The Restoration of Kidane Mehret Church in Sen'afe

Abstract

The Church of Kidane Mehret stands at 2,450 m above sea level, close to the village of Sen'afe, on the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Probably built in the fifteenth or sixteenth century, the church gradually became a ruin in the middle of the last century. Following the intervention of the monks of this church, a restoration program was set up in 2006. With the agreement of the National Museum in Asmara and the World Monuments Fund, funding was collected together by the German Embassy, the French Embassy, and the Alliance Francaise of Asmara, which made it possible to restore the church, between 2006 and 2008. Teams of workmen and women were created to this end. Only traditional techniques were employed for the masonry of the walls, the wooden roofing, the plastering, and the interior paintwork. This project, which conforms to the Charter of Venice, could serve as an example for similar restorations in the region and as a model for professional training. Finally, a trilingual article (English, German, and Tigrinya) was published in the Collection Cultures et Patrimoines d'Erythree , 2009.