The festival of Meskel is second in importance only to Timkat and has been celebrated in the country for over 1,600 years. The word actually means “cross” and the feast commemorates the discovery of the Cross upon which Jesus was crucified by the Empress Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great.
Lake Tana, at a distance of 550k from capital Addis Ababa, is the source of the Blue Nile and with its size of about 66km long and 84km, 350,000ha, the largest lake of Ethiopia. At an elevation of 1,788masl, and located in the largely Ethiopian Orthodox Amhara Region, the 14m deep lake with about 45 islands – depending on the level of the lake – 8 of which are the home to historical monasteries and churches.
La-Libela this is an Amharic word. It is two words meaning eating honey and also the name of the king. Lalibela is a town in northern Ethiopia that is famous for its monolithic rock-cut churches. Lalibela is one of Ethiopia’s holiest cities, second only to Aksum, and is a center of pilgrimage for much of the country.
The Ethiopian Orthodox faithful celebrate Timket — or Epiphany,representing Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River — all across Ethiopia each January. But for the grandest experience of all, many travel to Gondar, a castle-filled city that surrounds the festivities with just the right amount of drama.On the eve of the holiday, the tabots (sacred replicas of the Ark of the Covenant) are wrapped in cloth and carried by priests to the Fasiladas’ Bath. There, the Divine Liturgy is celebrated in the wee hours of the morning, culminating in the moment when the tabots are immersed in the 17th-century pool.