Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://dx.doi.org/10.18688/aa2111-02-24
Title Rock-hewn Churches of the Village of Angua (Tigray, Ethiopia): The Monuments of Three Historical Epochs
Author email serjklyuvue@yandex.ru
About author Klyuev, Sergey Andreevich — senior researcher. The Research Institute of Theory and History of Architecture and Urban Planning, Dushinskaya ul., 9, 111024 Moscow, Russian Federation. ORCID: 0000-0001-8320-3062
In the section Byzantine and Eastern Christian Art DOI10.18688/aa2111-02-24
Year 2021 Volume 11 Pages 296309
Type of article RAR Index UDK 72.033 Index BBK 85.113(3)
Abstract

The article is based on the results of a field study carried out with the financial support of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research in the fall of 2020. It has been devoted to the analysis of three rock-hewn churches created in different historical periods (including one modern monument) around the village of Angua, located in the mountainous region of Geralta (Tigray, Ethiopia). The text examines the characteristic features of the monuments, expounds the author’s position on their typological affiliation and dating, and describes their current state of preservation. These churches illustrate the three most important periods in the history of the Tigray region, during which one of the most active phases of the creation of rock-hewn churches has occurred. The article also examines the historical reasons behind these periods of construction activity.

This research has been completed with the support of the Russian Foundation of Basic Research, project № 19-012-00299.

Keywords
Reference Klyuev, Sergey A. Rock-hewn Churches of the Village of Angua (Tigray, Ethiopia): The Monuments of Three Historical Epochs. Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art: Collection of articles. Vol. 11. Eds A. V. Zakharova, S. V. Maltseva, E. Iu. Staniukovich-Denisova. — St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg Univ. Press, 2021, pp. 296–309. ISSN 2312-2129. http://dx.doi.org/10.18688/aa2111-02-24
Publication Article language russian
Bibliography
  • Buxton D. R. The Christian Antiquities of Northern Ethiopia. Archaeologia, 1947, vol. 92, pp. 1–42.
  • Buxton D. R. The Rock-Hewn and Other Medieval Churches of Tigre Province, Ethiopia. Archaeologia, 1971, vol. 103, pp. 33–100.
  • Di Salvo M. The Basilicas of Ethiopia. An Architectural History. London; New York, I. B. Tauris Publ., 2017. 145 p.
  • Fitzgerald M. A.; Marsden P. Ethiopia: The Living Churches of an Ancient Kingdom. Cairo; New York, A. Ludwig Publishing Edition, The American University in Cairo Press Publ., 2017. 525 p.
  • Fritsch E. Mäqdäs. Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, vol. 3: He–N. Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz Publ., 2007, pp. 765–767.
  • Gerster G. Churches in Rock. Early Christian Art in Ethiopia. London, Phaidon Publ., 1970. 148 p.
  • Gervers M. New Rock-Hewn Churches of Ethiopia. University of Toronto. Available at: https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/projects/ethiopic-churches/mikael-angua/ (accessed 22 January 2021).
  • Klyuev S. The Church of Madhane Alem in Adi Qasho and the Difficulties of Dating Rock-Hewn Monuments of the Tigray Region (Ethiopia). Kazaryan A. Yu. (ed.). Voprosy vseobshchey istorii arkhitektury (Questions of the History of World Architecture), 2018, vol. 11 (2/2018), pp. 98–113 (in Russian).
  • Klyuev S. The Results of New Studies of the Rock-Hewn Churches of the Historical Regions of Endärta and Tämben (Tigray Region, Ethiopia). Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Architecture: Heritage, Traditions and Innovations (AHTI 2020). Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, 2020, vol. 471, pp. 38–46.
  • Klyuev S. The Rock-hewn Churches of Tǝgray (Ethiopia): New Studies in Qwälla and Dǝggwǝʽa Tämben and Säḥarti Samre districts. A Trip Report. Disegnarecon. Traveling from the Orient to the West and Rreturn. Cities, Architecture and Restoration. Writings in Memory of Paolo Cuneo, 2020, vol. 13, no. 25, pp. 4.1–4.13.
  • Klyuev S. A.; Semenova V. N. The Role of Landscape in Semi-rock-hewn and Cave Churches of Tämben and ᵓƎndärta (Tәgray region, Ethiopia). Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Asian and African Studies, 2020, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 208–229 (in Russian).
  • Lepage C. ; Mercier J. Les églises historiques du Tigray. Art éthiopien / Ethiopian Art: The Ancient Churches of Tigrai. Paris, ADPF Publ., 2005. 247 p.
  • Mordini A. La chiesa ipogea di Ucro. Annali dell’Africa Italiana, 1939, vol. 2, pp. 517–526.
  • Muth F-Ch. Ahmad b. Ibrahim al-Gazi. Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, vol. 1: A–C. Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz Publ., 2003, pp. 155–158.
  • Phillipson D. W. Ancient Churches of Ethiopia: Fourth-Fourteens Centuries. New Haven; London, Yale University Press Publ., 2009. 230 p.
  • Plant R. Architecture of the Tigre, Ethiopia. Worchester, Ravens Educational and Development Services Publ., 1985. 230 p.
  • Plant R.; Buxton D. R. Rock-Hewn Churches of the Tigre Province with Additional Churches. Ethiopia Observer, 1970, vol. 13, pp. 157–268.
  • Sauter R. Églises rupestres au Tigré. Annales d’Ethiopie, 1976, vol. 10, pp. 157–175 (in French).
  • Tewelde Medhin J. Introduction générale aux églises monolithes du Tigrai. Proceedings of the Third International Conference of Ethiopian Studies. Addis Ababa, 1969, vol. 1, pp. 83–98 (in French).