Lakeshore History · Amhara
Gorgora
Sixty-five kilometres south of Gondar on the northern shore of Lake Tana, Gorgora was a royal seat under Emperor Susenyos and home to the Jesuit mission in the early seventeenth century. Its ruined Maryam Gimb is the most remote part of the Fasil Ghebbi World Heritage Site.
Why We Go
A quiet north-shore village where Gondar's imperial story began, before there was a Gondar.
Before Fasilides founded Gondar, the court moved between camps and lakeside residences — and Gorgora was one of the most important. Emperor Susenyos granted the Jesuits land here in 1607; the Spanish missionary Pedro Páez designed a stone church that was finished in 1621, and a second complex of residences, cisterns and a small castle followed at the site now called Maryam Gimb.
It did not last. When Fasilides restored the Orthodox Church he expelled the Jesuits and ordered their buildings and images destroyed, and an earthquake in the 1950s brought down much of what remained. What survives is atmospheric rather than grand: roofless walls above the water, and a short walk away, the painted interior of Debre Sina Maryam, still in use.
We treat Gorgora as a slow add-on to Gondar — a morning at the ruins and the church, lunch by the lake, and the afternoon on the water — for guests who have already seen the castles and want the chapter that came before them.
Highlights
- 01Debre Sina Maryam, a fourteenth-century monastery whose church paintings, from the early 1600s, are among the oldest surviving in northern Ethiopia
- 02The ruins of Maryam Gimb, the Jesuit-era castle and church listed with Gondar's royal enclosure
- 03A private boat along the quiet northern shore of Lake Tana, far from the Bahir Dar crossings
- 04An easy half-day from Gondar, or an unhurried overnight between Gondar and Bahir Dar
Best combined with a stay of 1 – 2 days, travelling October – May.
Journeys Including Gorgora
Routes that pass through here
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Build Gorgora into your journey
Nothing here is fixed. Tell us how long you have and what else you want to see, and a designer will draw the route — including the flights, the guides and the hours that matter.
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Speak to someone who has been there this season
Our designers travel these routes themselves. Ask about road conditions, festival dates or which lodge has the better view — you will get a straight answer.
Or call us directly on +1909-450-7246