Dima, Gojjam

Dima is a village in west-central Ethiopia. Located in the Misraq Gojjam Zone of the Amhara Region, it has a latitude and longitude of 10°0′N 38°29′E / 10.000°N 38.483°E / 10.000; 38.483Coordinates: 10°0′N 38°29′E / 10.000°N 38.483°E / 10.000; 38.483 and an elevation of 2076 meters above sea level. It is one of three settlements in Enemay woreda.

Notable landmarks in Dima include a church dedicated to Saint George, as well as its venerable monastery, Dima Giyorgis, which was a place of refuge. The Central Statistical Agency did not provide an estimate of its population in 2005.

History

The monastery of Dima is mentioned in the reign of Emperor Susenyos as the location where Ras Antenatewos of Begemder, the chief supporter of Yaqob, found refuge after his side was defeated in the Battle of Gol in 1607.^[1]

The British traveller C.T. Beke came to the town in November 1841 to pay a visit to Dejazmach Goshu Zewde, who had sought refuge at Dima at the time due to the revolt of his son Birru Goshu. At the time of Beke's visit, he found Dima to be a large town "apparently of recent construction, divided into quarters, which are surrounded by stone walls; many of the houses are also constructed of the same material. The church of St. George is the largest edifice of the kind which I have seen in Abyssinia, and internally the walls are adorned with paintings, much in the style of those of the middle ages in Europe." Beke was preceded in his visit to the Dejazmach by the Belgian consul Blondeel.^[2]

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