Sights in Lalibela
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Rock-Hewn Churches
Lalibela's Rock-Hewn Churches are remarkable for three main reasons: because many are not carved into the rock, but freed entirely from it (unlike most of Petra); because the buildings are so refined; and because there are so many within such a small area.
The ticket office (;08:00-noon & 14:00-17:00) lies beside the path leading to the northern group of churches and Bet Medhane Alem. Tickets give access to all churches in town for the duration of your stay. Don't forget to bring your torch!
Although time has treated the churches with remarkably gentle gloves, Unesco has built rather hideous scaffolding and roofing over most churches to protect frescoes from water seepage.…
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Bet Golgotha & Bet Mikael
A tunnel at the southern end of the Bet Maryam courtyard connects it to the twin churches of Bet Golgotha & Bet Mikael .
Bet Mikael serves as an anteroom to the Selassie Chapel, one of Lalibela's holiest sanctuaries. It contains three monolithic altars. One is decorated with a beautiful relief of four winged creatures with their hands held up in prayer; it's thought to represent the four evangelists. Unfortunately, the chapel is very rarely open to the public.
Bet Golgotha is known for containing some of the best early examples of Ethiopian Christian art. On the so-called Tomb of Christ (an arched recess in the northeast of the church) a recumbent figure is carved in high…
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Bet Maryam
Connected to Bet Medhane Alem by a tunnel is a large courtyard containing three churches. The first, Bet Maryam , is small, yet designed and decorated to an exceptionally high standard. Dedicated to the Virgin, who's particularly venerated in Ethiopia, this is the most popular church among pilgrims. Some believe it may have been the first church built by Lalibela.
On its eastern wall you'll see two sets of three windows. According to scholars, the upper set is thought to represent the Holy Trinity, while the lower three, set below a small cross-shaped window, are believed to represent the crucifixion of Jesus and the two sinners. The lower right window has a small…
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Bet Amanuel
This freestanding, monolithic church is considered one of the Lalibela's most finely carved churches. Some have suggested Bet Amanuel was the royal family's private chapel.
It perfectly replicates the style of Aksumite buildings, with its projecting and recessed walls mimicking alternating layers of wood and stone. To appreciate this fully, you should make a day trip to Yemrehanna Kristos , which is one of Ethiopia's best-preserved Aksumite structures.
The most striking feature of the interior is the double Aksumite frieze in the nave. Although not accessible, there's even a spiral staircase connecting the four-pillared walls to an upper gallery. In the southern aisle, a…
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Bet Medhane Alem
Resembling a massive Greek temple more than a traditional Ethiopian church, Bet Medhane Alem is impressive for its size and majesty. Said to be the largest rock-hewn church in the world, it measures 33.5m by 23.5m and is over 11.5 high.
Some scholars have suggested that the church may have been a copy in rock of the original St Mary of Zion church in Aksum.
The building is surrounded by 34 large, rectangular columns (many actually replicas of the originals). The three jointed at each corner are thought to represent the Holy Trinity. There are a further 38 columns inside which support the gabled roof.
The church's interior consists of a barrel-vaulted nave and four aisles.…
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Bet Merkorios
Reached via a long, narrow and pitch-black tunnel that starts from Bet Gabriel-Rufael, this current church may have started as something altogether different. The discovery of ankle shackles among other objects has led scholars to believe that the building may have served as the town's prison, or house of justice.
Due to a large section of roof collapsing, the interior is a fraction of its former size. Don't miss the beautiful fresco thought to represent the three wise men. With their little flipper hands and eyes that look askance, they're delightfully depicted; it may date from the 15th century. The 12 apostles are also represented in a less attractive fresco, probably…
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Bet Giyorgis
Resting all on its own, south and west of the northwestern and southeastern groups, is Lalibela's masterpiece, Bet Giyorgis . Standing on the brow of its compound, you'll have little doubt that it's the most mesmerising object in all of Ethiopia.
Representing the apogee of the rock-hewn tradition, it's the most visually perfect of all, a 15m-high three-tiered plinth in the shape of a Greek cross. Due to its exceptional preservation, it also lacks the obtrusive scaffolding seen on the other churches.
Inside, light flows in from the windows and illuminates the ceiling's large crosses - beauty in simplicity. There are also two 800-year-old olive-wood boxes; one (with the…
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Bet Abba Libanos
Bet Abba Libanos is hewn into a rock face and is unique among Lalibela's churches in that it's a hypogeous church. In English, that means only the roof and floor remain attached to the strata.
Like Bet Amanuel, many of its architectural features, such as the friezes, are Aksumite. Curiously, although it looks large from the outside, the interior is actually very small. The carved corners of its cubic capitals are rather unique; some guides say they may represent angel eyes.
The church is said to have been constructed in a single night by Lalibela's wife, Meskel Kebra, with a little help from angels. The church seems to grow from the rock and gives you a vivid idea of the…
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Bet Gabriel-Rufael
Its entrance flanked to the west by a sloping sliver of hewn rock known as the 'Way to Heaven', this imposing twin-church marks the main entrance to the southeastern group.
Unlike most Lalibela churches its entrance is at the top and is accessed by a small walkway, high over the moatlike trench below. This, along with its curious, irregular floor plan, has led scholars to propose that Bet Gabriel-Rufael may have been a fortified palace for Aksumite royalty as early as the 7th and 8th centuries.
Although the section of Bet Rufael's roof that collapsed has been rebuilt, services only take place in Bet Gabriel. Once inside the complex you'll realise its monumental façade was…
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Bet Danaghel
To the south of the Bet Maryam courtyard is the chapel of Bet Danaghel, said to have been constructed in memory of the maiden nuns martyred on the orders of the 4th-century Roman emperor Julian in Edessa (modern-day Turkey). Many of its features - the cruciform pillars and bracket capitals - are typical architectural features of the churches.
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Bet Meskel
Carved into the courtyard's northern wall at Bet Maryam is the tiny semichapel of Bet Meskel . Four pillars divide the gallery into two aisles spanned by arcades.
Keep an eye out for the cross carved in relief beneath stylised foliage on one of the spandrels of the arches.
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