The rock-hewn churches of Lalibela
Under the Zagwe dynasty, eleven churches are carved downward out of solid volcanic rock, creating a "New Jerusalem" in the Ethiopian highlands.
- Rock-Hewn Churches, Lalibela (World Heritage List) — UNESCO World Heritage Centre (1978)
- Foundations of an African Civilisation: Aksum and the Northern Horn, 1000 BC – AD 1300 — David W. Phillipson, James Currey (2012)
- A History of Ethiopia — Harold G. Marcus, University of California Press (2002)
- The Ethiopians: A History — Richard Pankhurst, Blackwell (2001)
After Aksum declined, power in the Christian highlands passed to the Zagwe dynasty, from the Agaw people of Lasta. Its most famous king, Lalibela, ruled around the turn of the thirteenth century. Tradition says he set out to build a new Jerusalem at his capital, Roha, after Saladin’s capture of the real Jerusalem in 1187 made pilgrimage harder. The town now bears his name.
- A History of Ethiopia — Harold G. Marcus, University of California Press (2002)
- The Ethiopians: A History — Richard Pankhurst, Blackwell (2001)
Eleven churches were cut down into the red volcanic rock, not built up from the ground: each is a single block, freed from the surrounding stone by trenches and then hollowed out, with windows, columns and roofs carved in place. The best-known, Bete Giyorgis (St George), is shaped like a cross, sunk about 12 metres into the ground. Trenches, tunnels and passages link the churches, and a stream is named the Jordan. Tradition says angels worked at night to help the builders.
- Rock-Hewn Churches, Lalibela (World Heritage List) — UNESCO World Heritage Centre (1978)
- The Ethiopians: A History — Richard Pankhurst, Blackwell (2001)
Archaeologists such as David Phillipson argue that some of the complex may be older than Lalibela and was reworked over several centuries, but the essential work is linked to the Zagwe era. UNESCO listed Lalibela as one of its first World Heritage Sites in 1978. The Zagwe themselves were later overthrown by a dynasty claiming descent from Solomon, which presented them as usurpers; many Ethiopians nonetheless honour King Lalibela as a saint.
- Foundations of an African Civilisation: Aksum and the Northern Horn, 1000 BC – AD 1300 — David W. Phillipson, James Currey (2012)
- Rock-Hewn Churches, Lalibela (World Heritage List) — UNESCO World Heritage Centre (1978)
- A History of Ethiopia — Harold G. Marcus, University of California Press (2002)
Why it matters today
Lalibela is Ethiopia's most beloved monument and still a living holy place, where tens of thousands of pilgrims in white shawls gather for Genna (Christmas) every January. It is a symbol of what Ethiopian civilisation achieved on its own, and a frequent answer to anyone who thinks of Africa as without history. Its damage and occupation during recent fighting caused national alarm.