Tigray Mountain Church's Day Trip from Mekele

Embark on an incredible experience. Something exhausting but rewarding. The view from above!!!!! Of course this clock age but still very much alive church.

If you would like a thrilling day with beautiful nature, old cultural heritage and exiting climbing this is the tour for you! I can fully recommend to go with Great Ethiopians Tours & Travel on this tour to the cave churches to see 1500 years old paintings and beautiful views. Everything was organised very well, the staff was knowledgeable and helpful and I got fast response to my emails from Isaac.

I did the day trip to the Tigray Mountain Church with Great Ethiopian Tours prior to also going to the Danakil Depression for 3 days with them. Isaac was super helpful and really assisted me in organizing my whole trip in the region, answering all my questions along the way and helping me book transportation. Everything went smoothly in terms of logistics - we flew to Mekele from Addis Bole Airport early in the morning, set off for the Abune Yemata Church by car, met up with a local guide along the way, then spent several hours hiking/climbing up to the church. In the evening, upon returning to Mekele, we visited an Ethiopian cultural restaurant with delicious food, lively music, and traditional dancing. Overnight accommodation at the Axum Hotel was also lovely; much-appreciated and much-needed as well before my next 3 days in Danakil! I can positively say that the trip was very well-organized by Great Ethiopian Tours. They are a wonderful tour company which really pays attention to all the details of a trip and can really assist you in planning, especially if you have multiple destinations on your itinerary, which was my case (first the Tigray Mountain Church then Danakil). As for the day trip itself - Abune Yemata is a stunning and ancient church perched at the top of rocky mountains, carved directly into stone. It will take a few hours to drive there, but the trip is undeniably worth it, and the drive itself is extremely picturesque as you venture across the vast and boundless Tigray lands. After arriving, you'll first hike to the base of the rocky mountain, after which you'll climb up the face of the rock with the help of some local guides. Even though I've had quite a bit of rock-climbing and bouldering experience prior to this, climbing the rock to the church was exciting and unlike anything I have ever experienced before. The views are stunning, and you'll be accompanied by lots of local worshippers and pilgrims from the surrounding areas making their Sunday journey to the church. The church itself is breathtakingly beautiful, decorated inside with paintings all the way from the 6th century, which have somehow still retained their colors after all this time. The pictures really don't do this place justice - you have to see it for yourself!