Bahir Dar - Lake Tana, Azuwa Maryam Monastery and Church

April 17 - We hopped on a boat right from our hotel's private pier and headed to the Zege Peninsula, a long strip of land that juts into Lake Tana and is home to numerous 13th through 17th century Orthodox churches and monasteries. We visited two monasteries on the peninsula - Azuwa Maryam and Ura Kidane Mehret. Then we crossed a portion of the lake to see Debre Maryam monastery and the mouth of the Blue Nile. 

On the away to our first stop, we saw several of these ancient papyrus boats. The locals make and use these boats for carrying many things across the lake, including firewood, food, and volcanic ash used as a supplement in cement to give it a distinctive dark color, very commonly seen in this area. 

At Azuwa Maryam we saw this cluster of tiny huts, actually monastic cells, shared by 3 monks. Boys can be admitted to the monastery as young as 7 years of age. It takes 3-4 years of study to be a deacon and 8-10 years to be ordained a priest. 

Here are two of the young men living at the monastery. They showed us their study building in the background. 

And here is the Azuwa Maryam church, built in the 13th century. It has a distinctive circular design and the traditional roof ornament with 7 real ostrich eggs. Our guide told us these are still the ORIGINAL ostrich eggs. Almost 800 years old???  "Very strong", he said. OK. 

Inside the entrance is this wonderful bell arrangement. The bells are rung to signal the start of daily prayer services. 

There are 12 doors around the perimeter of the church to represent the 12 apostles. 

On the front wall of the sanctuary is this painting of Mary and Jesus. The colors are still brilliant!

Another one of the 12 doors. There are always 4 steps leading into the church to represent the 4 gospel writers: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 

This is one of many drums we saw. Each band around the drum contains 33 triangles to symbolize the age of Jesus when he was crucified. We learned that drums are not used during Holy Week out of respect for the suffering of Christ during this time in his life. 

The paintings at this church were some of the most vibrant we've seen yet. 

Each of the panels tells a detailed biblical story. Ethiopian children are taught these stories as they grow up. Very few of the stories are learned by reading about them. Oral history lives on!