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Practically unknown to other Ethiopians –let alone the out side world -before 1966 the rock hewn churches of Tigray have been described by Ivy Pearce as “the greatest of the historical cultural heritage of the Ethiopian people”. Most of them are still in active use as center of worship and prayer. Many have paintings and medieval artifacts. These churches primarily don’t function as tourist attractions. Almost half of these churches have gone unseen by foreigners because the Tigraian churches are more scattered and less accessible than their counterparts at Lalibela.

There are many places of interest and attractions along the way to Adigrat situated 122kms from Axum the second largest town of Tigrai. Some of the known destinations include the ruins of Yeha Temple, the town of Adwa and the mountains where the Italians were defeated in 1896, and the ancient cliff top monastery of Debre Damo founded by Abuna Aregawi one of the nine saints who had arrived from Roman Empire.