Bichena

Infobox Settlement
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pushpin_label_position =bottom
pushpin_mapsize = 300
pushpin_map_caption =Location in Ethiopia
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_type1 = Region
subdivision_name =‎ Ethiopia
subdivision_name1 = Amhara Region
subdivision_type2 = Zone
subdivision_name2 = Misraq Gojjam Zone
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population_as_of= 2005
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population_total = 21,824 (est)
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timezone = EAT
utc_offset = +3
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latd=10|latm=27|lats=|latNS=N
longd=38|longm=12|longs=|longEW=E
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elevation_m = 2541
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Bichena is a town in west-central Ethiopia. Located in the Misraq Gojjam Zone of the Amhara Region on the hillside overlooking the Abay River, it has a latitude and longitude of coord|10|27|N|38|12|E and an elevation of 2541 meters above sea level. It is the administrative center of Enemay woreda.

Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, Bichena has an estimated total population of 21,824, of whom 10,824 were males and 10,833 were females. [ [http://www.csa.gov.et/text_files.2005_national_statistics.htm CSA 2005 National Statistics] , Table B.3] The 1994 census reported this town had a total population of 12,484 of whom 5,695 were males and 6,789 were females.

History

Bichena was important in the 18th century as the capital of the province of Gojjam; C.T. Beke reports that the governor's mansion could still be seen in 1841. [Ref Ethiopia|Pankhurst-1982|pages= p. 274] Paul B. Henze notes the nearby church of Weyname Kidane Mihret, which he found in the 1970s in a ruinous state, but the interior "was covered with extraordinary eighteenth-century paintings", although roughly a third were damaged beyond repair. Henze continues,

: All the classic themes were there: the Flight into Egypt, Christ as a boy descending a sunbeam, Adam and Eve, Abraham sacrificing Isaac. There was an outstanding St George and dragon, a vivid depiction of the cannibal who was saved. The details -- were from traditional Ethiopian country life as it is still being lived in the surrounding area. The main (western) door of the "maqdas" had a garland of heads of angels as fine as any I had ever seen and there were several portraits of standing saints of exceptional quality and individuality. ["Ethiopian Journeys", quoted in [http://130.238.24.99/library/resources/dossiers/local_history_of_ethiopia/B/ORTBIA.pdf "Local History in Ethiopia"] (pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 19 Noveember 2007).]

According to the locals, the church had lost the lands it depended on during the governorship of Ras Hailu, and afterwards neglect neglect. This may be the same church that L.A. Fuertes mentions seeing in 1936. ["Local History in Ethiopia"]

Bichena was the scene of a massacre by the Derg in August 1975, when a delegation visited to explain the meaning of land reform. One of the meetings became unruly and nervous soldiers opened fire into the crowd; "later artillery and planes were summoned to quell what the government feared would be a major disturbance. Reports of the death toll vary from one hundred to one thousand." [Marina and David Ottaway, "Ethiopia: Empire in Revolution" (New York: Africana, 1978), p. 83 n. 1]

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