Travelers and tourists have visited Abune Petros Memorial since a long time. One of the most widely frequented tourist destinations in the city, Abune Petros Memorial is located to the western side of the City Hall in the capital city of Ethiopia. The Abune Petros Square is located on the main road to the Mercato district and has the impressive statue. This monument is dedicated to Abune Petros, who was the orthodox Bishop of Wello in Ethiopia. He was brutally killed by the Italians in this very square.
Abune Petros occupied a very important place among the bishops in Ethiopia. He was one of the first four Ethiopians, who were fortunate enough to be anointed as Bishops by the Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria. They had to serve under Archbishop Abune Kerllos of Ethiopia in 1932.
The province of Wello was given under the jurisdiction of Abune Petros. However in 1936, Ethiopia fell prey to
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the fascists and the Bishop traveled to the northern Shewan district of Menz. He intended of joining the sons of Dejazmatches Wondwossen, Ras Kassa, Asfa Wossen Kassa and Abera. There were also many other leaders, who were a part of the resistance team, whose only motto was to drive the Italians out of Addis Ababa. However the total plan failed and Abune Petros was captured.
Brave as he was, he refused to give up to the Italians and preferred to give up his life instead. Before his execution he put on his clerical robes and ordered his people never to bow down or submit themselves to their invaders. He was brutally murdered in front of a large crowd in the Abune Petros Square in Addis Ababa.
After his death, Emperor Haile Selassie had a statue made for this great Bishop. There is a memorial slab that is there on the spot where Abune Petros was executed.
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