MESKEL (FINDING THE TRUE CROSS)

The festival of Meskel commemorates the Finding of the True Cross. It is celebrated on September 26th and 27th (September 27th and 28th in a leap year). The origin goes back to the fourth century AD when Queen Helena (the mother of Constantine the Great) discovered the cross upon which Jesus was crucified. In December 2013 the Meskel celebrations are inscribed as the first Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in Ethiopia by UNESCO.