Photo: Sailko (CC BY 3.0)
Culture and heritage · Ethiopia
The rock churches of Lalibela
Eleven churches carved down into the rock, among the world's architectural wonders.
Lalibela · Ethiopia
The experience
In the 12th and 13th centuries craftsmen in Lalibela carved eleven churches from volcanic rock, not by building but by cutting from the top down, so the churches emerged from the ground with columns, windows and roofs.
They form two groups separated by a channel called the River Jordan, linked by trenches and tunnels. The Church of Saint George stands apart, cross-shaped, in a pit about 12 metres deep.
UNESCO inscribed them as a World Heritage Site in 1978, and they remain working churches visited by pilgrims.
Lalibela lies in the Amhara region, currently under official travel advisories. We arrange visits only when the advice changes.
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