Debra Damo Monastery

RockcutAfricaEthiopia

6th-century Aksumite-era monastery on a sheer-sided plateau (amba) in northern Tigray. Access is only by a 15-meter leather rope hauled up by monks. The plateau preserves Ethiopia's oldest extant church building, a wood-and-stone basilica with intricately carved wooden panels.

14.3633°, 39.2944°