One of Ethiopia‘s undisputed jewels is the town of Lalibela and its ancient rock-hewn churches, steeped in a thousand-year history that goes back to the Zagwe dynasty, who founded Africa’s New Jerusalem between the 12th and 13th centuries.
The rock-hewn churches are the most exceptional and impressive examples of Ethiopian architecture, denoting an extraordinary unicum that has contributed to the spread of legends according to which “celestial workers” were involved in their construction. The complex is spread over a relatively small area, in which 11 churches are concentrated, of which the six built in the north-western part are certainly the most impressive. One of their main characteristics is that they are conceived as enormous monolithic blocks, carved vertically into the rock and completely detached from the rock walls that surround them on the sides.
The most imposing is the Bet Medhane Alem, more like a Greek temple. Surrounded by 34 large rectangular pillars and supported by 38 columns. The central part has a barrel vault and around it are four aisles. The stone windows are each decorated with a central cross and the church houses the golden cross weighing 7 kg that was stolen in 1997 and later found.
A gallery connects Bet Medhane Alem to a courtyard with three other churches, one of which is dedicated to the Virgin, designed with architectural forms full of symbolism and decorated with splendid frescoes and carvings, as well as preserving a very fine bas-relief depicting St George and the Dragon. In the north-west, the most venerated of all is undoubtedly the Bet Golgotha, whose entrance is forbidden to women. Some of Ethiopia’s finest examples of Christian art are preserved here, such as the sculptures of the saints in the stone niches, the King Lalibela tomb and some objects that belonged to him.
The south-eastern area contains the most beautiful and refined monolithic churches in Lalibela. The undisputed masterpieces are the monoliths of Bet Amanuel and Bet Giyorgis, the first of which has some Axumite influences. The latter is said to have been built by King Lalibela following the visit of St George himself. It is isolated from the rest of the churches and is in the shape of a Greek cross. Two wooden boxes from the period are still preserved here, one of which holds a crucifix whose gold is said to have come from King Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem.
Visiting the area of the rock-hewn churches and the city of Lalibela becomes even more impressive during one of the important festivals of the Coptic Church, such as Orthodox Christmas (Leddet or Genna) and Orthodox Easter (Fasika), when thousands of pilgrims dressed in white tunics come from all over the country to see the priests dressed in the richest vestments.Timeless mystical and mythical atmospheres, old legends of warrior saints, distant echoes of Solomonic temples, ancient epics that lead back to the Queen of Sheba and the Ark of the Covenant. Everything is imbued with spirituality in Lalibela, to the hypnotic sound of Orthodox chants.
If Genna and Fasika are worth experiencing, the same can be said of Timkat (Orthodox Epiphany). We move on to the Gondar region, another place steeped in history and distant Moorish-Portuguese echoes, where the Emperor Fasilide built sumptuous, fairy-tale crenellated palaces in the 17th century. Here you will find the Emperor‘s baths, which are filled each year with water blessed by the priest. If the moment of the blessing is shrouded in an intimate and evocative spirituality, the moment when thousands and thousands of faithful flock to relive and celebrate the Baptism of Christ, in a collective purifying bath, is much more animated.
