About 3km north of the city centre, the village of Wolleka was the main settlement of the Beta Israel — the Ethiopian Jewish community, also known as Falasha — in the Gondar region. The community had lived in the Ethiopian highlands for millennia, maintaining Jewish practices in isolation from the wider Jewish world, until most emigrated to Israel in Operation Moses (1984–85) and Operation Solomon (1991).
The old synagogue in Wolleka still stands, now a museum of sorts, with a small display of objects related to Beta Israel life and religion. The village itself retains some of its distinctive character, though most houses are now occupied by Christian neighbours. A few women in the village still produce the round-faced pottery figures that became the community's best-known craft, and these are sold to visitors.
The site is modest and the presentation basic, but it is one of very few places in Ethiopia where you can learn about this distinctive and largely vanished community. Worth combining with a bajaj ride out to the northern edge of town.