About 1800 years ago, nine monks from Byzantium arrived in the city of Aksum in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia. Together with their disciples. they ventured deep into the mountains and did something remarkable: they built churches hewn out of rock. One of the monks, Abuna Yemata, carved a cave into the sandstone pinnacle of Guh in what has become known as the Abuna Yemata Guh church. Situated at a dizzying height of 2,580 meters, it has to be climbed barefoot to reach, and despite the hazardous ascent, for centuries, young and old have made the steep climb to the top and still do every Sunday in what they consider to be an act of faith.

Abuna Yemata Guh is but one of many rock-hewn churches of Tigray that have their roots in an age of desert monasticism. It was here that Christianity was adopted as the Aksum Empire’s sole religion in the 4th century, about the same time when Roman Emperor Constantine I legalized Christianity (in 313 CE). The monolithic church heritage of Aksum also indicates that this region was an early nexus of trade between northern Africa and the Mediterranean region.

Watch: A short Video of Abuna Yemata Guh