Fasiladas' Bath

Around 2km northwest of town centre lies Fasiladas' Bath, a shady, beautiful and historical spot attributed to both Fasiladas and Iyasu I.

The large, rectangular sunken pool is overlooked by a small but charming building, thought by some to be Fasiladas' second residence. Almost out of Cambodia's Angkor Thom, snakelike tree roots envelop, support and digest sections of the stone wall surrounding the pool.

Although the complex was used for bathing (royalty used to don inflated goatskin lifejackets for their refreshing dips!), it was likely constructed for religious celebrations, the likes of which still go on today. Once a year, Fasiladas' Bath is filled with water for the Timkat . After being blessed by a priest, the pool becomes a riot of spraying water, shouts and laughter as the crowd jumps in. The ceremony replicates Christ's baptism in the Jordan River, and is seen as an important renewal of faith.

Just east of the main compound is Zobel's Mausoleum. Local legend states it's named after Yohannis I's horse, which heroically brought Iyasu (Yohannis' son) back from Sudan after his father's death.

If you don't want to walk, minibuses (around Br1) leaving from near the piazza pass here.