Lalibela, history and unusual architecture

 

The 11 medieval monolithic cave churches of this 13th-century "New Jerusalem" are in a mountainous region in northern Ethiopia, UNESCO said. They joined the World Heritage List in 1978 and are about 645 kilometers (about 400 miles) from the capital of Addis Ababa.

 

 

The structures were commissioned by King Lalibela of the Zagwe Dynasty, which ruled much of the country back in the 12th century. Nearly impossible to see at a distance, the impressive feat provided a safe space for Christians to hide from Muslim expansion from the north at the time.

 

 

Christianity here goes back many more centuries, though. It dates to the 4th century in this region, and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is one of the oldest Christian organizations in the world.

 

 

Lalībela, historical name Roha, religious and pilgrimage centre, north-central Ethiopia. Roha, capital of the Zagwe dynasty for about 300 years, was renamed for its most distinguished monarch, Lalībela (late 12th–early 13th century), who, according to tradition, built the 11 monolithic churches for which the place is famous. 

The churches, designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1978, were hewn out of solid rock (entirely below ground level) in a variety of styles.

Generally, trenches were excavated in a rectangle, isolating a solid granite block. The block was then carved both externally and internally, the work proceeding from the top downward.

The churches are arranged in two main groups, connected by subterranean passageways. 

One group, surrounded by a trench 36 feet (11 metres) deep, includes House of Emmanuel, House of Mercurios, Abba Libanos, and House of Gabriel, all carved from a single rock hill. 

House of Medhane Alem (“Saviour of the World”) is the largest church, 109 feet (33 metres) long, 77 feet (23 metres) wide, and 35 feet (10 metres) deep. 

House of Giyorgis, cruciform in shape, is carved from a sloping rock terrace. House of Golgotha contains Lalībela’s tomb, and House of Mariam is noted for its frescoes. The interiors were hollowed out into naves and given vaulted ceilings.

 

The expert craftsmanship of the Lalībela churches has been linked with the earlier church of Debre Damo near Aksum and tends to support the assumption of a well-developed Ethiopian tradition of architecture. 

Emperor Lalībela had most of the churches constructed in his capital, Roha, in the hope of replacing ancient Aksum as a city of Ethiopian preeminence. 

Restoration work in the 20th century indicated that some of the churches may have been used originally as fortifications and royal residences.