Monasteries of Lake Tana >> Kibran Gebriel
The closest monastery to Bahir Dar, and visible from the town, Kibran Gebriel, lies on a tiny, forested crescent - presumably part of the rim of an extinct volcano - which, somewhat incredibly, provides sanctuary to as many as 40 monks The church, on the highest point of the island, was founded in the 13th century and rebuilt in the 17th to a similar design to the better-known Ura Kidhane Mihret on Zege.
Kibran Gebriel boasts no paintings of note, but it houses the largest library of ancient books of any church in the region - almost 200 volumes in total including a beautifully illustrated life of Christ. The island can easily be visited in conjunction with the monasteries on the Zege Peninsula, and is no more than 30 minutes by boat from Bahir Dar, but is open to men only.
