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Gonder – Ancient Capital Of Ethiopia

Fasilida's Casstle, Fasil Ghebbi, the Royal Enclosure, Gonder, Ethiopia, Africa

Fasilida’s Casstle, Fasil Ghebbi, the Royal Enclosure, Gonder, Ethiopia, Africa

An approx. 4 hour drive from Bahir Dar, the small town of Gonder offers the most beautiful vestige of a once great Empire which influence reached far beyond Africa’s borders… King Fasilidas made of Gonder the Capital of his Empire in the 17th Century, and did so in the most perfect place: a large valley protected by the surrounding high mountains, on two major trade routes, not far from the shores of Lake Tana, on the sources of the Nile. Continue Reading →

The Falashas – Ethiopia’s Black Jews

Wolleka, a Falasha Village near Gonder, Ethiopia

Wolleka, a Falasha Village near Gonder, Ethiopia

Driving back to Gonder from the Siam Mountains, we passed through a former Falasha Village, a reminder of Ethiopia’s black Jews. Nowadays, only two of the Falashas live in the village. The old synagogue is mainly for the few tourists passing by, together with the many souvenir shops selling kitsch made from clay displaying King Solomon in love with the Queen of Sheba and the omnipresent Star of David. But these have to be covered by plastic sheets, otherwise they would become one with the dust carried from the nearby road. Continue Reading →