Painting of Mentewab prostrated at the feet of Mary and Jesus from the monastery of Närga SelassieExterior of Church of Närga Selassie
Narga Selassie is an Orthodox Tewahedo church on the western shores of Dek Island, the largest island of Lake Tana in northern Ethiopia. The name signifies "Trinity of the Rest". "Rest" refers to the place and the shade thereabouts.
The church was constructed by Empress Mentewab in the late 18th century, apparently using as construction material for doors and roof a gigantic sycamore fig tree that stood at the centre of a slight elevation, now the centre of the church. Narga Selassie is fully decorated in the local style. A relief on the main entry portrays the Scottish explorer James Bruce, who visited the capital, Gondar, in the late 18th century.
Narga Selassie was constructed in the classic round architectural tradition of the churches in the Lake Tana area, with the usage of stone both in the peristylium around the church and in the compound walls.
The church is accessed from the lake through a port constructed in 1987, which is connected to Bahir Dar and Gorgora by a state-owned ferry service. The access is in itself a beauty spot with a huge sycamore with long aerial roots descending to the lake and a door tower which forms part of the original construction.
NargaSelassie is an Orthodox Tewahedo church on the western shores of Dek Island, the largest island of Lake Tana in northern Ethiopia. The name signifies...
emperors, displayed for visitors to view in modern, glass-sided coffins. NargaSelassie, which means ‘Trinity of the Rest’, was built on Dek Island, the largest...
Cathedral" which stands next to the newer cathedral built by Emperor Haile Selassie. According to legend, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church would be constructed...
isolated island monasteries (including Kebran Gabriel, Ura Kidane Mehret, NargaSelassie, Daga Estifanos, Medhane Alem of Rema, Kota Maryam, and Mertola Maryam)...
Sabagadis Woldu of Tigre, Ras Wolde Selassie of Tigre, Wube Haile Mariam of Simien, and provincial king Sahle Selassie of Shewa. The lords fought against...
isolated island monasteries (including Kebran Gabriel, Ura Kidane Mehret, NargaSelassie, Daga Estifanos, Medhane Alem of Rema, Kota Maryam and Mertola Maryam)...
of the best-known examples of this type of painting is at Debre Berhan Selassie in Gondar (pictured), famed for its angel-covered roof (angels in Ethiopian...
Zemene Mesafint, prostrating herself before Mary and Jesus, from the NargaSelassie church. At the start of the 20th century, artists like Picasso, Matisse...
Island. Dek Island is home to several monasteries, the best-known being NargaSelassie. Dek is accessible by the ferry that runs from Bahir Dar to Gorgora...
spiritual and political centres of the medieval Ethiopian Empire. Church of NargaSelassie on Dek Island is pictured. Simien Mountains National Park (SMNP) Amhara...
traditionalist practices, embodied by works such as those by Heruy Wolde Selassie (1878–1938). The discipline has since developed new approaches in studying...
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