Lalibela is a hill town in northern Ethiopia that is famous for some churches. And boy are they SOME churches. The churches were first carved out of the rock of the hills to make their outsides, and then the insides of the churches were carved out of the rock that remains. Top down outside and then bottom up inside. It is kinda hard to explain. You can look at what UNESCO says (it is a world heritage site), or what Wikipedia says about them for more information.
Myles and Caleb and I flew up from Addis to meet my parents there, and then we took a tour. Our guide told us that carving all 11 churches during the reign of King Lalibela in the 12the century took about 23 years and involved 40,000 people. According to local legend even angels helped with the building of some churches. When you see them, that kinda seems plausible. When you walk into the first church with really high vaulted ceilings and realize you are standing inside what used to be just a part of the mountain itself, it takes your breath away. Or look at Biete Giyorgis, the Church of St George, one of the most famous, built in the shape of a symmetrical cross. The first photo below shows us on the top of the hill that the church was carved out of. Then you see the church and how big it is, and then us going down the entrance trench, which is separate from the first space, but you have to think that all the empty space around the church AND all the space INSIDE the church itself, and the entrance trench were all once solid rock. Impressive eh?
Myles and Caleb and I flew up from Addis to meet my parents there, and then we took a tour. Our guide told us that carving all 11 churches during the reign of King Lalibela in the 12the century took about 23 years and involved 40,000 people. According to local legend even angels helped with the building of some churches. When you see them, that kinda seems plausible. When you walk into the first church with really high vaulted ceilings and realize you are standing inside what used to be just a part of the mountain itself, it takes your breath away. Or look at Biete Giyorgis, the Church of St George, one of the most famous, built in the shape of a symmetrical cross. The first photo below shows us on the top of the hill that the church was carved out of. Then you see the church and how big it is, and then us going down the entrance trench, which is separate from the first space, but you have to think that all the empty space around the church AND all the space INSIDE the church itself, and the entrance trench were all once solid rock. Impressive eh?
Here are some additional pictures of the outside areas of the churches.
The churches were also pretty cool inside, with lots of paintings and carvings on the walls and ceilings that my mum liked.
The best part about the churches (for me and Myles and Caleb) were the tunnels and caves and things that you could crawl into or out from or through. Our guide took us down one tunnel between two churches that was probably more than 100m and he wouldn't let us turn on our headlamps so we were totally in the dark, inching along by feeling the wall beside us. It was a bit scary but awesome. Except we couldn't take a picture in the total blackness. Just try to imagine it.
But the best part about Lalibela was just hanging out with Myles and Caleb. Thanks, guys. I really miss you.