lalibela’s iconic rock-hewn churches are the spiritual epicenter of ethiopian orthodoxy. ethiopia has ancient connections with the land of israel – the biblical queen of sheba is believed to have been from ethiopia. as such, christianity spread to ethiopia quite quickly as well. ethiopian orthodoxy is very unique, however, thanks to its relative isolation. there are dozens of churches carved out of the rock, and lalibela is referred to as the “new jeruslaem.” much of the churches’ architecture represent biblical motifs, such as moats to symbolize the jordan river, and pitch-black tunnel entrances to symbolize hell. the interior of the churches are cool and dark, with ancient rugs on the floor and icons on the walls. the locals wear white robes when going to the churches. we hired a guide named addis and spent 1.5 days exploring the churches, and it was fascinating.
the most iconic of lalibelas churches is st. georges. it is the shape of a cross, and hewn deep into the rock. the courtyard surrounding the church is accessible only by a single tunnel, and apparently recently some tourists were accidentally left down there when the tunnel was locked up for the night and had to spend the night!
the ben abeba restaurant on a mountain precipice on the outskirts of lalibela is modeled after a spaceship, perhaps an intentional juxtaposition of the future compared with lalibela’s strong connections to the past. they have great injera and local ethiopian wine, and while we were there we were interviewed on camera by a travel show on the ethiopian broadcasting service!
we stayed at the tukul village, a little cluster of tourist huts. we also went to the lalibela outdoor market, which was huge, and had every agrarian thing one could want. i went on a nighttime run, and soon became accompanied by a large group of local boys running with me.
we also hiked (all day) up a local mountain to a monastary called ashetan maryam. we were accompanied by some local boys who became our de-facto tour guides. on our way back down we stopped for some impromptu foosball, which is all the rage in lalibela these days.
lalibela is one of the greatest wonders of the world as far as i am concerned. it was an amazing place to visit!
