monastery
Debre Damo
Debre Damo, Tigray, Ethiopia · Africa: Aksum & Ethiopia
14.374, 39.290
Tradition. The founding by Aragawi is tradition. The church building is real and old, but its date is debated; many scholars place the surviving fabric later than the 6th century.
This flat-topped mountain monastery can be reached only by climbing a rope up a cliff. Tradition credits its founding to Abba Za-Mika'el Aragawi, one of the Nine Saints who are said to have come from the Roman world in the late 5th or 6th century. Its main church is one of the oldest standing churches in Ethiopia, built in the Aksumite style.
Source stance: insider. Ethiopian hagiography (Gadl of the Nine Saints) plus architectural study.
People and groups named here
- Abba Za-Mika'el Aragawi (traditional founder, one of the Nine Saints)
Sources
- Ancient Ethiopian Churches in Historical Perspective
David W. Phillipson, The British Academy. Accessed 2026-11-11.
- Debre Damo (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors. Accessed 2026-11-11.
Further reading
Councils here
None in this list.