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Azezo

Coordinates: 12°33′31″N 37°25′51″E / 12.5586°N 37.4308°E / 12.5586; 37.4308
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Azezo
Town
Azezo is located in Ethiopia
Azezo
Azezo
Location in Azezo, Ethiopia
Coordinates: 12°33′31″N 37°25′51″E / 12.5586°N 37.4308°E / 12.5586; 37.4308
Country Ethiopia
RegionAmhara
ProvinceBegemder
Established16th Century
Elevation
1,400 m (4,600 ft)
Population
 (2007)
 • Total33,719[1]
Time zoneUTC+3:00 (UTC+03:00)

Azezo (Amharic: አዘዞ) is a town in northern Ethiopia south of the city of Gondar.

History

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The town of Azezo was established around the same time Gondar was settled in the 16th century (between 1632 and 1687).

Azezo was occupied by the Italians during the follow-up to World War II, establishing a military camp nearby the village between 1936 and 1941. After the defeat of the Italians by a joint British and Ethiopian force (the Gideon Force), the camp remained operational.[2]

In the early 1990s, following the overthrow of the Derg, the camp was partially demobilized and Azezo's main source of income was diminished,[3] with the ecological care of nearby rivers being halted as a result.

Azezo today is a suburban market town that is mostly associated with its closest city, Gondar. Notable sites are the large soccer field situated in the center of the town as well as a few churches, such as Saint Teklehymanot.

The residents of Azezo are predominantly non-Jewish, but historically the town has had a Jewish population. In the late 1800s, working with the Swedish Mission of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY), the Ethiopian intellectual and former Mayor of Gondar Gebru Desta established a school in Azezo that worked to convert the Gondar Jewish community to Christianity.[4]

References

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  1. ^ Aligaz, Amha (December 2011). "Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) for Azezo Market Center Development". City Services Office of Gondar.
  2. ^ Milkias, Paulos (2006). "History". Ethiopia. G.K. Hall & Company. p. 56. ISBN 0816190666.
  3. ^ Milkias, Paulos (2006). "History". Ethiopia. G.K. Hall & Company. p. 58. ISBN 0816190666.
  4. ^ "Desta, Kentiba Gebru". Dictionary of African Christian Biography. Retrieved 2022-11-21.