A former capital of Ethiopia for over a century, the population today is about 200,000.

A welcome change from polluted, dusty Addis, most everyone likes Gondar. It’s at high altitude in the highlands, warm in the day, cold at night.

The population is 83% Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, 16% Muslim.

The center of the widely sprawling town is this statue of warrior emperor Tewodros II (ruler from 1855 to 1868). Tourists are hassled a fair bit here but not much anywhere else in Gondar.

I was very happy at the L-Shape hotel. $16/night.

Yep. The shape of that hotel is perfectly rectangular. 🙂

During the Second World War, Italian forces in Ethiopia made their last stand in Gondar November 1941. Addis Ababa had fallen to British forces 6 months before.

I was here to visit the Royal Enclosure, some of the best historical ruins in Africa.

Gondar is the jumping off point for the Simien trek, 3hrs further north.

There are surprisingly few bicycles in Ethiopia. Those who own one can bring them here, then RENT them to those who want to cycle around the parking lot.

Gondar is also a noted center of ecclesiastical learning of the Ethiopian Orthodox having 44 churches – for many years more than any other settlement in Ethiopia.

Most of the imagery shows Jesus and Mary whiter than me. A shame.

Pilgrims, the poor, homeless and dying hang about the Churches.

I wasn’t sure if this man was drunk, sleeping or dead.

Farewell Gondar.

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Timkat (Amharic: “baptism”) (also spelled Timket, or Timqat) is the Ethiopian Orthodox celebration of Epiphany. …

Timket celebrates the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River. This festival is best known for its ritual reenactment of baptism …

It is celebrated in January, right after Christmas, two of their biggest festivals back-to-back. Fasilides’ Bath is one of the very best places to see it.

I visited the ruins in December. No water. It was pretty quiet.

Ethiopian Queen.

Mentewab was a major political figure during the reigns of her son the Emperor Iyasu and grandson Iyoas. …

Mentewab married Emperor Bakaffa in Qwara 6 September 1722, becoming his second wife (his first wife having mysteriously died on the day she was crowned immediately following her coronation banquet). …

Empress Mentewab was crowned co-ruler upon the succession of her son Iyasu II in 1730, and held unprecedented power over government during his reign. …

 

She was quite a character.

From 1723 to 1730 she lived in this Palace, some distance away from the Royal court. She liked men too much, they say. Some speculate that she was removed to reduce Royal gossip.

Scottish traveller and travel writer James Bruce discovered more than just the source of the Blue Nile when he visited Mentewab.

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Gondar was the home of the Ethiopian emperors in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Price of entry is $10, a big increase over just a few years ago. Money well spent, I thought, as was my additional $10 (plus tip) for a personal guide. Fautalwn was excellent, making the bizarre and exotic story of the Gondar emperors come alive.

He suggested I return late afternoon for the best photos.

These are the picturesque ruins of Fasil Ghebbi (Royal Enclosure).

There are disappointingly few historical ruins in Africa. This is one of the best. It is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Banqueting hall, stables, kitchens, steam baths and chapels. Even lions’ cages (now vacant).

Renovations are ongoing. The ladies are mixing the same lime that was used in the original construction. Part of the process is buying the crushed stone for 3-5 years.

 

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It took a couple of tries before I found the right road, walking 1.5km from the centre of Gondar.

It looks as much a fortress as a church.

High, thick walls.

12 guard towers. (Each representing one of the twelve apostles.)

It’s small but solid.

Churches like this were once quite common in this area, but this is the only one of that era to survive Sudanese destruction.

I listened in as a tour guide explained the paintings and detail inside. Simple, but striking.

The walls depict biblical scenes and saints and the ceiling is covered with the faces of hundreds of angels. Icons of the Holy Trinity (three identical men with halos) and the Crucifixion have pride of place above the entrance to the Holy of Holies.

sacred destinations

I walked the outside of the perimeter wall finding homeless people asleep. And a graveyard in disrepair.

Further from town is a big dam. I made one attempt to start walking in that direction, but a neighbourhood gentleman advised me to turn around. Walk back to town.

I’m not sure what the problem might be. But I heeded his advice. And turned back.

Too huge, perhaps.

But it does not look like a giant shopping mall, as so many of the other new airports do.

The BIG news, however, is that people flying Qatar Airlines with layovers of over 8 hours currently get a complimentary hotel room at the airport. I met an Irishman who just took advantage of the promotion.

Sounds good to me. I sleep over in airports a number of days each year.

…  Hamad International Airport was originally scheduled to open in 2009, but after a series of costly delays, the airport finally opened on April 30, 2014 …

Hamad International Airport has been designed to cater for a projected ongoing increase in the volume of traffic. The airport has an initial annual capacity of 29 million passengers, three times the current volume. Upon completion, it will be able to handle 50 million passengers per year, although some estimates suggest the airport could handle up to 93 million per year, making it the second largest airport in the region after Dubai. …

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. The Qatar Airlines CEO is something to see.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9RKywtw_Ng

 

related – Airport Review: Qatar’s Completely Over-the-top Hamad International Airport

related – Best Airports in the Middle East 2014

Brazzaville is the capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo and is located on the Congo River. As of the 2007 census, it has a population of … about 2 million in total …

The populous city of Kinshasa (more than 10 million inhabitants in 2009), capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, lies just across the Congo River …

Brazzaville is named after the Italian (but French-naturalized) explorer Pietro Savorgnan di Brazza, the man who first discovered the Republic of Congo. Di Brazza was a gentle man, known for his non-violent methods and opposition to colonial exploitation. His body was returned in 2006, interred in a new gleaming memorial.

Brazzaville is the only African capital to have retained its colonial name.

French control over the (Brazzaville) area was made official by the Berlin Conference of 1884. The city became the capital first of the French Congo, and then of French Equatorial Africa.

Brazza was the capital of ‘Free France’ for a number of years in the World War II. Charles De Gaulle stayed here in exile during World War II.

Here’s my hotel …

… it’s the rainy season.

There are surprisingly few stray dogs. This family lives in the fire hall.

Traditional food is good. Western food … interesting.

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I’d not thought once of Christmas when I walked on to this scene in a fancy Brazzaville, Congo hotel.

Brazzaville has some lovely churches and cathedrals.

Basilique Sainte-Anne of the Congo, built by Roger Erell, 1949, is considered one of the most beautiful modern churches in the world. My photo does it no justice.

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Here’s a somewhat better pic. This building is massive and unique.