#ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN #TEWAHEDO #DEBRE BIZEN #NEFASIT ERITREA
Debre Bizen is the best-known monastery of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church. Located at the top of Debre Bizen the mountain (825 meters) is near the town of Nefasit in Eritrea. Its library contains many important Ge’ez manuscripts. The monastery is actually a small village of a few dozen stone monk’s houses, three churches, some classrooms, and agricultural support buildings. Debre Bizen homes some 60 monks, who chose to live an austere life, and a fluctuating number of students in its religious school. They are the custodians of Debre Bizen’s collection of more than 1,000 medieval manuscripts, including finely illustrated parchments bound in thick leather, cloth, and wood.
It is possible for men to visit the monastery, but the only way to make the 825 meters, 7km climb to the top is on foot (which takes, depending on your condition, between one and a half and three hours). The reward for those who endure the grueling climb is a spectacular view of the surrounding barren mountains. The Red Sea, some 80 kilometers distant, is visible from here on a clear day.