honorable mention
ANDREA PERUZZI italy
title
Traditions and rites in the rock churches
These rock churches are about 120 and some date back to the 6th century AD, many of them carved into the rock on top of mountains and peaks, even many kilometers away from each other and have sparked debates as to why their construction took place in such remote and inaccessible places. Some scholars attribute it to the need for "protection" of the sacred place from persecution, others to the difficult and bumpy path that a believer must take before reaching the sacred place to purify his soul.
Inside, still well-preserved frescoes tell biblical stories and the deeds of the nine saints who evangelized Ethiopia and, with the help of candles and flashlights, it is possible to admire its beauty and let yourself be overwhelmed by the mysticism of these places that guard a reproduction, visible only to the priest, of the mythological Ark of the Covenant, the wooden and gold case that God gave to Moses to keep and protect the tablets of the 10 commandments.
Being able to visit the magnificent territory of northern Ethiopia and these sacred places sometimes very difficult to reach, allows you to immerse yourself in this millenary culture that with effort and devotion is still handed down to local communities.
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entry description
In the north of Ethiopia, not far from the border with Eritrea, there are mystical places where time seems to have stopped and where priests, keepers of monolithic Christian-Orthodox churches continue to transmit their knowledge to local communities. My goal was to document these places and the activities carried out by their priests to continue to pass on the Holy Scriptures imported into this African region hundreds of years ago and protected to this day.These rock churches are about 120 and some date back to the 6th century AD, many of them carved into the rock on top of mountains and peaks, even many kilometers away from each other and have sparked debates as to why their construction took place in such remote and inaccessible places. Some scholars attribute it to the need for "protection" of the sacred place from persecution, others to the difficult and bumpy path that a believer must take before reaching the sacred place to purify his soul.
Inside, still well-preserved frescoes tell biblical stories and the deeds of the nine saints who evangelized Ethiopia and, with the help of candles and flashlights, it is possible to admire its beauty and let yourself be overwhelmed by the mysticism of these places that guard a reproduction, visible only to the priest, of the mythological Ark of the Covenant, the wooden and gold case that God gave to Moses to keep and protect the tablets of the 10 commandments.
Being able to visit the magnificent territory of northern Ethiopia and these sacred places sometimes very difficult to reach, allows you to immerse yourself in this millenary culture that with effort and devotion is still handed down to local communities.
about the photographer
Freelance travel and documentary photoghapherback to gallery