North Ethiopia

ETHIOPIA – GONDAR

Gondar is an old lively city in the Amhara region. Elevation 2200 meters, more than 200 000 inhabitants. Gondar used to be called “The Camelot of Africa”. But this place is very real and not fiction like Camelot. This was the last stronghold af the invading Italian army before they where kicked out.

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Fasilides Castle was built by Emperor Fasilides (Raign1632-67). And since then has been a home for seceding Ethiopian emperors. Before then the emperors of Ethiopia didn’t have a fixed base but was wandering. It is the remains of the fortress city within Gondar called Fasil Ghebbi (Royal Enclosure). Its been a UNESCO world heritage site since 1979 and probably one of the two reasons to go to Gondar. Second reason is to book a tour to go to Semian Mountains.

Ethiopia Dance and music

Traditionally the music is played on a kind of little guitar with only one string called the masenqo.  Every dancer have their own way of moving to the music. I read that there where more than 80 different ethnic group with their own Traditional dance and moves. Uploaded 2 videos to show traditional Ethiopia dance. I would like to merge these video, but the YouTube merging bottom  is not to be found. It is kind of a wild dance. I was told that after the dance, you are supposed to stick notes on the sweaty forehead of the masenqo player.

As always I am sorry for the quality and not understanding basic IPhone. I need to turn the thingy 45 degrees. Anyways I think you can get a basic idea about Ethiopian Dance. And maybe you can steal  a move or two.

Debre Berhan Selassie Church is worth seeing.  There’s space for 135 cherubs, though 13 have been erased by water damage.

There is a lovely story about  marauding Sudanese dervishes showed up outside the church gates in the 1880s, when a giant swarm of bees surged out of the compound, chasing the invaders away. (Lonely Planet)