Axum

The Northern oldest urban settlement, located at an altitude of 2100 meters with an estimated population of about fifty one thousand people, was once marked by greatest civilization of ancient world that goes back to the time of the Greco-Roman empire and the Mediterranean regions.

The Aksumite Empire was flourished in about the first half of the first CAD and was one of the ever so powerful states in ancient world, lasted for more than one thousand years as a social, political, economical and religious center. Its trade routes were extended as far beyond the red coast up to China, Persia, Greek, Turkey, Rome and India through its entire port known as ADOLIS.

Aksum reached to its zenith in between the third and seventh CAD and began to decline in the beginning of the eighth Century, then finally went in to crack dawn in about the tenth Century due to internal and external problems.

Aksum is still recalled by its age old relics and precious antiquates, like: - royal cemeteries marked by giant and small steals curved out of a single block of stones; underground burial tombs; stone inscriptions; coinages from gold, silver and bronze; others like, the bath and ruin palace of queen of Sheba; St. Mary of Zion Church where the original Ark of the Covenant believe to have rested are some of the very few place of interests in Aksum and the surroundings.

Gondar

Ethiopia had been lost its political integrity due to a continuous political chaos after the decline of the Zagwey dynasty beginning the 13th CAD. This political instability finally made the county to lose permanent political settlement for centuries. Therefore it was in such a condition that Gondar flourished as a permanent capital of Ethiopia in the 17th CAD.

Gondar was founded in 1632 by the time of a certain King Fasiledes who ruled the monarch for about three decades and lasted as a principal seat for more than 200 years. The majestic stone castles that are confined within a 70,000 square meters area give Gondar a grace. It is a UNSCO world heritage site spotted at an altitude of 2600 meters with an estimated population of 180 thousand people.

Gondar is of noted by its royal enclosure where those skyline castles are erected up, Churches like Debre Birhan Sellasie/ the three Trinity known by its biblical lore and mural paintings, the bath of King Fasiledes and the Fellasha village where the black Jewish people used to live.

The festivals of the Cross-day which commemorates the finding of the true Cross by queen Elena of Rome and the Ethiopian Epiphany or Timket that recalls the baptism of Jesus Christ in the Jordan River are also colorfully observed in Gondar on the 27th of September and 19th of January each year respectively.

Lalibela

Lalibela is a site of a remarkable rock art engineering is at its climax, situated on a rugged mountain plateau which rises up to more than 2400 meters.

Roha, was its former name and served as the capital of the Zagwey Dynasty that received power form the Aksumite state in around the second half of the 12th CAD and lasted as the capital of Ethiopia for more than a century, until 1270.

The town of Lalibela is named after the famous rulers of the above-mentioned dynasty called King Lalibela who chiseled out those magnificent churches from a living rock. There are more than ten rocks cut churches in Lalibela cluster, which still are active Christian worshiping centers. As a result, myriads of Christian pilgrims are travelled to this holy town on the seventh of January every year as to attend on the festival of Ethiopian Christmas and the birth of king Lalibela himself.

Bahir Dar

Bahir Dar is a local language it is to mean at the side of the sea. It is a lakeshore town set on the northwestern part of the country at a stretch of about 563 Kilometers from Addis Ababa right after south of Lake Tana.

Bahir Dar is now served as the capital of Amhara national regional state since the dawn fall of the Communist Derge Regime in 1991. No tangible evidence that testifies the exact time depth in which this urban settlement came in to existence, however some local authors dated it back from the 12th to the 14th CAD, following the Muslim-Christian conflicts.

Both Lake Tana and Blue Nile River with its majestic falls give an enticing setting for Bahir Dar to retreat and explore those medieval Christian churches and monasteries doted on the islands and peninsulas of aforementioned lake. Basketry works and other local handcraft by the local communities are also some of the activities that extends tourist staying in Bahir Dar.