Mekane Berhan ( Ge'ez: መካነ ብርሃን ''mekāne birhān'', "Place of light") is a town in northern

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. Located in the

Semien Gondar Zone North Gondar (Amharic: ሰሜን ጎንደር; or Semien Gondar) is a zone in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. This zone is named for the city of Gondar, the capital of Ethiopia until the mid-19th century. Geography North Gondar is bordered on the ...

of the

Amhara Region The Amhara Region (), officially the Amhara National Regional State (), is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in northern Ethiopia and the homeland of the Amhara people, Amhara, Awi people, Awi, Xamir people, Xamir, Argobba people, Argobba, a ...

, Mekane Berhan has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of approximately 2900 meters above sea level. It is the administrative center of

Jan Amora Jan Amora (Amharic language, Amharic: ጃን አሞራ ''jān āmōrā'', meaning "Royal eagle") is one of the Districts of Ethiopia, woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Semien Gondar Zone, Jan Amora is bordered on the south by M ...

woreda Districts of Ethiopia, also called woredas (; ''woreda''), are the third level of the administrative divisions of Ethiopia – after ''List of zones of Ethiopia, zones'' and the ''Regions of Ethiopia, regional states''. These districts are f ...

. An all-weather road connects Mekane Berhan to

Debarq Debarq (Amharic: ደባርቅ) also spelled Dabareq and Debark, is a town in northern Ethiopia, 90 kilometers north-east of Gondar on the highway between Gondar and Axum, and is in the Semien Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region. It has a latitude an ...

, which makes the town far more accessible than the rest of the woreda. The road's construction began in the late 1990s, and by 1999 85 kilometers had been completed; the remaining 20 kilometers were expected to be constructed the following year. Mekane Berhan is best known as the location of the Derasge Mariam church where

Tewodros II Tewodros II (, once referred to by the English cognate Theodore; baptized as Kassa, – 13 April 1868) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1855 until his death in 1868. His rule is often placed as the beginning of modern Ethiopia and brought an end to ...

was crowned emperor 11 February 1855. According to local tradition, following his victory over

Wube Haile Maryam Wube Haile Maryam of Semien, (1799 – 1867), also called by his title ''Dejazmach'' Wube, Webé; his name is also given in European sources as ‘‘Ubie’’, was one of the major figures of 19th century Ethiopia, during the closing decades of ...

he discovered that Wube had prepared the church for his coronation as

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

and invited numerous dignitaries from all over Ethiopia, and since he planned on becoming Emperor, Tewodros decided not to let such elaborate preparations to waste and had himself crowned Emperor instead.

Dervla Murphy Dervla Murphy (28 November 1931 – 22 May 2022) was an Irish touring cyclist and author of adventure travel books, writing for more than 50 years. Murphy is best known for her 1965 book '' Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle'', about a ...

described her January 1967 visit to this town in her travel memoir '' In Ethiopia with a Mule''.

Demographics

Based on figures from the

Central Statistical Agency The Central Statistical Agency, also known as the Ethiopian Statistical Service (ESS; Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ስታቲስቲክስ አገልግሎት), is an Ethiopian government agency designated to provide all surveys and censuses for that ...

in 2005, this town has an estimated total population of 2,717, of whom 1,182 are men and 1,535 are women.CSA 2005 National Statistics
, Table B.3 The 1994 census reported this town had a total population of 1584, of whom 622 were men and 962 were women.

Notes

{{reflist Populated places in the Amhara Region