Debre Marqos

Debre Marqos (also called Mankorar) is a city and woreda in east-central Ethiopia. Located in the Misraq Gojjam Zone of the Amhara Region, it has a latitude and longitude of 10°20′N 37°43′E / 10.333°N 37.717°E / 10.333; 37.717Coordinates: 10°20′N 37°43′E / 10.333°N 37.717°E / 10.333; 37.717, and an elevation of 2,446 meters. The city is named Debre Marqos after its principal church, which was constructed in 1869 and dedicated to St. Mark. Until the reorganization of the provinces that followed the adoption of the 1995 constitution, this city served as the capital of the province of Gojjam.

Debre Marqos is served by an airport (ICAO code HADM, IATA DBM) with an unpaved runway.

History

The palace of Negus Tekle Haymanot was remodeled in 1926 by his son Ras Hailu Tekle Haymanot, in the style of European buildings after his tour of Europe in the party of Ras Tefari. By 1935, the town had postal, telegraph, and telephone service.

The Italians arrived in Debre Marqos 20 May 1936. Through an interpreter, Achille Starace, who had arrived by plane, told the surprised local inhabitants that he had come free them from their oppressors, to their thorough bemusement. Debre Marqos was later isolated, and practically besieged by a revolt in 1938. General Ugo Cavallero, with sixty thousand men and supported by airplanes and tanks, had crushed the revolt by the end of May. A major Italian fortification was located in the city during the existence of Italian East Africa, and captured by the British Gideon Force and Ethiopian Arbegnoch (or Resistance Fighters) 3 April 1941 during the East African Campaign.