Jump to content

Church of Abreha wa-Atsbeha

Coordinates: 13°50′50″N 39°32′13″E / 13.8471°N 39.5370°E / 13.8471; 39.5370
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Exterior of the church

The Church of Abreha wa-Atsbeha (sometimes spelt Abreha we Atsbeha) was built in East Tigray, around 15 km from Wukro, at some point in the tenth or eleventh century in honour of the brothers Abreha and Atsbeha.[1][2] Their bodies are claimed to be entombed in the church. At one time the church served as a monastery but now operates as a parish church.[2] Paul B. Henze visited the church in the 1970s where he was told the ceiling was blackened by soot due to Queen Gudit setting a fire in the building nine centuries earlier.[3]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Briggs, Philip; Blatt, Brian (2009). Ethiopia. Bradt Travel Guides. p. 297. ISBN 978-1-84162-284-2.
  2. ^ a b Muehlbauer, Mikael (2019). "An Italian Renaissance Face on a "New Eritrea": The 1939 Restoration of the Church of Abreha wa-Atsbeha". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 78 (3): 312–326. doi:10.1525/jsah.2019.78.3.312. S2CID 203075463.
  3. ^ Henze (2000). Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia. New York: Palgrave. p. 48. ISBN 978-1-4039-6743-5.

13°50′50″N 39°32′13″E / 13.8471°N 39.5370°E / 13.8471; 39.5370