The city holds the remains of several royal castles, including those in the Fasil Ghebbi UNESCO World Heritage Site for which Gondar has been called the "Camelot of Africa".

[3] The term Gondar was first mentioned during the reign of Amda Seyon I as the name of a regiment of soldiers stationed (likely in Wegera) to guard nearby trade routes and control a restive population.

This was the same reason that induced his immediate predecessors, beginning with Emperor Sarsa Dengel in the 1570s, located their capitals on Lake Tana's northeastern flank, along with a concern for safety from the Oromo conquests in the central highlands.

[4][5] Fasilides translocation from Danqaz to Gondar contributed to trading benefits as it was where caravans from Sudan and the Red Sea converged, despite Lent and rainy season prohibiting expeditions that made the emperor stay at the capital.

In 1648, a Yemeni ambassador, Hassan ibn Ahmad al-Haymi, who visited the palace described it as a great house of stone and lime and "one of marvelous of buildings, worthy of admiration, and the most beautiful of outstanding wonders."

In the newly built castle Al-Haymi saw beds from Constantinople, mattresses from India glittering with gold, sofas inlaid with pieces of jewelry and gems.

According to the chronicles, this edifice, which was ornamented in ivory, was built by an Ethiopian architect named Walda Giyorgis who was described as "able, intelligent, and of good renown.

"[9] Yohannes's successor, Iyasu I (1682-1706), seems to have been very conscious to maintain the good will of the citizens of Gondar and it was reported that he never closed the doors of his palace, even at night, to give his subjects the impression that he trusted them.

The French Charles Poncet, who has served as physician of Iyasu, offers wrote extensively about the town at the end of seventeenth century.

As a veteran of eleven battles and tax collector, Iyasu extended his boundary to Egypt, Yemen, and Sudan, and decorated his castle with ivory, mirrors, cedar, and a ceiling covered in gold leaf and precious stones.

The event could lead of the ascension of major political figures in the period: Emperor Bakaffa and his widow Empress Mentewab and the first Tigre warlord Ras Mikael Sehul.

After the death of Iyasu II on 27 June 1755, Ras Mikael Sehul, who was on the way with guns, carpets, gold, silver and other tribute from Tigre, learnt the news two days later, when they arrived at Sembera Zagan in Wagara.

[13] On 7 September 1755, an agreement between the Empress and Mikael involving the marriage of his son Dejazmach Wolde Hawaryat to Mentewab's daughter Woizero Atlas can be seen as the path to supreme power to Gondar.

The last Gondarine Emperor to exercise full control was Iyasu II, during his reign multiple revolts broke out and it became apparent that the country was on the eve of political chaos.

[14] In May 1767, Ras Mikael Sehul killed Iyoas and crowned 70 years old Yohannes II, the Empire thus entered a period of supreme difficulty when its authority declined during the Zemene Mesafint.

[13] Accusing Ras Ali II of being aligned to Muslims, Wube Haile Maryam roused his people against Gondar, and seized the town in 1841.

Despite being excommunicated by the church, Ras Ali insisted fighting and attempted to enlist an outlaw named Kassa (future Tewodros II) to his cause.

Through this time, Gondar resembled to base of operations rather than a capital, yet there was small European community with one of these was the British Consul, Charles Duncan Cameron.

[15][16] Starting from Battle of Ayshal in 1852, Kassa refused to order Ras Ali II, who controlled most princes and regions of northern Ethiopia, for his perennial military expedition against Gojjam.

In response, Dejazmach Goshu Zewde of Gojjam, an ally of Ras Ali II, clashed with Kassa's army at the Battle of Gur Amba (27 November 1852).

Ras Ali II left Gondar for Debre Tabor to call troops in rival provinces of Tigray, Wollo, Yejju.

The disappearance of the Emperor and his court led to a large demographic reduction in the city, Gondar's population, well over 60,000 in the 18th century, was said by some observers to have dwindled to only 8,000 in the 1870s.

The Ethiopian historian Blatengeta Heruy Wald Selassie, relates that the Mahdists entered the city in January 1888 "and burnt all the churches.

Gondar was favorably situated between Sudan to the west, Addis Ababa to the south, and Eritrea to the north and hence enjoyed a sizeable amount of commerce.

Some two months, Major Ciccodicola communicated to Emperor Menelik II that Ferdinando Martini (1897–1907) to get permission for extending mule caravan road from Nuqara to Gondar.

Local inhabitants were segregated into districts west and south of the castle enclosure, Italians settling in northern and north-eastern areas.

[27] In 1944, attempt to introduce land taxes following the Italian evacuation of the area met with military opposition in Gondar and Tigray.

[34] After two days of intense fighting, Fano eventually withdrew from Gondar, as of October 2024 the city remains under Ethiopian government control.

The modern city of Gondar is popular as a tourist destination for its many picturesque ruins in Fasil Ghebbi (the Royal Enclosure), from which the emperors once reigned.

The main piazza features shops, a cinema, and other public buildings in a simplified Italian Moderne style still distinctively of the period despite later changes and, frequently, neglect.