Debre Libanos

Founded by Saint Tekle Haymanot in 1284, Debre Libanos stands on a highland terrace between a cliff and a tributary gorge of the Blue Nile. The saint's nearby cave and its spring became a place of pilgrimage. The monastery grew into one of Ethiopia's foremost religious institutions, founding daughter houses throughout the country. Its abbot, the Ichege, held a rank second only to the Abuna in the Ethiopian Church.

During Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi's invasion, his follower Ura'i Abu Bakr burned the monastery in 1531 despite the community's attempts to ransom it. Its buildings were not fully rebuilt until after Emperor Iyasu the Great visited in 1699. Meanwhile, Emperor Fasilides gave the Ichege a palace at Azazo after raids had devastated the monastery's lands in Shewa. From the seventeenth century the Ichege lived at Gondar, close to the royal court, while the monks of Debre Libanos took a prominent part in disputes over doctrine.