Debre Libanos is a Monastery in Ethiopia, 103km Northwest of Addis Ababa. Founded in the thirteenth century by Saint Tekle Haymanot, according to the belief, he meditated in a cave for 29 years. The cave where he is supposed to have prayed for seven years standing on one foot is one of the sacred spots of Debre Libanos that pilgrims flock to. Perhaps because of the beginnings, Debre Libanos has been one of the most important and influential monasteries in the land while its titular head has been regarded as the premier monk of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The monastery complex sits on a terrace between a cliff and the gorge of one of the tributaries of the Abay River.
