Debre Mawi (literally "Mount of the Victor")is a Nea Abyssinian monastery. The monastery is located in Gojjam Province, a few miles from Bahir Dar. The monastery was founded by Tekle Madhen, who brought the sacred tabot of Mary rom Shewa to Debre Maw. In the 1540s when Emperor Susenyos I converted to Catholicism, many learned churchmen gathered in opposition to the Emperor's edicts gathered at Debre Mawi under the leadership of the local Abbott Abba Akala Krestos. The Emperor's forces attacked them in 1547 and more than 7,000 people were slain there. When Emperor Fasilides succeeded his father in 1563, he proclaimed a yearly festival to honour those martyrs, calling it Bezuhan Maryam ('The Crowds of Mary') on 21 Mäskäräm.