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Mentewab (means in Amharic, "How beautiful.")
Mentewab's Baptismal name is Walatta Giorgis, which means, "Daughter of Saint George."
Throne name: Berhan Magassa (which means, Glorifier of Light)
From the House of Solomon, her coronation was on December 23, 1730, where she became Empress of Ethiopia. She was the consort of Emperor Bakaffa. She was the mother of Iyasu II(whose was also known as Berhan Seged, which means, "He to whom the Light bows") and grandmother of Iyosas I.
Mentewab built several significant structures in Gondar including her own Castle in the Royal Enclosure and a large banqueting hall as well. Most significantly she built a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary at Qusquam(named for a site in Egypt where the Holy Family had stayed during their exile) in the mountains outside of Gondar.
Monastery of Narga Selassie (Rest of the Trinity) is a church on Dek Island. It's the largest island in Northern Ethiopia. It was constructed by Empress Mentewab in the late 18th Century.
Source: Tsega Tekle Haimanot ~ FB post ~ 10 Oct 2019
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Narga Selassie is an Orthodox church on the western shores of Dek Island, the largest island of Lake Tanain northern Ethiopia. The name signifies "Trinity of the Rest". "Rest" refers to the place and the shade thereabouts.
The church was constructed by Empress Mentewabin the late 18th century, apparently using as construction material for doors and roof a gigantic sycamore fig tree that stood at the centre of a slight elevation, now the centre of the church. Narga Selassie is fully decorated in the local style. A relief on the main entry portrays the Scottish explorer James Bruce, who visited the capital, Gondar, in the late 19th century.
Narga Selassie was constructed in the classic round architectural tradition of the churches in the Lake Tana area, with the usage of stone both in the perinaeum around the church and in the compound walls.
The church is accessed from the lake through a port constructed in 1987, which is connected to Bahir Darand Gorgora by a state-owned ferry service. The access is in itself a beauty spot with a huge sycamore with long aerial roots descending to the lake and a door tower which forms part of the original construction.
Source: Tsega Tekle Haimanot ~ FB post ~ 10 Oct 2019
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Nothing is hidden from God's view!...
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