Debra Berhan

Debre Berhan stands high on the cool plateau of Shewa. Emperor Zara Yaqob founded it after a light appeared in the sky, which he understood as a divine sign. He built a church, a palace and another church dedicated to Saint Cyriacus, and spent much of the end of his reign here. For a time the settlement was a capital of the Ethiopian kingdom.

Zara Yaqob's son Baeda Maryam at first remained at Debre Berhan, but later returned to the custom of moving the royal camp through the realm. As the court departed, the town declined. In the sixteenth century Emperor Lebna Dengel assembled forces here against Ahmad ibn Ibrahim's invasion; after defeating him at Amba Sel, Ahmad in turn gathered his own army at Debre Berhan before campaigning farther into Ethiopia. The town later became one of the royal seats of Shewa, alongside Ankober and Angolalla.