Gorgora

Gorgora ጎርጎራ
Gorgora Location in Ethiopia
Coordinates: 12°14′N 37°18′E / 12.233°N 37.300°E / 12.233; 37.300Coordinates: 12°14′N 37°18′E / 12.233°N 37.300°E / 12.233; 37.300
Country	Ethiopia
Region	Amhara
Zone	Semien (North) Gondar
Population (2005)
• Total	4,783 (est)
Time zone	EAT (UTC+3)

Gorgora (Ge'ez: ጎርጎራ Gōrgōrā, also, especially formerly, ጐርጐራ Gʷargʷarā, modern pronunciation Gʷergʷerā) is a town and peninsula in northwestern Ethiopia. Located south of Gondar on the north shore of Lake Tana, in the Semien Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, it has a latitude and longitude of 12°14′N 37°18′E / 12.233°N 37.300°E / 12.233; 37.300.

Gorgora refers to a small peninsula jutting into Lake Tana as well as to a small village hosting a harbour. The peninsula was important in the past as the site of an important Jesuit residence: "Old" Gorgora was located 5 km northeast, inland from Maryam Gimb, which was called [New] Gorgora, and 5 km west of Debre Sina and its churches (usually not considered a town in its own right). Other notable landmarks include the monastery of Mandaba, located at the headlands of Gorgora peninsula. R.E. Cheesman visited Mandaba in 1932, and described the monastery as being enclosed by a high wall and no woman is allowed inside its gate. There are 150 residents monks, monastery is governed by an Abbot who has the power of putting refractory monks in chains, and is all powerful in his own monastery. Cheesman was told that if a man fleeing from justice rings the monastery bell and is given sanctuary, he is safe from even the highest person in the land.

Ferries sail from the port to Bahir Dar via Kunzela and Dek Island.

Gorgora served as one of the early capitals of Ethiopia during the reigns of Emperor Susenyos I and his son Fasilides before Fasilides founded Gondar. It was selected as a capital as it started with the letter "gʷa" (Ge'ez: ጐ), as dictated by a prophecy of the time (the same prophecy led to the rise of Gondar). Gorgora is the Ethiopic bastardization of the Greek name "Γρηγόριος" (Gregorios). The city is named after the 4th-century Saint & Church Father Gregory The Illuminator, who is a prominent figure in Ethiopian Orthodox Theology.

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