Lalibela [The Mystery of Ethiopia's Extraordinary Excavated Churches]

Sacred Destinations ^

[marshmallow]

The small town of Lalibela in Ethiopia 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.
Bet Giorgis (St. George)

Were it not for these extraordinary churches, Lalibela would almost certainly be well off the tourist radar. A dusty rural town nestled into rolling countryside, Lalibela only recently received electricity. It has few motorized vehicles, no gas stations and no paved streets. Isolated from the modern world, the town goes about its business much as it has for several hundred years.

Of Lalibela's 8-10,000 people, over 1,000 are priests. Religious ritual is central to the life of the town, with regular processions, extensive fasts, 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

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 goal was to create a New Jerusalem for those who could not make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land (and to create a sacred city to rival powerful Axum, with its Ark of the Covenant). According to some reports, he had been to the Holy Land himself and was inspired by what he saw.

[colorado tanker]

An Ethiopian Orthodox congregation bought a church in our neighborhood from a Baptist congregation that had become too small. The place looks packed during services. The women dress to the nines in beautiful dresses and shawls.

[Kolokotronis]

"The women dress to the nines in beautiful dresses and shawls."

Yes, generally all in white. If you were to go inside, you would notice that the women take their shoes off before entering the nave, because that is God's House and thus holy ground. America is blessed to have such people as immigrants.

[RikaStrom]

Wow.