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| Martin overlooking Bet Giyorgis |
I remember my father gave me a book "The Earth from the Air". Beautiful photos of some of the world's most interesting places, taken from above. One of the most intriguing photos in the book was an underground, cross-shaped church, carved out of solid rock, called Bet Giyorgis. Turns out there are actually eleven individually shaped rock-hewn churches, along with underground tunnels, and deep carved walkways in the Unesco World Heritage Site in Lalibela. These are the type of things from a fairytale, and a sight that Michelle and I thoroughly enjoy visiting.
Packing up at four in the morning is not much fun especially as it's hard to do quietly without disturbing other campers. Thankfully, our arranged taxi - an old Peugeot 404 - was there on time. We were a little concerned to find the driver hidden under the bonnet/hood tinkering with the engine muttering something about 'problem with car', but we were encouraged when he opened the doors for us and we got in. The airport is 5km out of Addis and thankfully for us we had lots of time and at 4:30 in the morning there is little traffic, because we sputtered and limped our way at only about 5km/h, on what was certainly not all four cylinders! - in a battered old yellow and green striped Peugeot taxi. We made the flight easily on time, too bad the flight wasn't!!
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| High above the moat of Bet Gabriel-Rafael |
King Lalibela ruled over the kingdom and area called Roha in the 12th or 13th century. Legend has it that the king was exiled to Jerusalem, and intrigued by the buildings he found, vowed to build a new holy city upon his return. And that, he definitely DID!! With features like the River Jordan, and the Tomb of Adam, it seems like he was trying to recreate Jerusalem on African soil. The work force and time to create this masterpiece, must have been astronomical.
Lalibela is probably the best known of Ethiopia's tourists attraction, and for good reason. The eleven very different styles of rock hewn churches were carved and dug out of the red volcanic rock!! Sometimes giving the sense that they are carved into the hillside, and other times, entirely under the rock surface, complete with underground tunnels to enter. These churches are not built, but carved from the solid rock, and are therefore, one SOLID piece. Exterior and interiors all chiselled from the rock, and at times, with great details.
After arriving by plane, we took a shuttle through the barren landscape, up the steep pass to Lalibela. We found a place to stay called Tukul Village, which had rooms in beautiful round houses in a style typical to the area. The rooms cost about $70, but they let us camp on the grounds for much less. With this, they also provided us access to an unused room for showering and bathroom facilities. It was the nicest shower we had seen in quite some time!!
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| Colourful Local at Prayer |
Hustling excitedly over to the church areas, we were greeted often by locals along the road. Friendly, and chatty, but we always felt there was a hidden agenda. The masses of locals were directing us towards the ticket office, and some hoped to be our guide. Buying a ticket for about $20 US, gives you access to the church areas for 5 days. Most people wouldn't spend that much time, but in our experience at amazing sites like this, WE just might need that length of time. We decided to explore the areas on our own first before possibly hiring a guide to get more information later. We spent about 2 hours that day picking our jaws up from the floor, after seeing the stunning marvels that King Lalibela had created! You basically walk through tunnels or deep channels carved through the rock and arrive at the base of yet another amazing monument.
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| St. George Day worship at Bet Giyorgis |
The atmosphere around the churches is full of interesting character too. Walking around the church areas, the local Christian Orthodox worshippers are often seen praying, chanting, reciting the bible, or just being there with their gods at their holy places. The last stop of the day was at Bet Giyorgis (St. George Church), King Lalibela's masterpiece. This is one of those types of places that defies all reason. It is a totally underground, and the entire building is in the shape of a Greek cross. The drained rooftop contains seven carved crosses, and is at ground level. The base of the church is 15m deep from the surrounding hole, with vertical walls surrounding and no railings. It was an unbelievable sight, hanging over the edge and looking down into the surreal church in the hole. We were able to enter using the tunnels, and see the place from another perspective. We were awestruck.
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| Worshippers down inside Bet Giyorgis |
As we are often lucky during our travels, wouldn't you know it but we happened to be there on the monthly St. George Day worship. We woke early the next morning and returned to Bet Giyorgis to see the ceremony. Hundreds of white clad worshippers surrounded the church, while the sermon was being read. Down the bottom, various colourfully dressed priests were blessing the followers by either rubbing a cross all over their bodies, or showering them with holy water from the pools. And, another priest was sat on a carpet, collecting all the donations given, or thrown in from above the walls. We were so enthralled with the whole scene, that we sat and watched for 3.5 hours, and at times joined some of the people at the church edge to feel the moment. Definitely a type of sight that we will seldom have the pleasure to see again in our lifetime.
Even though we had already spent the equivalent of one day in the churches, we hadn't even seen any of the second group of churches. These ones included Bet Gabriel-Rafael, Bet Merkorios, Bet Amanuel, and Bet Abba Libanos. Walking up to Gabriel-Rafael, there was a large rock-hewn wall called the 'Way to Heaven', and then curiously, when it was built there was no bridge over the deep trench to the entrance. It is unknown how they used to enter, or whether this was used as protected palace for the King. From here, there was a long, and pitch black tunnel, probably around 50m to the next church. You actually climb out of a hole, between two door flaps to access Bet Merkorios. And then weave through more tunnels to the
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| Priest at Bet Abba-Libanos |
monolithic (free standing) Bet Amanuel, the most finely carved exterior of all the churches. Each of the churches has a specific interior style or trait, and this one has a double Aksumite frieze in the nave, and actually has a second floor.
And the final church in this group is accessed by a steep walled, skinny hallway and tunnel, leading to the semi-monolithic Bet Abba Libanos. This church is not free standing, but actually is attached to the rock at the base and the roof, although it is carved clear all around the walls. We were met here by a white clad priest, sitting on the steps which made for a great photo.
After leaving this group, we accidentally stumbled upon these little doors, about 1m tall, carved in to the rock face - they looked like little hobbit houses. An old man gingerly walked along, unlocked and essentially crawled into one of these little houses. Turns out it was a convent and monastery, where they actually live in these little rock dwellings - bizarre!
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| Tukul houses in Lalibela |
The village of Lalibela was quite scenic and perched on the hillside. It contained many local style houses called tukuls, and were basically round stone huts covered with mud. Interesting in the fact they were actually two storey huts, so much taller than anything we were used to seeing. Also, plenty of interesting characters walking around in various religious clothing, with some wrinkly, weathered faces.
We managed to find two great little local restaurants in town, nothing more than tiny buildings with plastic chairs or benches, that served some delicious national food, complete with injera. We returned to these friendly places a couple of times, and also found ourselves a friendly lady for our ice cold Coca Cola fix, that we frequented. But, all places offer the coffee ceremony, warming the coffee pot over the fire, with a table full of expresso coffee cups at the ready.
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| Martin and Wondale at Bet Abba-Libanos |
On our final day, we decided to hire a guide to get even more info about the places, and hopefully find some hidden gems. We haggled for price, and finally hired Wondale for the day. Turns out Wondale is a priest, but a relatively young one at that. It was interesting touring around with him, as often a local would approach and he would bless them both with words and a hand cross that he would tap on their forehead and then they would kiss the cross. Once again, Michelle and I had arrived at the churches early in the morning, and were present for the morning mass, but sat quietly off to the side. Wondale did give us the extra information we were after, and with him, we toured the SouthEast group in the afternoon, but first the NorthWest group of churches in-depth. This included the largest church of all, Bet Medhane Alem that resembled a Greek temple, with pillars all around. Bet Maryam was the most ornate interior with frescos and carvings, but also had symbolic
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| Our Coke Lady, and her Coffee Ceremony |
window shapes. Bet Golgotha, had large carved figures in the recessed wall, and is said to contain the tomb of King Lalibela himself. As it is a rather holy place indeed, it is no surprise that tourists aren't allowed to see the tomb.
All in all, it was a surreal experience in Lalibela. Clambering around through underground tunnels, seeing the church marvels, mixing with the very religious locals, and enjoying the town for all of it's history, people and amazing culture and religion was an time that I will never forget! One of the highlights of our trip for sure and we leave with not only wonderful memories, but quite likely with FLEAS that we picked up from the grubby carpets inside all the churches! *Stub
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| Bet Amanuel |
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Bet Medhane Alem
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| Hobbitt Houses?? |
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Local Characters
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