Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A large
stone wall
with 12 rounded towers surrounds the compound and these represent
the 12 apostles. The larger 13th tower (entrance gate) symbolises Christ and is shaped to
resemble the Lion of Judah. If you have a keen eye, you'll be able to spot the lion's tail
above the doorway in the wall west of the church.
Flash photography inside the church is forbidden. Priests offer tours but a small contri-
bution for the church should be left afterwards.
Empress Mentewab's Kuskuam Complex
(admission Birr50, personal video cameras Birr75; 8am-6pm)
It might not be as well-
preserved as the Royal Enclosure or as sacred as Debre Berhan Selassie, but what this
royal compound, known as Kuskuam, lacks in order and holiness it more than makes up
for in melancholy. The complex was built in 1730 for the redoubtable Empress Mentewab,
after the death of her husband (Emperor Bakaffa). It's said that she chose to move out here
because she was a bit too keen on boys and living out here would keep her out of gossip's
way. Gossip and the boys didn't stay away though: according to locals, when James Bruce
stayed here with the empress during his explorations of the highlands, he got to discover
more than just the source of the Blue Nile.
Like the Royal Enclosure, it's made up of a series of buildings, including a long, castel-
lated
palace
used for state receptions and to house the royal garrison. Its exterior is
trimmed with red volcanic tuff; figures include St Samuel, a lion and the same Gonderian
crosses on her palace in the Royal Enclosure. Her palace and several nearby buildings
were damaged by the British during WWII.
There used to be a fine church here, but that was destroyed by the Dervishes and the re-
built sanctuary is uninspiring. The star attraction in the adjacent
museum
, under one of
the egg-shaped towers, is a small glass-fronted coffin with the remains of the empress, her
son Emperor Iyasu II and her grandson Iyo'as, the last emperor of Gonder. Below the
complex lies a series of tiny doll-sized mud-and-stick houses that religious students live in
while training to become monks or priests.
The complex lies in the hills 4km northwest of town. A one-way
bajaj
from the piazza,
taking in the palace and Fasiladas' Bath, should cost about Birr80 return.
PALACE
Wolleka (Falasha Village)
Just 3km north of Gonder, several craft stalls with 'Stars of David' and 'Falasha Village'
signs signal what's really the
former
Falasha village of Wolleka. Once the home to a thriv-
ing population of Falashas (Ethiopian Jews), most were airlifted to Israel in the 1980s and
today none remain. There are, however, a few original houses with interesting artwork on
VILLAGE
