Ghosts of Prester John

One odd footnote that always stayed with me from secondary school history was the name "Prester John". When Portuguese adventurers began their trail-blazing into Africa and Asia in the 15th century, supposedly one motivating factor was the rumour of a lost Christian kingdom somewhere in the orient. Its pious king Prester John was imagined as a possible ally in the struggle against the Turks, who at that time were coming to dominate the Near East and threaten the entire Mediterranean. What we didn't learn in school was that the Portuguese did find the source of the legend - or at least believed they had - in the Christian Empire of Ethiopia. During the period of contact the Ethiopian emperors had their capital at Gondar. Tolkien fans might notice the similarity with Gondor, along with the narrative of a bastion against a great enemy to the east. Add to that the nearby towns of Gorgora (Gorgoroth?) and Shire (as in the Shire?) and I find it hard to believe the man didn't have a map of Ethiopia in front of him at some point.

Fittingly enough, Gondar is remarkable in Africa for its complex of medieval castles at Fasil Ghebbi, something generally not seen south of the Sahara. They are stout looking cubes with domed turrets at the corners, the bricks baked brown under the sun. Strolling around this quiet site, in my mind I came back to Prester John and wondered. No doubt the whisper that made it into my school book was only the vaguest hint of a deep and rich history, full of dramas and adventures far beyond my horizons.

After Fasil Ghebbi, Gondar's other main attraction is Fasilides' Bath. Named for the emperor who commissioned it, this is a walled courtyard containing a deep artificial pool. As I entered the space my eyes were drawn first to the tree roots wrapped around sections of the wall, bearing witness to the age of the place. Then overhead, strings of flags in the Ethiopian red, yellow and green guide the eye from the borders of the courtyard to a tower house standing as an island within the bath. This pool is apparently only filled for the festival of Timkat in January, the Ethiopian celebration of the Epiphany. I came in February, just missing it, but some kind of magic still seemed to hang in the air.

The Gist: Gondar (2012)

• TRAVEL WARNING: Civil war struck Ethiopia beginning in 2018. Irish government travel advice can be found here.

• ARRIVED: I took a local bus from Bahir Dar, booked in person.

• SLEPT: I found cheap accommodation on arrival, without booking ahead.

• DID: The castles of Fasil Ghebbi and Fasilides' Bath are both within easy walking distance of the town centre. I was a little too late, but if you visit in January the festival of Timkat will be celebrated on the 19th (or 20th in a leap year) at Fasilides' Bath. Good, free information can be found on Wikitravel.

• LEFT: I took local buses, booked in person, to get to Axum via Shire.