Debarq

Debarq ደባርቅ
Main street of Debark
Debarq Location in Ethiopia
Coordinates: 13°08′N 37°54′E / 13.133°N 37.900°E / 13.133; 37.900Coordinates: 13°08′N 37°54′E / 13.133°N 37.900°E / 13.133; 37.900
Country	Ethiopia
Region	Amhara Region
Zone	Semien Gondar Zone
Elevation	2,850 m (9,350 ft)
Population (2005)
• Total	74,997 (est)
Time zone	EAT (UTC+3)

Debarq (also spelled Dabareq and Debark, Amharic ደባርቅ) is a town in northern Ethiopia, 90 kilometers north of Gondar on the highway between Gondar and Axum and in the Semien Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region. It has a latitude and longitude of 13°08′N 37°54′E / 13.133°N 37.900°E / 13.133; 37.900 and an elevation of 2850 meters above sea level.

Debarq is the closest town to the Semien Mountains National Park, and is the location of the park headquarters.

Debarq's prosperity was due to its location on the Gondar-Massawa trade route; it is one of the stations on a route of the 1840s, according to a list compiled by Antoine Thomson d'Abbadie in his Geodesie d'Ethiopie.Richard Pankhurst notess that by the early 19th century its market was important enough to be one of six in Ethiopia requiring a nagadras ("head of the market") to oversee it and collect the fees. The revenue from taxes levied on the marketplace in the 1830s paid the governor of Semien province 3,000 Maria Theresa Thalers and about as much to the nagadras.

During a clash with his rebellious nephews, Emperor Tewodros saw his close friend and advisor John Bell killed in battle here in 1860. Although his nephews were killed in the skirmish, and their 1700 followers immediately surrendered, he extracted vengeance the next day by beheading all of their men.