The small town of Lalibela, perched in Ethiopia’s Lasta Mountains at 2,600m (8,530ft), is home to one of the world’s most astounding sacred sites: eleven rock-hewn churches, each carved entirely out of a single block of granite with its roof at ground level.
Religious ritual is central to the life of the town, with regular processions, extensive fasts, and crowds of singing and dancing priests. This, combined with its extraordinary religious architecture and simplicity of life, gives the city of Lalibela a distinctively timeless, almost biblical atmosphere.
History of the Rock-Cut Churches of Lalibela
The town of Lalibela was originally known as Roha. It was renamed after the 12th-century King Lalibela, who commissioned these extraordinary churches. Lalibela was a member of the Zagwe dynasty, which had seized the Ethiopian throne around 1000 AD. When his rivals began to increase in power, Lalibela sought the support of the powerful Ethiopian Orthodox Church by building the churches in this small town.
King Lalibela’s life is full of legends. It is believed that upon his birth, he was surrounded by a cloud of bees. Hence, his mother gave him the name Lalibela, which means, “the bees recognize his sovereignty.” Lalibela’s older brother, Harbay, the incumbent monarch, was naturally disturbed to hear this news and unsuccessfully tried to have his brother murdered. Persecution continued for several years, culminating in a deadly poison that left the young prince in a three-day coma. During the three-day stupor, Lalibela was transported by angels to heaven, where God ordered him to return to Roha and build churches the like of which the world had never seen before. After Lalibela woke up from the coma and was crowned king, he gathered local handymen and started building the churches.
The churches of Lalibela were not constructed — they were excavated. Each church was created by first carving out a wide trench on all four sides of the rock, then chiseling out the interior. The largest church is 40 feet high.
Popular legend has it that angels came every night to pick up where the workmen had left off. One of the churches, Bet Maryam, contains a stone pillar on which King Lalibela wrote the secrets of the buildings’ construction, the past, and the future of the world. Another legend has it that the stone pillar has every individual’s past and future written on it. The dusty red curtains around the pillar permanently cover the inscription, refusing to reveal the secret, and neither does the resident monk.
In 1978, the churches of Lalibela were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The churches in the town are still an active place of pilgrimage and worship for the Ethiopian Christian Orthodox faith. To preserve these historic Lalibela churches, UNESCO has built protective coverings for four of the churches so that they can be protected from the weather.
The churches are carved from soft volcanic rock, some cut into the face of a cliff, while others are isolated structures in deeply carved pits with long access passages or trenches. The earliest carved monuments may not have been churches, but in the 10th and 11th centuries AD sophisticated churches of diverse styles were created, with architectural features that scholars believe originated in ancient Aksum, which flourished up to 800 years previously. The finest examples are three-aisle or five-aisle basilicas, carved inside and out, with window openings as well as detailed geometric ornamentation.
In total, there are 13 rock churches in Lalibela — some are monolithic, a few are semi-monolithic (joined to the rock in some parts), and others are carved into the rock. They are divided into three groups: the north-western churches, southeastern churches, and Saint George, which stands apart from the other clusters.
