Gelila Zakarias is a small island in the northwestern part of Lake Tana in Ethiopia.
The island is a circular, forested cone with the monastery church of Iyasus at the peak.
Cheesman visited it in 1933, he found the monastery flourishing, and the abbot invited him to partake in their Lenten far.
The rafts carrying the followers of the Imam were met by soldiers in tankwa, the name of the indigenous boats made of papyrus.
Since all of the defenders were in tankwas, once the Imam and his followers outdistanced them, they landed unopposed on the island and burned down the church of Iyasus.