Lalibela () is a town in the

Amhara Region The Amhara Region (), officially the Amhara National Regional State (), is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in northern Ethiopia and the homeland of the Amhara people, Amhara, Awi people, Awi, Xamir people, Xamir, Argobba people, Argobba, a ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. Located in the Lasta district and

North Wollo Zone North Wollo (Amharic: ሰሜን ወሎ) also called Semien Wollo, is a zone in Amhara Region of Ethiopia. It is bordered on the south by South Wollo, on the west by South Gondar, on the north by Wag Hemra, on the northeast by Tigray Region, ...

, it is a tourist site for its famous rock-cut

monolithic church A monolithic church or rock-hewn church is a church made from a single block of stone. Because freestanding rocks of sufficient size are rare, such edifices are usually hewn into the ground or into the side of a hill or mountain. They can be of ...

es designed in contrast to the earlier monolithic churches in Ethiopia. The whole of Lalibela is a large and important site for the antiquity, medieval, and post-medieval civilization of

. To Christians, Lalibela is one of Ethiopia's holiest cities, and a center of

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

. Ethiopia was one of the earliest nations to adopt Christianity in the first half of the 4th century, and its historical roots date to the time of the

Apostles An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary. The word is derived from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", itself derived from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to se ...

. The churches themselves date from the 7th to 13th centuries, and are traditionally dated to the reign of the

Zagwe The Zagwe dynasty () was a medieval Agaw monarchy that ruled the northern parts of Ethiopia and Eritrea. It ruled large parts of the territory from approximately 1137 to 1270 AD, when the last Zagwe King Za-Ilmaknun was killed in battle by the ...

(

Agaw The Agaw or Agew (, modern ''Agew'') are a Cushitic ethnic group native to the northern highlands of Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea. They speak the Agaw languages, also known as the Central Cushitic languages, which belong to the Cushitic bran ...

) king

Gebre Meskel Lalibela Lalibela (), regnal name Gebre Meskel (), was a king of the Zagwe dynasty, reigning from 1181 to 1221.Getachew Mekonnen Hasen, ''Wollo, Yager Dibab'' (Addis Ababa: Nigd Matemiya Bet, 1992) He was the son of Jan Seyum and the brother of Kedus ...

(r. ). The layout and names of the major buildings in Lalibela are widely accepted, especially by local clergy, to be a symbolic representation of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. This has led some experts to date the current church construction to the years following the capture of Jerusalem in 1187 by the Muslim leader

Saladin Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, h ...

. Lalibela is roughly above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. It is the main town in Lasta, which was formerly part of the Bugna district. The rock-hewn churches were declared a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

in 1978.

History

Origins

There is some controversy as to when some of the churches were constructed. According to local tradition, in Ethiopia prior to his accession to the throne,

was guided by

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

on a tour of

, and instructed to build a second Jerusalem in Ethiopia. Accordingly Lalibela (traditionally known as Roha) was founded during the

Zagwe dynasty The Zagwe dynasty () was a medieval Agaw monarchy that ruled the northern parts of Ethiopia and Eritrea. It ruled large parts of the territory from approximately 1137 to 1270 AD, when the last Zagwe King Za-Ilmaknun was killed in battle by the ...

, under the rule of King

(r. ca. 1181–1221 AD), although it is more likely that the churches evolved into their current form over the course of several phases of construction and alteration of preexisting structures. David Buxton established the generally accepted chronology, noting that "two of them follow, with great fidelity of detail, the tradition represented by Debra Damo as modified at Yemrahana Kristos." Since the time spent to carve these structures from the living rock must have taken longer than the few decades of reign of

, Buxton assumes that the work extended into the 14th century. However,

David Phillipson David Walter Phillipson FBA FSA (born 17 October 1942) is a British archaeologist specializing in African archaeology. His most notable work has been in Ethiopia, particularly on the archaeology of Aksumite sites. He was curator of the Museum o ...

, professor of African archeology at

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, has proposed that the churches of Merkorios, Gabriel-Rufael, and Danagel were initially carved out of the rock half a millennium earlier, as fortifications or other palace structures between 600 and 800 A.D, during the days of the

Kingdom of Aksum The Kingdom of Aksum, or the Aksumite Empire, was a kingdom in East Africa and South Arabia from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, based in what is now northern Ethiopia and Eritrea, and spanning present-day Djibouti and Sudan. Emerging ...

, and that Lalibela's name simply came to be associated with them after his death. On the other hand, local historian Getachew Mekonnen credits Meskel Kibra, Lalibela's wife, with having one of the rock-hewn churches,

Biete Abba Libanos Biete Abba Libanos (House of Abbot Libanos) is an underground rock-cut monolith Orthodox church located in Lalibela, Ethiopia. It was built during the Kingdom of Axum. It is part of UNESCO World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landm ...

, built as a memorial for her husband after his death. Recent archeological excavations of Lalibela finds abundant pottery and faunal remains dating between 900 A.D and 1100 A.D, which indicates that the site was largely a secular settlement before being transformed into a religious center by King Lalibela. Pre-Christian carved animal friezes were also found on the lower walls of the nearby Washa Mika'el cave and Christian paintings were subsequently added on to the upper walls, suggesting that this region was still going through a process of Christianization during this time.

15th century

Its name was first used in a European publication in

Fra Mauro map The Fra Mauro map is a World map, map of the world made around 1450 by the Italian (Republic of Venice, Venetian) cartographer Fra Mauro, which is “considered the greatest memorial of medieval cartography." It is a circular planisphere drawn on ...

made in Venice 1457-59, written as ''Lalabeda''.

16th century

A Portuguese priest,

Francisco Álvares Francisco Álvares ( – 1536–1541) was a Portugal, Portuguese missionary and exploration, explorer. In 1515 he traveled to Ethiopia as part of the Portuguese embassy to emperor Lebna Dengel accompanied by returning Mateus (Ethiopia), Ethi ...

(1465–1540), accompanied the Portuguese Ambassador on a visit to

Dawit II Dawit II (; – 2 September 1540), also known by the macaronic name Wanag Segad (ወናግ ሰገድ, ''to whom the lions bow''), better known by his birth name Lebna Dengel (, ''essence of the virgin''), was Emperor of Ethiopia from 150 ...

in the 1520s. After Alvares described the unique church structures he wrote: "I weary of writing more about these buildings, because it seems to me that I shall not be believed if I write more because as to what I have already written they may accuse me of untruth, therefore I swear by God, in whose power I am, that all that is written is the truth, and there is much more than what I have written, and I have left it that they may not tax me with its being falsehood. And because no other Portuguese went to these works except myself, and I went twice to see them from what I had heard of them. I swear by God, in Whose power I am, that all I have written is the truth". Although Ramuso included the plans of several of these churches in his 1550 printing of Álvares' book, it is unknown who provided him with the drawings. According to the ''Futuh al-Habaša'' of Sihab ad-Din Ahmad,

Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi (, Harari: አሕመድ ኢብራሂም አል-ጋዚ, ; 21 July 1506 – 10 February 1543) was the Imam of the Adal Sultanate from 1527 to 1543. Commonly named Ahmed ''Gragn'' in Amharic and ''Gurey'' in Somali, ...

burned one of the churches of Lalibela during his invasion of Ethiopia. Sihab ad-Din Ahmad (Arab Faqih) provided a detailed description of a rock-hewn church "It was carved out of the mountain. Its pillars were likewise cut from the mountain." Ahmed then gathered the monks of Lalibela and had a fire lit in the church, saying to them "let one of yours and one of ours enter there". A nun then threw herself onto the fire before being pulled out by Ahmad's soldiers.Sihab ad-Din Ahmad bin 'Abd al-Qader, ''Futuh al-Habasa: The conquest of Ethiopia'', translated by Paul Lester Stenhouse with annotations by Richard Pankhurst (Hollywood: Tsehai, 2003), pp. 346f. However, Richard Pankhurst has expressed skepticism about this, pointing out that the ''Royal Chronicles'', which mention Ahmad al-Ghazi's laying waste to the district between July and September 1531, are silent about him ravaging the churches. He concludes by stating that had Ahmad al-Ghazi burned a church at Lalibela, it was most likely

Biete Medhane Alem Biete Medhane Alem is an Orthodox underground monolith rock-cut church located in Lalibela, Ethiopia. It was built during the Zagwe dynasty The Zagwe dynasty () was a medieval Agaw monarchy that ruled the northern parts of Ethiopia and Eri ...

; and if the Adalites was either mistaken or misled by the locals, then the church he set fire to was Gannata Maryam, "10 miles 6 kmeast of Lalibela which likewise has a colonnade of pillars cut from the mountain." The next reported visitor to Lalibela was

Miguel de Castanhoso --> Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to: Places * Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands * São Miguel (disam ...

, who was a soldier under

Cristóvão da Gama Cristóvão da Gama ( 1516 – 29 August 1542), anglicised as Christopher da Gama, was a Portugal, Portuguese military commander who led a Portuguese army of 400 musketeers to assist Ethiopia that faced Islamic Jihad from the Adal Sultanate led ...

and left Ethiopia in 1544. Castanhoso states: "There are here certain churches cut out of the living rock, which are attributed to angels. Indeed, the work appears superhuman, because, though they are of the size of the large ones in this country, they are each excavated with its pillars, its altars, and its vaults, out of a single rock, with no mixture of any outside stone. When the Moors overran this country they wished to destroy these churches, but could not either with crowbars, or with the gunpowder which they exploded in them, doing no damage at all."

19th century

In 1882,

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

explorer Achille Raffray was given an Ethiopian manuscript at Lalibela, which adds that the King Lalibela and his wife Meskal-Kebra brought from Alexandria (Egypt) and Jerusalem about five hundred workers whom we still refer to them as Europeans, headed by someone named Sidi-Meskal. However, according to Monti della Corte (1940) Raffray's translation of the three-language manuscript was almost completely incorrect. Utilizing the expertise of A. Van Lantschoot at the Biblioteca Vaticana, the discrepancies were clarified. The first text, written in Coptic (contrary to Raffray's assertion of Greek), is a brief statement attributed to Abuna Bartolomeo, dated during the reign of Dawit (1380-1409). The second text, in Arabic, is serves as a land charter confirming specific rights of the church. The third text, in Ge'ez, appears to have been written during the reign of Lebna Dengel (1508-1540). Contrary to Raffray's claims, there is no mention of Sidi-Maskal or foreign builders in the texts."Local History in Ethiopia"
The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 29 November 2023)

20th century

During the

Second Italo-Ethiopian War The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a war of aggression waged by Fascist Italy, Italy against Ethiopian Empire, Ethiopia, which lasted from October 1935 to February 1937. In Ethiopia it is oft ...

Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I (born Tafari Makonnen or ''Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles#Lij, Lij'' Tafari; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as the Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles, Rege ...

made a pilgrimage to the churches at Lalibela, at considerable risk of capture, before returning to his capital in April 1936. Italian forces captured the town shortly after."Local History in Ethiopia"
The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 29 November 2023) In 1968,

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980) was the last List of monarchs of Iran, Shah of Iran, ruling from 1941 to 1979. He succeeded his father Reza Shah and ruled the Imperial State of Iran until he was overthrown by the ...

accompanied by Emperor

visited the churches, the next year

Queen Juliana Juliana (; Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina; 30 April 1909 – 20 March 2004) was List of monarchs of the Netherlands, Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in 1980. Juliana was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Duke ...

and

Prince Bernhard Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld (later Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands; 29 June 1911 – 1 December 2004) was Prince of the Netherlands from 6 September 1948 to 30 April 1980 as the husband of Queen Juliana. They had four daughters to ...

would also visit Lalibela."Local History in Ethiopia"
The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 29 November 2023) During the

Ethiopian Civil War The Ethiopian Civil War was a civil war in Ethiopia and present-day Eritrea, fought between the Ethiopian military junta known as the Derg and Ethiopian-Eritrean anti-government rebels from 12 September 1974 to 28 May 1991. The Derg overthre ...

, the town was the target of frequent attacks by the

Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement The Amhara Democratic Party (ADP) (), formerly known as the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM), was a political party in Ethiopia. The party was one of four members of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) that r ...

(EPDM), in 1984 they briefly held ten foreigners captive. On March 3 1985 they briefly captured the crew of a French transport aircraft carrying supplies before releasing them a couple days later. These attacks significantly reduced foreign tourism to Lalibela, and by 1990 most of the tourists were Ethiopians."Local History in Ethiopia"
The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 29 November 2023)

21st century

In early August 2021, Tigrayan Defense Force fighters captured the town during the Tigray War as a response to the invasion of Amhara forces into the

Tigray region The Tigray Region (or simply Tigray; officially the Tigray National Regional State) is the northernmost Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob people, Irob and Kunama people. I ...

. On 1 December 2021, the Ethiopian army recaptured the town. The town was recaptured again by Tigrayan forces on 12 December. On 19 December, Ethiopian state media announced the town was recaptured for a second time, though it was unclear when. In early November 2023, Lalibela was the site of fierce fighting between the

Ethiopian National Defense Force The Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) () is the combined military force of Ethiopia. ENDF is consisted of 10 command forces which is controlled by the Chief of General Staff. Commanders of the Military Supreme Commander – Taye At ...

(ENDF) and

Fano Fano () is a city and ''comune'' of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort southeast of Pesaro, located where the ''Via Flaminia'' reaches the Adriatic Sea. It is the third city in the region by pop ...

fighters. The town is currently under Ethiopian government control.

Architecture

The architecture of the churches contain significant Aksumite influences, as

Stuart Munro-Hay Stuart Christopher Munro-Hay (21 April 1947 – 14 October 2004) was a British archaeologist, numismatist and Ethiopianist. He studied the culture and history of ancient Ethiopia, the Horn of Africa region and South Arabia, particularly their his ...

notes that the church of Biete Amanuel displays a stone imitation of wooden architectural features, which can still be seen in some of the ancient churches of

Tigray The Tigray Region (or simply Tigray; officially the Tigray National Regional State) is the northernmost Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob people, Irob and Kunama people. I ...

and

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

. The framed doors and windows appear as a repeated motif, since they seem to mimic the shape of stelae in

Aksum Axum, also spelled Aksum (), is a town in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia with a population of 66,900 residents (as of 2015). It is the site of the historic capital of the Aksumite Empire. Axum is located in the Central Zone of the Tigray Regi ...

, examples can be seen in the arcading of Biete Gabriel-Rufael, the doorway of

Biete Maryam Biete Maryam is one of the monolithic rock-cut Rock-Hewn Churches, Lalibela of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site at Lalibela. Like the other churches of Lalibela, its precise date of constructio ...

and the windows of Biete Amanuel. However, according to

the presence of Aksumite style architecture does not necessarily imply that the churches were constructed during the Aksumite era, as Aksumite features could have been incorporated long after the fall of Aksum, but it does indicate a strong continuity with Aksumite cultural tradition. There is also signs of eastern Christian influences, particularly Syrian and Coptic. The pitched roof and linear moldings of

suggests a Syrian influence. Stuart Munro-Hay notes that during the reign of

, many Coptic Egyptians emigrated to Ethiopia and may have assisted in construction of the churches, or at least those that date to his reign. Many foreign travelers such as

Manuel de Almeida Manuel de Almeida (sometimes Manoel de Almeida, 1580–1646) was a native of Viseu who entered at an early age into the Society of Jesus and went out as a missionary to India. He is noted to have travelled to Ethiopia and Eritrea and Lake Tana ...

and

Hiob Ludolf Hiob or Job Ludolf ( or '; 15 June 1624– 8 April 1704), also known as Job Leutholf, was a German orientalist, born at Erfurt. Edward Ullendorff rates Ludolf as having "the most illustrious name in Ethiopic scholarship". Life After studyin ...

credited most of the monuments to Egyptian architects, with

finding that many locals considered the churches to be mainly the work of foreigners. However, Stuart Munro-Hay argues that since the architecture of the churches were built in the Aksumite style, the foreign influence seems to have largely been limited to "decorative techniques". David Buxton further attests to this by pointing out that "there are clearly signs of Coptic influence in some decorative details", however he is adamant about the native origins of these churches: "But the significant fact is remains that the rock-churches continue to follow the style of the local built-up prototypes, which themselves retain clear evidence of their basically Axumite origin." In a 1970 report of the historic dwellings of Lalibela, Sandro Angelini evaluated the

vernacular Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken language, spoken form of language, particularly when perceptual dialectology, perceived as having lower social status or less Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige than standard language, which is mor ...

earthen architecture on the Lalibela World Heritage Site, including the characteristics of the traditional earth houses and analysis of their state of conservation. His report described two types of vernacular housing found in the area. One type are a group he calls the "tukuls", round huts built of stone and usually having two stories. The second are the single-story "chika" buildings which are round and built of earth and wattle, which he feels reflects more "scarcity". Angel's report also included an inventory of Lalibela's traditional buildings, placing them in categories rating their state of conservation. File:Lalibela-Maisons.jpg, Tukul, two-story stone building File:Lalibela (6821635627).jpg, Tukul showing exterior steps to second floor File:Lalibela-Toukoul.jpg, Chika, an earth and wattle building

Churches

This rural town is known around the world for its churches carved from within the earth from "living rock," which play an important part in the history of

rock-cut architecture Rock-cut architecture is the creation of structures, buildings, and sculptures by excavating solid Rock (geology), rock where it naturally occurs. Intensely laborious when using ancient tools and methods, rock-cut architecture was presumably combi ...

. Though the dating of the churches is not well established, most are thought to have been built during the reign of Lalibela, namely during the 12th and 13th centuries. Unesco identifies 11 churches, assembled in four groups: The Northern Group: *

(House of the Saviour of the World), home to the Lalibela Cross. *

(House of Miriam/House of

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

), possibly the oldest of the churches, and a replica of the Tombs of Adam and Christ. * (House of Golgotha Mikael), known for its arts and said to contain the tomb of King Lalibela) * Biete Meskel (House of

the Cross The Christian cross, seen as representing the crucifixion of Jesus, is a religious symbol, symbol of Christianity. It is related to the crucifix, a cross that includes a ''corpus'' (a representation of Jesus' body, usually three-dimensional) a ...

) * Biete Denagel (House of Virgins) The Western Group: * Church of Saint George, thought to be the most finely executed and best preserved church The Eastern Group: * Biete Amanuel (House of

Immanuel Immanuel or Emmanuel (, "God swith us"; Koine Greek: ) is a Hebrew name that appears in the Book of Isaiah (7:14) as a sign that God will protect the House of David. The Gospel of Matthew ( Matthew 1:22 –23) interprets this as a prophecy o ...

), possibly the former royal chapel. * Biete Qeddus Mercoreus (House of

Saint Mercurius Mercurius (, ; ; 224/225 – 250 AD) was a Roman soldier of Scythian descent who became a Christian saint and martyr. He was born in the city of Eskentos in Cappadocia, in Eastern Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). According to Christian tradition ...

/House of

Mark the Evangelist Mark the Evangelist (Koine Greek, Koinē Greek: Μᾶρκος, romanized: ''Mârkos''), also known as John Mark (Koine Greek, Koinē Greek language, Greek: Ἰωάννης Μᾶρκος, Romanization of Greek, romanized: ''Iōánnēs Mârkos;'' ...

), which may be a former prison *

(House of Abbot Libanos) * Biete Gabriel-Rufael (House of the angels

Gabriel In the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), Gabriel ( ) is an archangel with the power to announce God's will to mankind, as the messenger of God. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran. Many Chris ...

, and

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

) possibly a former royal palace, linked to a holy

bakery A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based baked goods made in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, doughnuts, bagels, Pastry, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as Coffeehouse, cafés, servi ...

. * Biete Lehem ("

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

", "House of Bread"). Farther afield, lie the

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

of Ashetan Maryam and Yemrehana Krestos Church (possibly eleventh century, built in the Aksumite fashion, but within a

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

). The churches are also a significant engineering feat, given that they are all associated with water (which fills the wells next to many of the churches), exploiting an artesian geological system that brings the water up to the top of the mountain ridge on which the city rests.

Other features

Lalibela is also home to an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

(

ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sch ...

code HALL,

IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is an airline trade association founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff conferences tha ...

LLI), a large market, two schools, and a hospital.

Demographics

According to the 2007 Census Data, the population was 17,367, of whom 8,112 were males and 9,255 were females. Based on previous figures from the

Central Statistical Agency The Central Statistical Agency, also known as the Ethiopian Statistical Service (ESS; Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ስታቲስቲክስ አገልግሎት), is an Ethiopian government agency designated to provide all surveys and censuses for that ...

in 2005, the town had an estimated total population of 14,668 of whom 7,049 were males and 7,619 were females. The 1994 national census recorded its population to be 8,484 of whom 3,709 were males and 4,775 were females.

Climate

Gallery

File:Bete Medhane Alem in Lalibela.JPG, Bete Medhane Alem File:Bete Emmanuel.jpg, Bete Amanuel File:Ritual drums around Bete Giyorgis.JPG, Ritual drums in a side track of Bete Giyorgis File:Bete Abba Libanos.jpg, Bete Abba Libanos File:Bete Maryam 01.jpg, Bete Maryam File:Display of Procesional Crosses, Church of Bet Maryam, Lalibela, Ethiopia (3230772118).jpg, Priest with processional crosses at St. Mary's Ethiopie Lalibela Bet Medhane Alem.JPG, Man standing beside the walls of

, believed to be the largest monolithic church in the world File:Genneta Maryam.jpg, Genneta Maryam Three-dimensional site scans of the Lalibela churches are also accessible online.

References

External links

UNESCO World Heritage Site
{{Authority control Holy cities Cities and towns in Ethiopia
Dagmawi Lalibela: Stunning photos of a new African wonder
–

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

18 August 2023