A Ethiopian Orthodox monastery on Lake Tana, Ethiopia

Lake Tana, Ethiopian's great highland lake lies just north of the town of Bahir Dar at a height of 1830 meters above sea-level. It was created about 25 million years ago by volcanic activity. Apart from its wealth of bird life, the most notable aspect of this lake is that there are a great many Ethiopian orthodox churches and monasteries along the shores and on the islands.

There are about 21 churches and monasteries, holding impressive collections of religious objects, including silver crowns and crucifixes and huge bibles in Ge'ez, Ethiopian liturgical language. There are unique icons, mural paintings, manuscripts on parchment and scrolls, representing wonderful examples of Ethiopian civilization. The Zege or Zegie peninsula, on the southwestern side of the lake, has a number of monasteries, like Ura Kidanemihiret, that are not highly isolated from the local communities, surrounded as they are by people who are leading a non-monastic life. The peninsula is a two hour boat journey from Bahir Dar.

The monastery of Ura Kidanemihiret consists, like the others, of a wooden church shaped like a traditional African house, with a thatched roof, topped by a large cross, decorated with ostrich feathers. A corridor runs around the outer wall with a number of entrances while in the centre of the church, surrounded by an inner corridor, the "Holiest of Holies" may only be entered by priests. The walls are covered in frescoes, there are large candelabras and the air is thick with incense. Around the church, in the surrounding woods, are "tukul", rondavel huts where the monks live. The treasures and relics are kept in a smaller stone church.

There are frequent festivals on the liturgical calendar, like this Festival of the Virgin Mary. Five priests, in magnificent robes and holding staffs and crosses, went in procession around the inner corridor, attended by six acolytes, small boys, dressed in robes with silver ornaments and carrying colourful umbrellas. At every corner they bowed and sang in Ge'ez, the liturgical language. Meanwhile, in another room, around 50 turbaned priests sang and danced, accompanied by two large drums, metal rattles and clapping of hands, a very lively performance. Later, while a boy acolyte played on an accordeon, a large bible was brought out from the Holiest of Holies by three priests, each wearing a large silver crown.

	Orthodox church	Reading the bible	Orthodox priest	Virgin Mary fresco
	Boy acolytes	Playing accordeon	Priests singing	Dance with unmbrellas
	Song and dance	Priests with crowns	Showing the bible	Reading the bible

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