Washa Mikael Rock-Hewn Church
Washa Mikael Rock-Hewn Church is located in Ethiopia
Washa Mikael Rock-Hewn Church
Washa Mikael Rock-Hewn Church
Location within Ethiopia
9°01′54″N 38°40′16″E / 9.03154°N 38.67113°E / 9.03154; 38.67113
LocationAddis Ababa
CountryEthiopia
DenominationEthiopian Orthodox
Architecture
Architectural typechurch

The Washa Mikael Rock-Hewn Church (Amharic: ዋሻ ሚካኤል [wä schä mi kä el] literally "The Cave of Michael") is a rock-hewn semi-monolithic church located in the Yeka District of Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia.[1]

History

The cave of Washa Mika'el is cut into the interior of an ignimbrite massi located at an altitude of 3,118m on the highland plateau located six kilometers from Addis Ababa.url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/ethio_0066-2127_1957_num_2_1_1256 |website=www.persee.fr |access-date=23 August 2023}}</ref> Pre-Christian carved animal friezes on the northern and southern walls at Washa Mika'el are located at shoulder height and Christian paintings were added on the upper walls, suggesting that this region was still going through a process of Christianization during its construction.[2]

In the 19th century, Emperor Menelik II rediscovered the structure after it was initially abandoned during the Abyssinian-Adel war. He had the Tabot of St. Michael moved from inside the church to a church he had built lower down the mountain called Yeka Mikael. He subsequently made attempts at restoring and preserving the structures of the church.[3]

The church suffered damages during the heavy bombing campaigns of the Italians during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Derat, Marie-Laure; Bosc-Tiessé, Claire; Garric, Antoine; Mensan, Romain; Fauvelle, François-Xavier; Gleize, Yves; Goujon, Anne-Lise (2021). "The rock-cut churches of Lalibela and the cave church of Washa Mika'el: troglodytism and the Christianisation of the Ethiopian Highlands". Antiquity. 95 (380): 467–486. doi:10.15184/aqy.2021.20. ISSN 0003-598X.
  2. ↑ Derat, Marie-Laure. "The rock-cut churches of Lalibela and the cave church of Washa Mika'el: troglodytism and the Christianisation of the Ethiopian Highlands". www.cambridge.org. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  3. ↑ STRACHAN/PANKHURST, Dr. Richard, The Semi-monolithic Church in Yeka – Heritage Site in Danger, Annales d’Ethiopie, Forthcoming.
  4. ↑ Lozano Alonso, Mario (August 28, 2016). "Etiopía, tras las huellas de Pedro Páez y la reina de Saba - Addis Abeba (Parte II)". Ilion.


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