Gondar

Gondar is probably the most immediately impressive of Ethiopia’s major ex-capitals, but its antiquities are the most part less enduring memorable than those at the more ancient towns of Axum or Lalibela. The city was founded in 1635 by emperor Fasiledoes (often abbreviated to Fasil) in the aftermath of a disorderly century during which the Abyssinian Empire had virtually collapsed under on the onslaught of the Muslim leader Ahemd Gragn (Imam Ahmed Bin Algizi) and was the torn apart by internal religious conflict after emperor Susneyos converted to Catholicism in the 1622. Influenced by the Portuguese Jesuits who had settled around his temporary court on the shores of Lake Tana, Susneyos imposed Catholicism on his subjects by declaring it the state religion and attempting to close down the Orthodox Church. the result of this unpopular policy was a period of violent instability during which an estimated 32,000peasants were killed by the royal army.