Saint George's Cathedral (

Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...

: የቅዱስ ጊዮርጊስ ካቴድራል) is an

Ethiopian Orthodox The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church () is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Christian churches in Africa originating before European colonization of the continent, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church dates bac ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

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 ...

. The

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

is noted for its distinctive

octagon In geometry, an octagon () is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, which alternates two types of edges. A truncated octagon, t is a ...

al form. It is located at the northern end of Churchill Road in the city.

Overview

The new church was built on the ruins of an older church from the 15th century. It was named after

St. George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

, after the

Tabot ''Tabot'' (, sometimes spelled ''tabout'') is a replica of the Ark of the Covenant, and represents the presence of God, in Ethiopian Orthodox and Eritrean Orthodox Churches. ''Tabot'' may variously refer to an inscribed altar tablet (''tsel ...

(Ark) of the church was carried to the

Battle of Adwa The Battle of Adwa (; ; , also spelled ''Adowa'') was the climactic battle of the First Italo-Ethiopian War. The Ethiopian army defeated an invading Italian and Eritrean force led by Oreste Baratieri on March 1, 1896, near the town of Adwa. ...

against the Italians during which the Ethiopians secured victory. One of the founders was Andargaye, and his daughter, Kisela Andargaye and her husband, Agonafir Woldeyess are buried in the church yards. The building was described in 1938 in an Italian tourist publication as a fine example of the European interpretation of Ethiopian church design.Guida dell'Africa Orientale Italiana, Milano,Consolazione Turistica Italiana, 1938, p.487 "La chiesa offre un interessante esempio di interpretazione europea della chiesa abissina tipica a pianta ottagonale. La decorazione è opera di artisti indigeni sotto la dirazione dei pittori Tedaldi e Pagliacci. Nel recinto, sono varie cappelle funerarie di grandi capi, nelle quali veglia pregando continuamente, il ''padre dell'anima'', ossia il confessore del defunto" The

Italian Fascist Italian fascism (), also called classical fascism and Fascism, is the original fascist ideology, which Giovanni Gentile and Benito Mussolini developed in Italy. The ideology of Italian fascism is associated with a series of political parties le ...

authorities set the building on fire in 1937. The cathedral was later restored by Emperor

Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I (born Tafari Makonnen or ''Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles#Lij, Lij'' Tafari; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as the Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles, Rege ...

following the liberation in 1941. Empress

Zewditu Zewditu (, born Askala Maryam; 29 April 1876 – 2 April 1930) was Empress of Ethiopia from 1916 until her death in 1930. She was officially renamed Zewditu at the beginning of her reign as Empress of Ethiopia. Once she succeeded the throne af ...

was crowned at this Cathedral in 1917, and Emperor Haile Selassie was crowned there in 1930, and it became a pilgrimage site for

Rastafarian Rastafari is an Abrahamic religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control of the movement and much ...

s. The Cathedral has a museum, and an Imperial throne is on display as is the stained glass works of artist

Afewerk Tekle Afewerk Tekle (; 22 October 1932 – 10 April 2012) was an Ethiopian artist, particularly known for his paintings on African and Christian themes as well as his stained glass. Early life and career Born in Ankober, in Shewa Province, to eth ...

. Given the reason why the cathedral was named, it displays weaponry used in the wars against the Italians including curved swords and tridents and giant helmets made from the manes of

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

References

Cathedrals in Addis Ababa Churches completed in 1896 19th-century Oriental Orthodox church buildings Rastafari Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo cathedrals Octagonal churches in Ethiopia Coronation church buildings 19th-century churches in Ethiopia {{EthiopianOrthodox-church-stub