Medhane Alem Adi Kesho
Medhane Alem (Savior of the world) Adi Kesho is a rock-hewn church situated east of the smal village of Inda Teka Tesfay, 73 kms along the Mekelle-Adigrat highway. A ten minutes drive across fields to the foot of Mikael Milhaizengi (another rock-hewn church) and another twenty minutes walk will bring you to a steep rock face beyond which the church wall surrounded by olive trees is found.
In the rock face, one can see potholes which the local people believe to be the footprints of St. George and his horse. Just past the Deje-Selam (Gate of Peace) one finds stone graves shaded by olive trees. The doors and windows of the church have massive, ornately carved wooden frames in Axumite style.
The front part of the exterior is supported by four freestanding rectangular columns at an interval of about four meters. The intervals are filled with masonry. At the top of the whitewashed front of the exterior, there are three square windows decorated with St. Andrew’s crosses. Unlike its neighboring rock churches, Medhane Alem Adi Kesho has a cloister. It runs from the north end to the south end of the churche and is beautifully decorated with patterns. Two doors lead to the sanctuary, where there are six huge square pillars supporting the ceiling, 10.20 meters wide and 10.35 meters deep. One can see a striking croix pattee on the right side of the sanctuary’s back wall and its ceiling is delightfully and skillfully decorated with bas reliefs and symmetrical patters. “Because of the size and massive freestanding pillars”, reports Dale Otto, “the church is decidedly cathedral-like in its feelin, very majectic”. There are no paintings whatsoever but their absence is surely a blessing in disguise in the sense that their presence would have concealed the wonderfully hewn walls. According to Ruth Plant, Medhane Alem Adi Kesho is “one of the truely great churches of Tigray”.
No academic authority has suggested a definite date of construction for the church. However, David Buxton, who regards the church as the earliest known attempt to copy a Debre-Damo type church is solid rock hinted that the feasible period for the construction of the church is the late 10th or early 11th century, hence before Lalibela.
Certainly, this edifice is one of the best rock-hewn churches of Tigray in terms of architectural quality. It is a remarkable legacy in which we can see how advanced rock architecture was in Tigray. Although this beautifully hewn rock church had hardly been heard of previously out side Tsaeda Imba, today it has mde an auspicious start to turn the white stone of Tsaeda Imba into auriferous rock – a tourist attracting, gld-yielding rock.
Petros and Paulos
The church of Petros and Paulos is situated in the same locality as Medhane Alem Adi Kesho. It is located between the other two rock-hewn churches, ikael bet Mikae and Miikael Milhaizengi, only a ten minutes drive or a thirty minutes gentle walk across fields from the village of Inda Teka Tesfay. The church lies on the cliff side of the escarpment, 9 100 feet above sea level. it is visible from the main road because of its whitewashed facade.
The ascent of the cliff face is difficult and terrifying through not as terrifying as that at Guh in Gheralta. There are only fingerholds and footgrips for use in the ascent. People who suffer from vertigo are advised not to try it. The church is partly built of wood, stone and mortar and is also partly a cave. The Holy of Holies lies in the apparently natural cave to the east of the small sanctuary. The sanctuary is square in shape, about 2 meters wide and 2 meters deep. There are two wooden pillars supporting the ceiling.
Architecturally, the church is not too important. But its murals are of great quality and pleasing artistry. On the walls and on the chamber antecedent to the Holy of Holies are a number of striking paintings depicting the Madonna and Child, angels, the nine saints, Christ resurrecting Adam and Eve and many other subjects. The names of the saints and angels are shown on the murals. St. Peter, St. George, Abune Kiros, Abune Samuel and oters are shown in their finest robes and turbans. Unfortunately, the wooden ceiling and mortar and wood walls of the church upon which those magnificent murals are painted are falling apart, to the dismay of art loving tourists and concerned citizens.
The openings created as a result of the falling mortar have allowed dust and rain water to wash away some of the paintings. The church is no longer in use, apparently because of the difficulty in climbing the cliff. However, “Haleka” Halefom Retta, apeasant farmer in a neighboring village, has single handedly hewn a replacement monolithic rock church right at the foot of the escarpment. The Petros and Paulos church is 10 meters wide and 9 meters deep and about 3 meters from the floor to the ceiling. It has four freestanding pillars. The front part of the church is a constructed structure.
The church is built in such a wa that it could house three tabots (replicas of the Ark of the Covenant). Construction of the new Petros and Paulos began in 1982 and was completed twelve 1994. Haleform Retta is probably Tigray’s last rock church-hewer. The church has no interior decoration whatsoever and is crudely carved. It is, however, a clear testimony to the fact that rock-hewing is not a thing of the past.
Mikael Milhaizengi
This church dedicated to St. Mikael is situated about 15 minutes gentle walk just south of the church of Petros and Paulos. The isolated round hill out of which the church is carved lies 2 760 meters above the sea level. There are a number of graves and indigenous old trees and bushes inside the churchyard.
If one knows where to look, the two wooden doors are even visible from the main road. One finds church bells of stone hung in a tree just before reaching the churchyard. The church is believed to have been a primitive cave. One can see the recent excavation works in what is now the Holy of Holies. Four pillars support the ceiling. The church is 5.5 meters wide and 7.6 meters deep and the ceiling is 3 meters high. The most remarkable feature of the church is its beautifully decorated dome. It looks like a decorated circular “Himbasha” (local bread) which the Tigreans greatly favour. There is a Greek cross in the mddle of the dome.
