EXCURSION TO TIYA & ADADI MARIAM

The mystical rock-hewn cave church of Adadi Mariam is located south of Addis Ababa and dates back to the 13th century. It is believed that this church is built by Saint King Lalibela who is known for his 11 Remarkable rock churches that he built in Northern Ethiopia. This rock-hewn church is a type of rock-hewn cave church excavated in wards from a more or less vertical cliff and partially separated from the main rock with various degrees of attachment to the rock. There are three main entrances, from the east for priests, from the north for men, and from the south for women. It also has ten doors and twenty-four windows which represent the Ten Commandments and twenty-four heavenly priests respectively. Like all Ethiopian Orthodox churches, there are different religious paintings inside the church. The most popular painting is Saint Mary with Christ. The other paintings are; Saint Abune Gebre Menfes Qedus, the birth of the Christ, Apostles at dinner, and the Holy Trinity. There is a treasure house where you can see the various collections of spiritual books written on parchments in Geez language. Some of these holy books are; the Holy Bible, New Testament, Miracles of Mary, the Faith of Fathers, liturgical books, Hymn books, and prayer books.

The Prehistoric Archaeological Site of Melka Kunture is situated near the Awash River Gorge and other tools were excavated. The fossils are nearly 2 million years old and the Stone tools in the area are dating 1. 5 million years. Here you will visit ancient fossils of early humans, and animals, some of the oldest stone tools humans beings ever made and used, and learn the Stone Age history of Ethiopia. Also, visit for an open-air excavation site which is believed to have been a prehistoric animal butchering site and which is older than 800,000 years. The fossils and stone tools are displayed in four sections; Prehistoric Africa, Geology, Paleoanthropology, and Prehistory of Melka Kunture.