Debre Sina (monastery)

Debra Sina (ደብረ ሲና) is a monastery in the highlands of Eritrea near Keren in the Anseba Region. It was founded in the 4th century by saint Aba Salama, making it one of the oldest churches in the world.

History
It was the site of the first Holy Communion prepared in the Eritrean Orthodox Church, by the 4th-century bishop Aba Salama. It is one of the oldest monasteries in Africa and the world, as it was probably built in the third century.

The monastery is the site of a pilgrimage by Eritrean Orthodox believers each year in June. The pilgrimage centres on a church above the village where a vision of Mary was said to have been seen by shepherd girls beneath a large boulder. The church is built adjacent to and over the rock where the vision was seen. The pilgrimage includes thousands of ordinary Eritrean believers camping for one night in the village of Debra Sina, singing, drumming, chanting and celebrating Mary.

The monastery was completely rebuilt during Italian colonial years (in the 1930s)