Ura Kidane Mehret is a church of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, located on the

Zege peninsula The Zege Peninsula is a peninsula located on the southern shore of Lake Tana in Ethiopia, the largest lake in Ethiopia and the source of the Blue Nile river, and is situated at (11° 40’ to 11° 43’ N and 37 °19’ to 37 °21’ E). It is 6 ...

around Lake Tana in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. It is part of the complex of the Convent of Mercy. At least one author considers it the most attractive church in the Lake Tana region.Philip Briggs, ''Guide to Ethiopia'', fifth edition (Old Saybrook: Globe Pequot Press, 2009), p. 211 The Ura Kidane Mehret

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglic ...

was founded in the 14th century by the saint Betre Mariyam ( Amharic "Rod of Mary"), although the present circular church dates from the 16th century. Its interior is decorated with numerous murals painted between 100 and 250 years ago; subjects include ''

Negus Negus (Negeuce, Negoose) ( gez, ንጉሥ, ' ; cf. ti, ነጋሲ ' ) is a title in the Ethiopian Semitic languages. It denotes a monarch,

Tekle Haymanot of Gojjam Tekle Haymanot Tessemma, also known as Adal Tessemma, Tekle Haymanot of Gojjam, and Tekle Haimanot of Gojjam (1847 – 10 January 1901), was King of Gojjam. He later was an army commander and a member of the nobility of the Ethiopian Empire. ...

and his followers. The most significant were painted by ''

Alaqa The title Aleqa ("Master", also transliterated Alaqa) is a honorific title used in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. It is used as the title of a chief priest, the head of a monastery, as well as being an honorific An honorific is a titl ...

'' Engida during the reign of Emperor

Menelik II , spoken = ; ''djānhoi'', lit. ''"O steemedroyal"'' , alternative = ; ''getochu'', lit. ''"Our master"'' (pl.) Menelik II ( gez, ዳግማዊ ምኒልክ ; horse name Abba Dagnew ( Amharic: አባ ዳኘው ''abba daññäw''); 17 ...

. The church has its treasury in a nearby outbuilding, which contains the richly embroidered robes of ''Negus'' Tekle Haymanot and his wife Laqetch Gegre Mehdin, as well as the crowns of Emperor

Yohannes IV ''girmāwī''His Imperial Majesty, spoken= am , ጃንሆይ ''djānhoi''Your Imperial Majesty(lit. "O steemedroyal"), alternative= am , ጌቶቹ ''getochu''Our Lord (familiar)(lit. "Our master" (pl.)) yohanes Yohannes IV (Tigrinya: ዮሓ� ...

, Emperor Tewodros II, ''Negus'' Tekle Haymanot, and Emperor

Tekle Giyorgis Tekle Giyorgis may refer to *Tekle Giyorgis I (c.1751–1817), Emperor of Ethiopia *Tekle Giyorgis II Tekle Giyorgis II ( Ge’ez: ተክለ ጊዮርጊስ, born Wagshum Gobeze (Amharic: ዋግሹም ጎበዜ), died 1873) was Emperor of Ethi ...

.Stuart Munro-Hay, ''Ethiopia, the unknown land: a cultural and historical guide'' (London: I.B. Tauris, 2002), p. 176

References

Amhara Region Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church buildings 16th-century Oriental Orthodox church buildings 16th-century churches in Ethiopia {{OrientalOrthodox-church-stub