GONDAR PERIOD (1632-1769)

LOCATION
• Gondar or Gondar is city and separate woreda in Ethiopia.
Located in the Semien Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region,
Gondar is north of Tana Lake on the Lesser Angereb River and
southwest of the Simien Mountains. It has a latitude and
longitude of 12°36′N 37°28′E with an elevation of 2133
meters above sea level. It is surrounded by the Gondar
Zuria woreda. Gondar served as a strong Christian kingdom
for many years
 GONDAR PERIOD (1632-1769)
Gondar Medieval Capital of Africa
Gondar is located just 50km north of Lake Tana and 700km
north of Addis Ababa is nestle in the foothills of the
Semien Mountains on altitude of 2 200m above the sea.
Gondar was founded by King Fasiledes in 1636; it was the
capital of Ethiopia for nearly 200 years, reflected by its
castle compound that includes number of palace. The
most famous buildings in Gondar lie in the seventeenth
century Royal Enclosure including: Fasilides Castle,
Mentewabs Castle, Iyasus Palace and Dawits Hall Palace.
BACKGROUND
• After the rise of Islam in the middle east there
followed almost one thousand years when
Christian Ethiopia was more or less isolated from
the outer world.
• The war between Mohamed Gragn and Ethiopian
highlanders around 1527-1543 resulted in the
destruction of much of the Christian medieval
architectural heritage in Ethiopia.
GONDAR AND ITS ESTABLISHMENT
• Gondar is founded by Fasiledes 1635 to create a strong center free from
hostility. The city was segregated based on religious quarters during the
reign of Yohannes I. Gondar was at the height of its prosperity at the
turn of the eighteenth century, when it may have had a population
of 70,000.
Fasil• Ghebbi, (inscribed
This property includedin
in UNESCO 1979)
the list of UNESCO
World tangible Heritage Sites in Ethiopia consists
of eight component sites. The main site is the
Fasil Ghebbi palace compound. Meanwhile, the
other seven sites are located within the city of
Gondar. These sites include a monastery, church,
thermal area, bath, and a palace.
 THE CRITERIA THAT FASIL GINB
FULLFILL
• "To exhibit an important interchange of human
values, over a span of time or within a cultural
area of the world, on developments in
architecture or technology, monumental arts,
town-planning or landscape design"
• "To bear a unique or at least exceptional
testimony to a cultural tradition or to a
civilization which is living or which has
disappeared"
 INCOME GENERATED FROM THE HERITAGES
• Over 19 million Birr was secured from tourists, who visited historic,
cultural and religious sites in Gondar Town, Amhara State during the
first quarter of this fiscal year, the town culture and tourism department
said.
• Department Head told that the stated sum was obtained from more
than 16,300 tourists, who visited the sites. Some 12,300 of the tourists
are domestic visitors, while the remaining more than 4,000 are
foreigners, he said. According to the head, the number of tourists, who
visited the sites and the amount secured from the sector exceeded last
year’s same period by 6,000 and 12 million Birr respectively.
 AUTHENTICITY
• Most of the monuments have preserved their authenticity and
remain in an overall good state of conservation. But, inappropriate
conservation interventions, carried out between 1930 and 1936,
using cement and reinforced concrete caused damage to the
original materials and impacted the authenticity of the intervened
components. The situation was partially reversed with the
restoration works carried out by UNESCO in the 1970s, which
replaced the cement and concrete work with the original mixes of
lime mortar as well as with subsequent major conservation
programs implemented since 1990. Currently conservation
activities at the property seek to reverse the prior impacts so as to
maintain the authenticity of the property and focus on the use of
original techniques and materials.
 HERITAGE SITES
• The castles of King Fasiledes and his successors
• Fasil’s swimming pool
• Churches of Debra Berhan Selassie
• Kuskwam Mariam
• Gorgra
• guzara
are among the major sites visited by the tourists.
 The palace at Guzara
• Belongs to king Sartsa Dingil Constructed around
1570. A two-story rectangular building with two
round corner towers topped with domes It has a
battlement parapet wall at roof level, with a small
vision of the building acting as a third story.
MARTULA MARYAM
• Located in the Gojam district of Mota.
• stand the tall ruins of the ancient rectangular church dating from the time of
King Susneyos.
• The three-nave building started by the Jesuit missionary Bruno Bruni and
Brother Juan Martinez (the architect of the Jesuits) in 1628.
 GORGORA PALACE
• Situated on the small peninsula on the northern side of lake tana, in the region
of dambya.
• Between 1611 and 1618, gorgora became the royal camp of king susneyos.
 DEBRE BIRHAN SELASSIE CHURCH
• Debre Birhan Selassie is a small church located in the heart of Gondar, Ethiopia
The original church was built by Emperor Eyasu II, grandson of the great
Emperor.
• The beamed, painted ceiling will immediately grab your attention. Look up and
you’ll see the faces of 123 winged cherubs representing the omnipresence of
God and the walls depict biblical scenes and saints. On one end of the chapel,
two curtain covered doors lead to Holy of Holies where the church’s copy of th
Ark of the Covenant is housed. Above the two doors or Fasilides, in the 17th
century.
 FASIL SWIMMING POOL
• There is a 2storied palace standing in a
square pool protected by a embattlement
wall with turrents.
• The beautifully restored palace with several
rooms and connected to the land by a
bridge makes part of the city`s UNESCO
world heritage sites, that includes the royal
encloser, fasil ghebbi fasil castle and
mentewab`s palace of kuskuam.
 GONDAR STYLE
• Much more local in character.
• Design is often non-symmetrical in Gondar Architecture
• If the principal originators of the castles and churches at Gondar had been
Portuguese immigrants or Jesuit missionaries from Portugal, Spain, and
Italy, the style would have been more like contemporary Baroque
architecture in Europe.
CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES
BATTLEMENTS
• Most of the Gondar castles are not in the first-
place real castles of fortresses rather imposing
palaces serving as symbols and as useful spaces
for the imperial court.
 Arches
• Arches in Gondar architecture are semicircular or
sometimes lower (but never higher) than a circle.
• They often stand out visually by being of a different
and more easily cut kind of stone, Wine read instead
of black stone or light plaster as for the walls.
TYPES OF ARCHES

1. The simplest case

a window is made by 3 straight stone slabs
2. The normal arch
3. more elaborated arch
 THE CITY CHARACTER OF GONDAR
• Social hierarchy is reflected in the settlement pattern of the
city as a whole.
• Pyramidal development symbolizes the hierarchy.
THE IMPERIAL COMPOUND OF GONDAR
• The great palace of Fasilladas was used for ceremonial occasions
by subsequent kings. Both emperor Yohanis(1667-82) and Emperor
Iyasu I(1682-1706) continues to construct buildings in Gondar.
 THE GATES
• The are 12 imperial compound gates and represent the 12 apostles of
Jesus Christ.
• 1.Jann Tekel Ber-Imperial Gate
• 2.Wember Ber- Gate of the Judges
• 3.Teskar Ber- Funeral Commemorations
• 4.Azash Tukure Ber- secret Gate of Azash Tikur
• 5.Adenager Ber (Kob Astel)- Gate of the spinners
• 6.Quali Ber
• 7.Imbilta Ber(Balderas Ber)- Gate of the flute player
• 8.Elfign Ber- Gate of private chamber
• 9.Ras Ber (Kwarenyoch Ber)- of high persons
• 10.Kechin Ashewa Ber (erigib Ber)- of priests
• 11.Inqoye Ber
• 12.Gimja Ber
 PALACE OF FASILADAS
• It took about 6,000 cubic m. of stone, sand and limestone
for the walls, and large number of timbers for the beams,
floor planks, window and doors.
• Arched window and door opening were built of reddish
volcanic tuff, which was curved and brought from a quarry
around qusquam.
• The larges square tower on the roof provides a good view
of the enclosure and the surrounding area all the way to
Lake Tana.
• The four circular doomed towers at each corner of the
castle were also used as prayer rooms for the Emperor.
 PALACE OF FASILADAS
• The four circular doomed towers at each corner of the castle were also used as
prayer rooms for the Emperor.
 THE PALACE OF IYASU I
• His palace is known as the saddle shaped castle, for the
shape of its roof supported by arches. It is rectangular two-
stories building built by Iyasu the great. It has two corner
towers, one square and the other round.
 PALACE OF YOHANNIS
• A very small and two-storied humble structure.
Not too much decorated. He has also built a library
and commonly known as the ‘library of Yohannes’.
 THE PALACE OF BAKAFA
• It has two long towers, one of them was served as a banquet and
reception hall.
• It is long V-shaped storied castle, located at the extreme north of the
compound to the left side.
• Known of the space to keep horses of noble people, located next to the
palace creating a long courtyard.
ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES
• There is a similarity between Gondar style and Islamic.
• The palace of fasiledes resembles south Arabian palace of seyun.
• The chronicles of fasiledes states that in addition to Indians and
Portuguese.
• Falashas (Ethiopian Jews) were involved in the construction.
• The character of the Gondar style is attributed to the Portuguese
missionaries.
 ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES
• Lime was used as finishing material.
• Lime is used in the preparation of cement and probably
introduced as cementing material.
• Uniformly Gondar style distinctive from aksum and
lalibela.
• Arches are used to built roofs of some of the palaces.
 INFLUENCES
• They introduce some new
methods: -
• They brought the art of
burning lime
• Preparing good mortar
• Construction true masonry
arches
PRAGMATIC CONTEXT OF GONDARIAN STYLE
• The basic problem on the Gondar style was war. Before the 1632
the city was highly influenced by the war by local and external
defeters.
• So to solve that influence in the gondarian style they construct
the battlement and circular tower.