Debre Dammo

Debre Dammo (Tigrinya: ደብረ ዳሞ), Däbrä Dammo (with the geminated -mm-) in Tigrinya or Däbrä Damo in later Amharic appellations (also spelled Debre Damo, Dabra Dāmmo or Däbrä Dammo), is the name of a flat-topped mountain, or amba, and a 6th-century monastery in Tigray Region of Ethiopia. The mountain is a steeply rising plateau of trapezoidal shape, about 1,000 by 400 m (3,300 by 1,300 ft) in dimension. It sits at an elevation of 2,216 m (7,270 ft) above sea level. It is north of Bizet and northwest of Adigrat in Central Zone, Tigray, close to the border with Eritrea.

The mountain hosts a monastery, accessible only by rope up a sheer cliff, 15 m (49 ft) high, is known for its collection of manuscripts and for having the earliest existing church building in Ethiopia that is still in its original style, and only men can visit it. Tradition claims that the monastery was founded in the 6th century by Abuna Aregawi.

Abune Mathias, Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, claims that several churches had been burned during Tigray War, including Debre Damo. These claims have not been independently verified. He did not state who was responsible.