Lalibela

Sometimes called “the eighth wonder of the world”, Lalibela is a breathtaking site located in the heart of the Ethiopian plateau in the Amhara region, which was the historical nucleus of the Christian kingdom of Abyssinia. Its tourist reputation comes from its incredible concentration of ancient churches called “monoliths”, carved or even “buried” in the rock.

There are eleven in number and these are carved in the rock. Tradition says that they were carved at the beginning of the thirteenth century by the order of King Gebra Maskal Lalibela who wanted to allow Ethiopian Orthodox Christians to have on their own Jerusalem, pilgrimages to the holy city being more and more difficult because of the expansion of Islam. The layout of the site was designed so that its topography corresponds to a symbolic representation of the Holy Land, hence its name of “Black Jerusalem”.

Occupied by monks and hermits, they also deliver a spiritual atmosphere that impresses more than one visitor. The hermits still live in troglodyte dwellings. The main monuments of the complex are the tomb of Adam, a 5.5-metre monolith carved in the rock, and the churches, Bieta Debré Sina and Bieta Golgotha ​, which overhang the deep trenches.

There are also the churches of Bieta Masqal, entirely troglodyte, of Bieta Ghiorghis, cross-shaped and erected in a 12-metre deep excavation, and of Bieta Maryam, with magnificent bas-reliefs and colorful frescoes. Finally, Bieta Medhane Alem is the largest church on the site, with impressive dimensions. It was built in an excavation of 45 metres by 43 metres and a depth of 10 metres. It has the particularity of being entirely covered by external pillars that support a roof.

The town of Lalibela was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1978.