The Cathedral of St Mary of Zion compound contains two churches and the most contested object in Christianity. The old cathedral, built by Emperor Fasilides in the 17th century, stands beside a modern church completed in 1964 under Haile Selassie — architecturally uninspiring but housing a museum of Aksumite crown jewels and ancient manuscripts that is well worth the entry fee.
Between them stands the Chapel of the Tablet, a small, heavily guarded building that Ethiopian Orthodox tradition holds contains the original Ark of the Covenant, brought from Jerusalem by Menelik I. No visitor may enter; the guard outside is there permanently. Whether or not you accept the claim, the intensity of reverence around this small building — and the elaborate ceremony during Timkat when the Ark (or a replica) is paraded through the streets — is genuinely moving. The cathedral is the most sacred site in Ethiopian Christianity.