Bete Danaghel Church, Lalibela

Bete Danaghel, House of the Virgins, is a small church dedicated to the Church of the Martyrs of the Virgin of the Maiden—50 nuns who were murdered in the 4th century by the Roman ruler Julian the Apostate in an attempt to promote Neoplatonic Hellenism, according to the Ethiopian Book of Martyrs (Synaxarium).

The church is located on the south side of Bete Maryam, partly carved into a natural rock cave. It measures approximately 5 meters by 5 meters, with a height of about 3.6 meters.

The church can be accessed in two ways. You can pass through Bete Medhane Alem and find it on your left. However, the main entrance is on the west side, featuring a double arch supported by a single pillar, leading through a small cell. A passage carved through the rock also connects the church on the west side to the churches of Bete Mikael and Bete Golgotha.

The courtyard of Bete Maryam is shared with this small church and contains a small pool, about 2 meters deep, filled with holy water. It is believed to help infertile women conceive.

Inside, the church has four square columns, but its overall shape is very irregular, suggesting it may not have originally been intended to function as a fully designed church structure.