The Zege Peninsula is located on the southern shore of Lake Tana and is easily reached by a 40-minute boat ride from Bahir Dar. It is the site of a number of churches and monasteries and visiting them is an enjoyable way to spend a day.
In this article, I will tell you all you need to know about visiting the Zege Peninsula, Ethiopia. For information on other places to visit in this amazing country, as well as travel tips, please read my Complete Ethiopia Travel Guide.
In this article
What you Need to Know
Most people only visit the four monasteries near the shore. These will give you a good overview of the history of religious practice on the peninsula and how it continues today. It is possible to climb up into the hills and visit Bette Selassie monastery (men only) and Tekla Haimanot church. Both of these have stunningly vivid paintings to reward those who make the 45-minute walk.
Whichever churches and monasteries you visit on the Zege Peninsula, you have to take a local guide with you. These charge 150 Birr ($US5.50) for groups of one to three people.
We were lucky enough to take our own guide with us. Mas guided us for the whole time we were in Bahir Dar.
Bete Maryam Monastery
Dating from the 13th century, this is the oldest monastery on the peninsula. The church that stands on the site now was built around 1430. Most of the original murals, which were painted directly onto the walls, were replaced in the 1700s with new ones which were done first on canvas and then mounted on the walls. These murals are striking in their vibrancy. It’s hard to believe that all of the wonderful colours were derived from vegetation found locally – fruit, seeds, vegetables and flowers.
The paintings portray the life, wit and humanity of Ethiopian art at its best and provide an encyclopaedia of Ethiopian orthodox religion and local lore. Mas explained what we were seeing in great detail. The images were given life by his excellent narrative and we all recognised the more famous stories from the bible. We were taken by his description of a particularly unhappy looking Mary as she was told the news of Jesus’s death. Mas’s accent and choice of words as he pointed to the image of ‘Santi Mary sad face’ gave us a catchphrase which made us smile for the rest of our trip!
Walking through the Forested Peninsula
Moving from one religious building to the next meant walking through forests, coffee plantations and villages. We spotted lots of birdlife along the way, as well as several Vervet monkeys. At one point, we passed a religious school, where we could hear novice monks, priests and deacons chanting. Apparently, they stay there for seven years reciting holy verses for eight hours each day before they are deemed ready to be ordained.
Azuwa Maryam Church
The second church we visited was Azuwa Maryam. Outside, there was a girl sieving stone by hand to create the fine powder needed to make cement. She was being watched over by a man whose only role appeared to be to make sure she didn’t stop!
Watch this Video
This local news story about visiting the monasteries of the Zege Peninsula features our guide, Mas!
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