Ethiopia (November-December
2013)
Rock-Hewn Churches of Tigray (2): Abuna Yemata Guh and Debre Maryam Korkor
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Return to main Ethiopia November-December 2013 webpage
The churches of Abuna Yemata Guh and Debre Maryam Korkor lie on the west of Wukro in a
spectacular rocky mountain called the Gheralta Mountain. I had visited these
two churches during the summer of 1973 (see here). Forty years later
nothing much has changed, except that reaching these churches is considerably
easier.
The
Gheralta Mountain seen in the early morning coming
from Hawzien.
The
site of Abuna Yemata Guh (marked
with a red arrow in the second picture).
The ascent to the
church is steep, but good hand and foot holds have been carved in the sandstone
cliff.
The stone bells of Abuna Yemata Guh.
The church, which lies
completely inside a rock pillar (left), is finally accessed by following a
ledge (right).
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The inside of the
church boasts gorgeous original and perfectly preserved roof and wall paintings
(15th century?).
View from the
exterior of Abuna Yemata Guh.
The following picture
was taken from a location close to the church of Maryam Korkor.
In the middle of the picture one can see the rocky outcrop in which Abuna Yemata Guh
lies. I hiked from Abuna Yemata
Guh to Maryam Korkor by
first following the dry river visible in the picture and then ascending the
cliffs on the left. The ascent is relatively easy, except for a short section
(shortly before reaching the normal path to Maryam Korkor)
that requires some rock-climbing skills.
The outside of Maryam Korkor is not especially interesting, but the large interior
is beautiful with old paintings (13th century?) and cruciform pillars.
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View from the cliff on the back side of Maryam Korkor.
Another view from the same cliff. See here for a similar photo that I took 40
years ago during the rainy season.
The two
photos above were taken from the central part of this cliff.
Link
to Mikael Imba and Mikael Melehayzenghi
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