Bichena, Ethiopia

History

Bichena was important in the 18th century as the capital of the province of Gojjam; C.T. Beke, who visited the town in November 1841, reports that the town "which is pleasantly situated on a low eminence" was surrounded by "strong stone walls" and most of the houses were of stone too; however

all is now fallen into great decay, the walls being broken down, and the present houses being merely hovels of wattles covered with mud. In its time of greatness, it was the capital of Ras Hailu (Dejasmach Goshu's maternal grandfather), whose residence, a little way out of the town, was pointed out to me.

Paul B. Henze notes the nearby church of Weyname Kidane Mihret, which he found in the 1970s in a ruinous state, but the interior "was covered with extraordinary eighteenth-century paintings", although roughly a third were damaged beyond repair. Henze continues,

All the classic themes were there: the Flight into Egypt, Christ as a boy descending a sunbeam, Adam and Eve, Abraham sacrificing Isaac. There was an outstanding St George and dragon, a vivid depiction of the cannibal who was saved. The details -- were from traditional Ethiopian country life as it is still being lived in the surrounding area. The main (western) door of the maqdas had a garland of heads of angels as fine as any I had ever seen and there were several portraits of standing saints of exceptional quality and individuality.

From the History section of Bichena on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.