The Tigray, officially the Tigray National Regional State, is the northernmost regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigrai Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan (Tegaru), Irob people and Kunama people. Its capital and largest city is Mekelle. Tigray is the fifth-largest by area, the fourth-most populous, and the fifth-most densely populated of the 11 regional states.
The Church of Saint George is one of eleven rock-hewn monolithic churches in Lalibela, a town in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Originally named Roha (Warwar), the historical and religious site was named Lalibela after the King Gebre Mesqel Lalibela of the Zagwe dynasty, who commissioned its construction. He is regarded as a saint by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
Lalibela is a town in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Located in the Lasta district and North Wollo Zone, it is a tourist site for its famous rock-cut monolithic churches designed in contrast to the earlier monolithic churches in Ethiopia. The whole of Lalibela is a large and important site for the antiquity, medieval, and post-medieval civilization of Ethiopia. To Christians, Lalibela is one of Ethiopia's holiest cities, and a center of pilgrimage.
Rock-cut architecture is the creation of structures, buildings, and sculptures by excavating solid rock where it naturally occurs. Intensely laborious when using ancient tools and methods, rock-cut architecture was presumably combined with quarrying the rock for use elsewhere. Though, in India and China, the terms cave and cavern are often applied to this form of man-made architecture, caves and caverns that began in natural form are not considered to be rock-cut architecture even if extensively modified. Although rock-cut structures differ from traditionally built structures in many ways, many rock-cut structures are made to replicate the facade or interior of traditional architectural forms. Interiors were usually carved out by starting at the roof of the planned space and then working downward. This technique prevents stones falling on workers below. The three main uses of rock-cut architecture were temples, tombs, and cave dwellings.
Tigray Province, also known as Tigre, was a historical province of northern Ethiopia that overlayed the present day Afar and Tigray regions. Akele Guzai borders with the Tigray province. It encompassed most of the territories of Tigrinya-speakers in Ethiopia. Tigray was separated from the northern Tigrinya speaking territories by the Mareb River, now serving as the state border to Eritrea, bordering Amhara region in the south.
Kola Tembien is a woreda in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. It is named in part after the former province of Tembien. Part of the Mehakelegnaw Zone, Kola Tembien is bordered on the south by Abergele, on the west by the Tekezé River which separates it from the Semien Mi'irabawi Zone, on the north by the Wari River which separates it from Naeder Adet and Werie Lehe, on the east by Misraqawi (Eastern) Zone, and on the southeast by Degua Tembien. Towns in Kola Tembien include Guya and Werkamba. The town of Abiy Addi is surrounded by Kola Tembien.
Dogu'a Tembien is a woreda in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. It is named in part after the former province of Tembien. Nowadays, the mountainous district is part of the Southeastern Tigray Zone. The administrative centre of this woreda is Hagere Selam.
The architecture of Ethiopia varies greatly from region to region. Over the years, it has incorporated various architectural styles and techniques.
Wukro Chirkos is an Orthodox Tewahedo monolithic church located in northern Ethiopia, on the northern edge of the town of Wukro near the main highway. From the time members of the 1868 British Expedition to Abyssinia reported its existence until the early 20th century, it was the only rock-hewn church known to the outside world.
Abuna Yemata Guh is a monolithic church located in the Hawzen woreda of the Tigray Region, Ethiopia. It is situated at a height of 2,580 metres (8,460 ft) and has to be climbed on foot to reach. It is notable for its dome and wall paintings dating back to the 5th century and its architecture.
The eleven Rock-hewn Churches of Lalibela are monolithic churches located in the western Ethiopian Highlands near the town of Lalibela, named after the late-12th and early-13th century King Gebre Meskel Lalibela of the Zagwe dynasty, who commissioned the massive building project of 11 rock-hewn churches to recreate the holy city of Jerusalem in his own kingdom. The site remains in use by the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Church to this day, and it remains an important place of pilgrimage for Ethiopian Orthodox worshipers. It took 24 years to build all the 11 rock hewn churches.
The Amba Aradam Formation is a Cretaceous sandstone formation in Ethiopia. It is up to 200 metres thick, for instance in the Degua Tembien district. As fossils are absent, the age of the Amba Aradam Formation was interpreted based on the age of assumed corresponding sandstones elsewhere in Ethiopia: the Debre Libanos Sandstones in the Blue Nile Basin, and the Upper Sandstone near Harrar in southeast Ethiopia, both of Late Cretaceous age. The lithology of the Amba Aradam Formation makes it less suitable for rock church excavation; caves have however been blasted in this formation to serve as headquarters for the TPLF during the Ethiopian Civil War of the 1980s.
The Enticho Sandstone is a geological formation in north Ethiopia. It forms the lowermost sedimentary rock formation in the region and lies directly on the basement rocks. Enticho Sandstone consists of arenite that is rich in quartz. The formation has a maximum thickness of 200 metres. Locally, its upper part is coeval with the Edaga Arbi Glacials. The Enticho Sandstone has been deposited during the Ordovician, as evidenced by impressions of organisms.
Between 29 and 27 million years ago, the extrusion of Ethiopia’s flood basalts was interrupted and deposition of continental sediments occurred. Inter-trappean beds outcrop in many places of the Ethiopian highlands. They consist of fluvio-lacustrine deposits, that are generally a few tens of metres thick. Often, these interbedded fluvio-lacustrine deposits are very visible because their bright colours strongly contrast with the basalt environment.
The Adigrat Sandstone formation in north Ethiopia, in a wide array of reddish colours, comprises sandstones with coarse to fine grains, and locally conglomerates, silt- and claystones. Given the many lateritic palaeosols and locally fossil wood fragments, the formation is interpreted as a deposit in estuarine, lacustrine-deltaic or continental environments. The upper limit of Adigrat Sandstone is of Middle-Late Jurassic age whereas the lower boundary is Triassic. There are numerous rock-hewn churches in this formation.
Tembien is a historic region in Tigray Region and former provinces of Ethiopia. It is a mountainous area of that country. During the reforms in 1994–95, the old provinces were replaced with regions, zones and woredas. The area of the former province is now split over the woredas of Dogua Tembien and Kola Tembien.
Degol Woyane is a tabia or municipality in the Dogu'a Tembien district of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. It includes Dabba Selama, the oldest monastery of Ethiopia, and the most inaccessible in the world. The tabia centre is in Zala village, located approximately 10 km to the west of the woreda town Hagere Selam.
Mahbere Sillasie is a tabia or municipality in the Dogu'a Tembien district of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. The tabia centre is in Guderbo village, located approximately 2.5 km to the west-northwest of the woreda town Hagere Selam.
Simret is a municipality in the Tanqua Millash district of the Tigray Region, Ethiopia, which comprises the longest cave of Tigray in Zeyi, as well as Ras Alula’s birthplace in Mennewe. The municipality centre is in Dengolo village. Until January 2020, Simret belonged to the Dogu'a Tembien district.
Tanqua Millash is a district in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Located in the Central Tigray zone, Tanqua Millash was created from parts of the Tanqua Abergelle and Dogu’a Tembien in 2020. Agbe is the capital of this district.
