Mota, Ethiopia
Mota is a town in northwest Ethiopia. It is located in the Misraq Gojjam Zone of the Amhara Region on the secondary road that links Dejen with Bahir Dar overlooking the Abay River. The town has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 2,487 meters above sea level.
One local landmark is Sebara Dildiy or "the Broken Bridge", a stone footbridge built during the reign of Emperor Fasilides in the mid 17th century. Another landmark is the church of Weyzazirt Kidhane Mihret, which was constructed by Woizero Seble Wengel, the daughter of Emperor Fasilides. She and her husband are buried there.
History
19th Century
Due to the presence of Sebara Dildiy, one of only two bridges across the Abay River until the late 19th century, Mota became a major commercial center. Described by at least one group of European travellers as "the most considerable market" in Gojjam; it attracted merchants from as far away as Begemder, Gondar and Tigray. To reinstate the commerce prior to the bridge being broken, an organization named Bridges to Prosperity is building a 100-meter suspended pedestrian bridge to provide safe access Those crossing the river are able to obtain cotton cloth, cattle, and horses. Likewise, Mota was the seat of an important royal fiefdom during the Gondarine period, and a notable place for asylum in the early 19th century.The artist Aleqa Elyas Hailu, believed to be Ethiopia's first foreign-trained artist, was born in Mota around 1861. He worked mostly in Shewa where he decorated manuscripts and many churches, although he also decorated one in his native town. His son Aleqa Gebre Ezgziabher Elyas was a man of literature, writing the Royal Chronicle of Lij Iyasu and the Empress Zewditu.