ETHIOPIA (Amhara) - Rock-Hewn Churches, Lalibela (UNESCO WHS)

In a mountainous region in the heart of Ethiopia (the second country which adopted Christianity, after Armenia, in the first half of the 4th century), at Lalibela, 11 medieval monolithic churches were carved out of rock. Actually, Lalibela flourished after the decline of the Aksum Empire, and is one of Ethiopia's holiest cities, second only to Aksum, and a center of pilgrimage. Unlike Aksum, the population of Lalibela is almost completely Ethiopian Orthodox Christian.

The building of the churches is attributed to Saint Gebre Mesqel Lalibela (negus of Ethiopia in the late 12th century and early 13th century) who set out to construct a New Jerusalem, after Muslim conquests halted Christian pilgrimages to the Holy Land. There are two main groups of churches, to the north and to the south of the river Jordan, one representing the earthly Jerusalem, and the other representing the heavenly Jerusalem. The eleventh church, Bete Ghiorgis (House of St. George), is isolated from the others, but connected by a system of trenches.

The churches were not constructed in a traditional way but rather were hewn from the living rock of monolithic blocks. These blocks were further chiselled out, forming doors, windows, columns, various floors, roofs etc. This gigantic work was further completed with an extensive system of drainage ditches, trenches and ceremonial passages, some with openings to hermit caves and catacombs.

The 11 churches included in the UNESCO WHS Rock-Hewn Churches, Lalibela are the following (the ones with links are presented on the blog):
The Northern Group
• Biete Medhani Alem (House of the Saviour of the World)
• Biete  Mariam (House of Mary)
• Biete  Maskal (House of the Cross)
• Biete Denagel (House of Virgins)
• Biete Golgotha Mikael (House of Golgotha Mikael) and the Tombs of Adam
The Eastern Group
• Biete Amanuel (House of Emmanuel)
• Biete Qeddus Mercoreus (House of St. Mercoreos)
• Biete Abba Libanos (House of Abbot Libanos)
• Biete Gabriel Raphael (House of Gabriel Raphael)
• Biete Lehem (House of Holy Bread)
The Western Group
• Biete Ghiorgis (House of Saint George)

References
Lalibela - Wikipedia
Rock-Hewn Churches, Lalibela - UNESCO official website
Lalibela - selamta.net