Lalibela – the new Jerusalem

Lalibela takes its name from the King Lalibela (the honey eater) who had 11 churches erected on this site around the 12th or 13th century. The legend says that King Lalibela was poisoned by his aunt. He was then taken by some angels during his coma and had a vision of what he thought was heaven: beautiful churches made of rocks, cunningly hidden from any enemy. When he miraculously woke up three days later, he decided to build what he saw and what is considered as the new Jerusalem.

Lalibela the town is mostly uninteresting. Weirdly enough (and that will certainly change in the next few years), it is not touristy at all and the churches are completely hidden from the pagan’s eyes. The EU did a terrible job to protect the buildings and installed some ugly giant white roofs that are difficult to ignore at first. However, suddenly, you see the first church and your heart is panting (and not only because of the lack of oxygen for once!).

The churches are divided in three groups. The first group comprised 4 churches built inside the pink/brown/red rock (depending on the time of the day), half berried in the ground. They are big, beautiful and full of symbolism. It is hard to describe and the pictures don’t stand up to the beauty of the site in my opinion. Imagine 7 centuries ago, men with no technological tools excavating the rock to build this unique site (only comparison could be Petra). The colour of the rock is stunning, the proportions of the churches are exquisite and the simplicity of the inside is simply stunning.

The 4 churches are nearly one next to the other, symbolising the body of Christ. The inside is always extremely simple, just carved inside the rock. The most beautiful one is dedicated to Mary, and is painted inside. The colours are extremely well conserved and it is beautiful. Drainage and secret passage were built at the same time as the churches. Also, the renovating work is well done and you can’t see what is new and what is old. Our guide didn’t like legendary telling so he did not tell us many stories, just that he was convince that some supernatural power helped to the building (which is tempting to believe!). Despite not liking legends, he told me very happily that as the women came after Adam and were made of one of his rib, they had to come after the man…

We then saw Saint Gorgious, from the 3rd group (but there is only one church in this group). It is the most famous one. It really comes at a surprise, completely berried under ground. It is stunningly beautiful, with a huge latin cross engraved on its roof. This one is in a very good condition, and you must follow a secret path to access it. We saw it as the light was starting to faint, it was really magical.

The second group of churches was my favourite. We saw it the day after, and I think it was good to have a break in the morning (see following post). They are higher up and historians are not convinced they were used as churches originally. The first one is dedicated to two saints, including Saint Gabriel. It was my absolute favourite. Not as berried as the other one, believers had to build a bridge to access it. You better not suffer from vertigo as it is on the verge of a big drop. Many secret tunnels exist but they are not accessible by the tourist. There is a narrow route that leads to heaven. Every year, people try to access heaven by taking the route. If they have sinned, they will fall (must be particularly painful!).

To access the second church, you must go through hell, or as our guide dramatically asked: are you ready to go to hell? A 24 meters long tunnel, pitch dark. You must walk on the right as the left side is for sinner and full of obstacle (very Indiana Jones). Ben really hated it (a bit claustrophobic and you better not be scared of the dark). I got to say, if that is hell, I am going to be very good from now on. Once you triumph from hell, you get to a very nice lighted church and finally this lead you to saint Emmanuel, a beautiful tall church in the style of the first group. The last church is really impressive as it is still attached to the rock, and you can clearly see how they used the mountain as the base for their structure.

How come Lalibela is not one of the 7th wonder, I don’t understand, it is simply one of the most beautiful sites I have seen (after Abu Simbel of course).

A bit longer than expected, but it is so hard to describe, so come and see by yourself!