Sunday morning at 6, before departure Lalibela, we drove down the valley to visit a unique cave church 42 km away. Yemrhanekirstose Monastery, situated at an latitude of 2700mm was built by Yemrehranna Kristos, the third Zagwe ruler and a predecessor of King Lalibela around AD 1100.
The night before was heavy rain. It was still drizzling in the morning. We were there early. The church is closed, but some kind of chanting or mass was going on inside. The pilgrims outside followed the mass through loudspeaker shifting positions between standing up and knee down. The Ethiopia mass is long, typically 2-3 hours. Some sections allow people to move about, some do not. We must arrived at the no move session. We waited for about one hour to go inside.
Pictures of prayers
Finally inside. The late Axumite Architecture, alternating layers of wood and granite faced with white gypsum.
A priest sitting at the end of cave, alone.
A woman standing at the far end of the cave.
Yemrehanna Kristo is credited with restoring links between Ethiopia and Coptic Church. Priests claim the wood used in church construction was from Egypt, the gypsum was from Jerusalem. The church was an important pilgrimage site in medieval times. The deep end of the cave is open mass grave of some 10K Christian pilgrims, claimed, who travelled from as far as Egypt, Syria, and Jerusalem. It was eerie.
The red thing at the far end is the tomb of Yemrehanna Kristo who build the church. The tomb chamber, claimed, is 10 meters deep.
Intricate painting of patterns inside the church.
The metal door.
Young pilgrims and the belongings of the prayers.
Village of Bilbilla
Lake Tana, the source of Blue Nile.
A flooded river near Addis
