Meskel is an annual religious holiday in the Ethiopian Orthodox and church, which commemorates the discovery of the True Cross by the Roman Queen Helena(Eleni) in the fourth century. Meskel occurs on the 17 Meskerem in the Ethiopian calendar and 26th September in Gregorian calendar.

The Meskel celebration includes the burning of a large bonfire ( Demera) based on the belief that Queen Eleni , as she is known, had a revelation in a dream. She was told that she should make a bonfire and that the smoke would show her where the True Cross was buried. So she ordered the people of Jerusalem to bring wood and make a huge pile. After adding frankincense to it the bonfire was lit and the smoke rose high up to the sky and returned to the ground, exactly to the spot where the Cross had been buried.

Gishen Mariam church is one of the places of immense significance for Ethiopian Church and Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, perhaps even for Christianity itself. It has got a portion of the cross on which Jesus Christ is crucified is located. ... Gishen is in North Central Ethiopia in what is now Amhara regional state, north wollo zone.