• Home
  • Ethiopian Tours
    • Day Tours
    • Discover Tours
    • Historic Route
    • Overnight Treks
    • Omo Valley
    • Danakil Depression
    • Eastern Ethiopia
    • Birding Tours >
      • Birding Tour 11 Nights
      • Birding Tour 15 Nights
  • Attractions
  • Visitor Information
    • Visas to Ethiopia
    • Money and Foreign Exchange
    • Health and Safety
    • Ethiopian Food
    • Map of Ethiopia
  • Horn of Africa
    • Abyssinia Blog
    • East Africa Tourism Information >
      • Djibouti Tourism Snapshot
      • Kenya Tourism Snapshot
      • Rwanda Tourism Snapshot
      • Somalia Tourism Snapshot
      • Somaliland Tourism Snapshot
      • South Sudan Tourism Snapshot
      • Sudan Tourism Snapshot
      • Tanzania Tourism Snapshot
      • Uganda Tourism Snapshot
    • Only Africa >
      • Flags of Africa
      • Population of Africa
  • Film/Video
  • About Awaze
  • Contact Us
Awaze Tours of Ethiopia
  • Home
  • Ethiopian Tours
    • Day Tours
    • Discover Tours
    • Historic Route
    • Overnight Treks
    • Omo Valley
    • Danakil Depression
    • Eastern Ethiopia
    • Birding Tours >
      • Birding Tour 11 Nights
      • Birding Tour 15 Nights
  • Attractions
  • Visitor Information
    • Visas to Ethiopia
    • Money and Foreign Exchange
    • Health and Safety
    • Ethiopian Food
    • Map of Ethiopia
  • Horn of Africa
    • Abyssinia Blog
    • East Africa Tourism Information >
      • Djibouti Tourism Snapshot
      • Kenya Tourism Snapshot
      • Rwanda Tourism Snapshot
      • Somalia Tourism Snapshot
      • Somaliland Tourism Snapshot
      • South Sudan Tourism Snapshot
      • Sudan Tourism Snapshot
      • Tanzania Tourism Snapshot
      • Uganda Tourism Snapshot
    • Only Africa >
      • Flags of Africa
      • Population of Africa
  • Film/Video
  • About Awaze
  • Contact Us

Palm Sunday Celebrations

22/4/2022

 
While many Christians in the world recognized Easter last Sunday, the Ethiopian Orthodox will celebrate Easter this Sunday. Beginning on Palm Sunday (shown in the video) until Good Friday every day has special services. This week is called Semune Himamat - a week of agony and suffering. No matter when or if you celebrate Easter we wish you a happy and peaceful day.

Amde Birhan

16/3/2022

 
Picture
St. Mary Church, Lalibela
At the center of St. Mary’s Church in Lalibela is a column rising from the floor to the ceiling called “Amde Birhan” or the “Pillar of Light.” The column is completely shrouded in cloth which is removed for no-one and this has generated several theories as to what it conceals. Many priests in Lalibela say that inscribed on the column are the Ten Commandments in Hebrew, Geez, and Greek. Others believe that the inscriptions reveal the secrets of the beginning and ending of humanity, while still others claim that King Lalibela personally wrote the various secrets of the churches on the column. One thing that the priests all agree upon is that it would be sacrilege to ever reveal the pillar to human eyes.
Picture
Amde Birhan, the "Pillar of Light"

Sof Omar Cave

5/3/2022

 
Picture
Picture
Picture
​From the +4,000 meter heights of the Bale Mountains, the Web River descends nearly 3000 meters in elevation as it flows east and enters Holqa Sof Omar, a 15 kilometer long network of caves.

Currently on UNESCO’s list of proposed World Heritage Sites, Holqa Sof Omar is described by UNESCO:  "In this realm of dry, cool caves nature has worked a marvel of architecture — soaring pillars of stone twenty meters (66 feet) high, flying buttresses, fluted arch ways, and tall airy vaults.  Finally the river itself is reached, a sunless sea flowing through a deep gorge."

Named for the Muslim saint who took refuge there in the 11th century, Sof Omar is an important shrine not just for Muslims but has long been a sacred place for Oromo local religions. 

Sof Omar is most easily reached from Goba (a gateway town to the Bale Mountains National Park) about 120 kilometers away.  The drive will take about 3 hours so it's best to camp near the caves if you want to thoroughly explore them.  
Photos courtesy  of Jamal Kassim

Covenant of Mercy

25/2/2022

Comments

 
On 16 of Yekatit 2014 of the Ethiopian Orthodox Calendar (23 February 2022) was the annual “Covenant of Mercy.”  These scenes are from the famous Ura Kidane Mehiret Monastery located on the Zege Peninsula of Lake Tana near the Ethiopia town of Bahar Dar.
During this procession, the “Tabot” of the church is carried outside.  Every Ethiopian Orthodox Church has a Tabot, a representation of the Ark of the Covenant which sanctifies the church building.  In the video, you can see a priest with the Tabot balanced on his head and wrapped in purple fabrics as no-one other than the head priest may lay eyes on the actual Tabot.
Young church deacons preparing for the procession.  The deacons to the immediate right have the special honor of wearing ancient crowns belonging to the church.  One holds an "enzira", an accordion type instrument, and the other holds a silver chalice used during the eucharist.
Picture
Picture
Video and photos by Ayinekulu Mulugeta.
Comments

    Abyssinia:   
    Africa's oldest Nation

    Categories

    All
    Cuisine
    Eritrea
    Ethiopia
    History
    Natural Wonders
    Religion
    Sports
    Wildlife

    Archives

    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022

    RSS Feed

Picture
Telephone
+251 911623376
Email
info@awazetours.com
Address
Haile Gebrselassie Street, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
© 2023 Awaze Tours
  • Home
  • Ethiopian Tours
    • Day Tours
    • Discover Tours
    • Historic Route
    • Overnight Treks
    • Omo Valley
    • Danakil Depression
    • Eastern Ethiopia
    • Birding Tours >
      • Birding Tour 11 Nights
      • Birding Tour 15 Nights
  • Attractions
  • Visitor Information
    • Visas to Ethiopia
    • Money and Foreign Exchange
    • Health and Safety
    • Ethiopian Food
    • Map of Ethiopia
  • Horn of Africa
    • Abyssinia Blog
    • East Africa Tourism Information >
      • Djibouti Tourism Snapshot
      • Kenya Tourism Snapshot
      • Rwanda Tourism Snapshot
      • Somalia Tourism Snapshot
      • Somaliland Tourism Snapshot
      • South Sudan Tourism Snapshot
      • Sudan Tourism Snapshot
      • Tanzania Tourism Snapshot
      • Uganda Tourism Snapshot
    • Only Africa >
      • Flags of Africa
      • Population of Africa
  • Film/Video
  • About Awaze
  • Contact Us