Debre Tabor was the capital of Ethiopia under two Emperors: Tewodros II, before he moved the capital to Magdala; andYohannes IV. As a result, in the 19th century the population of this town varied depending on whether the emperor was in residence. If he was present, the population could reach 30,000 as it did under Emperor Yohannes; if he was not, it would be around 5,000 people.
Authorities differ over the facts of its founding. Mordechai Abir states that it was founded by Ras Ali I; however, Richard Pankhurst gives a detailed account of its foundation by Ras Gugsa, and includes the tradition that the location was selected with supernatural help. In either case, Debre Tabor was the seat of the Regents of the Emperor in the 18th and 19th centuries, from which periods several churches and the ruins of two palaces survive.
Debre Tabor was sacked by an army from the province of Lasta in 1835. The Battle of Debre Tabor was fought nearby on February 6, 1842; although Dejazmach Wube Haile Maryam and his allies defeated the armies of Ras Ali II and sacked Debre Tabor once again, they were surprised while celebrating their victory by Birru Aligas, an ally of Ras Ali, who captured Wube and his son and extracted concessions from them in return for their release.
Ras Ali built four churches in Debre Tabor: Iyasus on the mountain to the southeast, Ennatitu Maryam and Legitu Maryam to the east, and Tegur Mikael to the north. A second palace was built for his mother, the Empress Menen Liben Amede, which was not as large as Ras Ali's.
Although he burnt the town in May 1853, following Ras Ali's defeat, Emperor Tewodros used Debre Tabor as his capital until his situation weakened so badly that he was forced to abandon the town (October 1867) for his stronghold on Maqdala.The Emperor Yohannes IV often resided at Debre Tabor, and during his reign Heruy Giyorgis church was built. Here the Emperor met with General Gordon in October 1878, who was representing
