The monastery at the top of Debre Damo's flat-topped amba is one of the oldest intact Christian monasteries in the world, founded in the 6th century by Abuna Aregawi, one of the Nine Saints who brought Byzantine Christianity to Ethiopia. The summit sits some 50 metres above the surrounding plateau on sheer cliffs, and the only way up is via a 15-metre leather rope — hauled from above by monks who assess your weight and your grip and then simply hoist you.
The rope is not symbolic. There are no steps, no path, no ladders, and no alternative. You grip the rope with both hands and walk your feet up the cliff face while the monks above pull. It is strenuous and, for those with a reasonable head for heights, exhilarating rather than terrifying. A second, thinner rope hangs beside the main one to help orient yourself. Children manage it routinely. The descent is harder on the nerves than the ascent.
On the summit, the main church (Iyesus Debre Damo) is the oldest intact church in Ethiopia, built in the distinctively Aksumite style — alternating stone and timber courses, recessed panels, and elaborately carved wooden lintels. The interior contains ancient manuscripts, processional crosses, and painted panels. Monks live and work on the flat summit plateau, which also contains gardens, a small library, and several other buildings. Women have not been permitted to enter since the monastery's founding, a rule that extends to female animals — even the cows kept for milk and labour are male.
The views from the summit across the Tigray highlands are extraordinary: brown and green hills, dry riverbeds, the occasional distant farmstead. The silence up here is considerable. Allow at least three hours for the visit including the climbs, and bring water.