Travel Guide Emfraz

Emfraz, also known as Guzara, owes its fame to its Unesco-listed Guzara Castle, worth a visit on the road between Gondar and Bahar Dar. A small mountain village in the region overlooking the shores of Lake Tana, it is an important fish market. This village of some 10,000 inhabitants has existed since the foundation of a monastery in the 14th century. Imam Adal camped here during the rainy season of 1543, after defeating Christophe de Gama, a Portuguese soldier and son of Vasco de Gama. Around 1700, Charles Jacques Poncet also described it as an important market for slaves and civet oil, valuable for perfumery and medicine.