Architecture and Kingship: The Significance of Gondar-Style Architecture

Gondar-style architecture was introduced from outside Ethiopia. It appeared full-blown in the mid-16th century and lasted until the mid-18th century, when it disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. Gondar-style architecture comprises mostly castles and churches. It will probably never been known by what agent or agents it was initially introduced. Commerce and trade routes seem to be the determining factor for its location. The significance of Gondar-style architecture lies in the effort, consciously made, to enhance the image of Solomonic kingship and, as much as possible, to restore that image to what it had been before the Muslim wars of the mid-16th century. Bibliogr., notes, ref.