Gondar: the African castles of the Ethiopian kings

Imperial capital of Ethiopia for two centuries, Gondar is nicknamed the 'Camelot of Africa' for its medieval castles built in the high Abyssinian plateau.

The center, with its castles reminiscent of European fortresses, is comfortably explored on foot.

The Fasil Ghebbi, a fortified complex and UNESCO heritage site, brings together six castles built by different Ethiopian emperors between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

A few steps away, the Baths of Fasilides, a royal pool once used for religious ceremonies, fill with water every January for the celebration of Timkat, Ethiopian Orthodox Epiphany.

Continuing, one visits the Church of Debre Berhan Selassie, which houses a ceiling painted with hundreds of angels' faces, miraculously preserved from a nineteenth-century invasion.

Toward evening, Gondar's local market sells spices, coffee, and injera, the fermented bread at the foundation of traditional Ethiopian cuisine.

During Timkat, thousands of Ethiopian Orthodox believers immerse themselves in the waters of Fasilides' Baths in a baptismal renewal ritual that attracts pilgrims from across the country every January.

According to local legend, the Church of Debre Berhan Selassie was spared from the Dervish invasion of 1888 thanks to a swarm of bees that supposedly attacked the invaders right at the building's entrance.