For most Christians, Sunday morning means getting up early, picking a nice outfit, grabbing a Bible and making way to church.

But for individuals living in Ethiopia's Tigray Region, it means something entirely different, a barefoot climb up the face of a cliff, hundreds of metres above the ground, with nothing but hand grips and sheer determination standing between them and worship.

That is the reality of attending Abuna Yemata Guh, the most inaccessible place of worship in the world.

The terrifying journey was brought vividly to life in a recent video by Ghanaian travel blogger Wode Maya, who made the climb himself alongside his crew.

Carved into the sky

One of Ethiopia's 35-odd rock-hewn churches, Abuna Yemata Guh is not built, it is carved. It sits at an altitude of 2,580 metres above sea level, approximately 200 metres above the surrounding terrain in the Hawzen woreda of the Tigray Region.

There are no elevators, no staircases and no shortcuts. The only way in is by climbing.

The ascent is as dramatic as it sounds. Climbers must navigate a steep and hazardous route using hand and foot grips cut into the rock face before crossing a natural stone bridge with a sheer drop of approximately 250 metres on either side.

A final narrow wooden footbridge marks the last stretch before the entrance.

And yet, despite the terrifying conditions, local priests have not recorded a single death from the climb in the church's entire history.

A church older than you think

According to local legend, Abuna Yemata Guh was hewn from the rock during the sixth century and dedicated to Abuna Yemata, one of the revered Nine Saints, figures traditionally believed to have come from Rome, Constantinople and Syria between the late fifth and early sixth centuries to spread Christianity across Ethiopia.

Wode Maya's Climb

For Wode Maya and his crew, the journey was equal parts terrifying and exciting.

Guided by local church members who made the climb look effortless, the team had no other choice than to press on through their initial fears and nervous jokes about their chances of making it back down.

The feeling upon arrival, by all accounts, was immense. Standing inside a church carved into a cliff face, surrounded by ancient murals and centuries of unbroken faith, the physical exhaustion gave way to a sense of accomplishment.

The church's age raises a profound question that Wode Maya's team found themselves sitting with long after the climb. As one member of the crew remarked during the video, Christianity was present in Ethiopia long before it took root across much of Europe.

The climb to Abuna Yemata Guh is not just a test of physical endurance. It is a journey into the heart of one of Christianity's oldest and most extraordinary traditions, one that has endured, barefoot and unshaken, on the side of a mountain for over fifteen centuries.

Watch the video below:

@letlearn10 Barefoot Climb To The Sky Church #Ethiopia #MountainClimb #AdventureTravel #BarefootChallenge #HiddenChurches ♬ original sound - letlearn10