Debre Libanos suffered great destruction during the invasion of Ahmad Gragn when one of his followers, Ura'i Abu Bakr, set it on fire 21 July 1531, despite the attempts of its community to ransom the church.[5] Although the Ichege intervened to protect the Gambo people during the reign of Sarsa Dengel,[6] the buildings were not completely rebuilt until after the visit of Emperor Iyasu the Great in 1699.[7]