Rock-hewn churches in Tigrai

We visited three churches on the way from Axum to Mekele:

• Medhanialem Adi Kesho (Saviour of the World), near Negash
• Abreha Wo Atsebeka, 17km from Wukro
• Wukro Cherqos

For these, we had as our local guide Abraham (?) who is a deacon in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

All three are thought to date from the 4th century – that is, from the early days of Christianity as the official religion if Ethiopia.

The first was reached by a steep climb up rocks, not made easier by boys insisting on giving a helping hand where none was needed or wanted. I managed the way up, but was grateful for Ashu’s help on the way down.

It was dark inside, but with the help of a torch we could see carvings on the roof, mainly patterns of crosses. The only pictorial art was a few modern posters. The church claims to have been in use since it was carved out of the rock; it is certainly mentioned in the tenth century.

Soon after, we drove through Negash, site of the first mosque in sub-Saharan Africa, which predates Medina. We stayed the night in Wukro, where about half of us ordered roast goat – hard to get off the bone.

The next church we visited counts as semi-monolithic, partly dug out of the rock, partly built out in front. It is said to be the final resting place of Ezana, whose stele written on stone in Ge’ez, Sabaean and Greek we had seen in Axum.

The church was destroyed by Queen Jobit in the tenth century, expanded and repaired in the twentieth by the Italian government. Richly decorated in the 19th and/or 20th centuries, it depicts biblical, traditional and historical themes.

The crosses on the ceiling would have been the original decoration.

The drive to and from the church was along a rough dirt road, slowed down by lorries full of sand. Originally barren, the land now supports small trees thanks to terracing carried out by local farmers to prevent soil erosion.

Back on proper roads, we branched off on the outskirts of Wukro to another, much simpler, fourth century church.

A highlight of this visit was music from the priest, playing a small percussion instrument whose name I forget, and our local guide on the drum, both chanting.

An unusual property of this church is that it contains not one but three replicas of the Ark of the Covenant, three “holy of holies”. We could see this from the roof, replaced by the Italian government, which is clearly in three sections.

Just after leaving the church, we stopped to buy oranges and bananas before driving to Mekele.