Ziqwala

Mount Ziqwala rises above the plains of Shewa, an extinct volcano crowned by a crater lake. The mountain and its waters are revered as a sacred place, and a monastery on an island in the lake is traditionally associated with Gebre Menfes Kidus. The monastery is said to occupy the site of a hermitage used by Saint Mercurius. The mountain appeared on Fra Mauro's fifteenth-century map, a landmark known far beyond the surrounding plain.

In 1531, during Ahmad ibn Ibrahim's invasion of Ethiopia, Adal forces destroyed the monastery and looted a church at the foot of the mountain. The sixteenth-century chronicler Arab Faqih described the nearby country as inhabited by the Maya, some of whom fought as archers in the service of the Ethiopian ruler.

The later city of Addis Ababa lies here.