Wojciech Fedoruk

Poland - 24-Jan-24 -

Of the places proposed by the state party, I visited only one, although probably the most spectacular - Abuna Yemata Guh, part of the Gheralta Sacred Landscape.

The Eastern Churches were fond of building temples in difficult places, but Abuna Yemata Guh was probably the most inaccessible of those I had ever seen (a few hours later I visited Debre Damo, which is even more inaccessible). To get there, you have to climb an almost vertical rock wall. Fortunately, local residents make money by helping visitors and in this case they offered harnesses, rope support and personal assistance in the most difficult parts. Without this help from our family, only I would be able to climb, but I wouldn't feel good without any protection. This is definitely not a place for people afraid of heights, you walk along a narrow ledge where you can't even put two feet next to you, and a false move ends with you falling several meters lower. And next to the church you stand on a rock ledge without a railing, where you can fall not just a few, but at least several dozen meters down.

Somewhat exhausted, we finally reached the top. Fortunately, what we found there more than made up for all the hardships. Abuna Yemata Guh, according to tradition, was founded by Abuna (Abba) Yemata, one of the so-called The Nine Saints of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as early as the 5th century AD And it is from this period that the wonderful paintings in the tiny church on the rock come from. Interestingly, the paintings are apparently original, i.e. there was no need to renovate them, correct colors, etc. Scholars wonder how such vivid colors survived for sixteen centuries almost intact.

And the Bible with the goatskin pages kept here is approximately as old. The monk present here constantly takes out such a unique copy and shows it to visitors - something unthinkable anywhere in Europe.

To sum up, we visited an absolutely unique place, one of the most spectacular and interesting places in all of Ethiopia. I'm rooting for Ethiopia to propose it for inclusion on the WH list, it deserves it like few other TWHS.