Rema Island is a small island located in the southeastern part of

Lake Tana Lake Tana (; previously transcribed Tsana) is the largest lake in Ethiopia and a source of the Blue Nile. Located in Amhara Region in the north-western Ethiopian Highlands, the lake is approximately long and wide, with a maximum depth of , and ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. It has a latitude and longitude of .

Overview

It is the location of the church of Medhane Alem, where the Emperor

Sarsa Dengel Sarsa Dengel ( ; 1550 – 4 October 1597), also known as Sarsa the Great, was Emperor of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. His throne name was throne name Malak Sagad I (መለክ ሰገድ ). He is considered one of the greatest w ...

is interred. When R.E. Cheesman visited the church in March 1933, he found some paintings which he described as "beautiful", suggesting European artists or monks who had studied in

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

. Two

triptych A triptych ( ) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all m ...

s in particular retained good colors, with "the old gold background and reds are superb and look like lacquer." Cheesman was also shown a blue-and-white porcelain jar, in which Sarsa Dengel's entrails were brought from the place of his death.R.E. Cheesman
"Lake Tana and Its Islands", ''Geographical Journal''
85 (1935), p. 498

References

{{Amhara-geo-stub Amhara Region Islands of Lake Tana