The Famous Rock-Carved Churches of Lalibela, Ethopia

Tuesday, March 1, was Kirk’s 68th birthday. We celebrated by getting up at 4:45 am to catch a plane to Lalibela. Lalibela is 200 miles north of Addis, located high in the mountains and in a semi-arid region. We are staying at the Tukul Village Hotel. We quickly discovered that traveling in Ethiopia is like falling into a time warp. It is rural, under-developed, and “Biblical” in appearance. It is a very unique place. In fact, Ethiopia has its own calendar, similar to ours but seven years and eight months behind. For example, the new millennium, which we celebrated on January 1, 2000, began here on September 12, 2007.

Lalibela has a population of 20,000 and is a regional center. It is known for its eleven churches that are, in essence, monolithic statues carved from a soft, red volcanic tuff. The churches were built in 24 years during the reign of King Lalibela in the late 12th-early 13th centuries. It is said that at night, while the masons and workers slept, angels did the digging. How else can this marvelous act of construction be explained? After all, a few of the churches are more than 30 meters long, 23 meters wide, and 11 meters high. It is notable that Lalibela’s rock-cut churches haven’t suffered the abandonment of temples in ancient Rome or Greece. Nor have they surrendered their religious space to tourists. Visitors are encouraged, but the churches serve first of all as places of worship, as they have since they were constructed nearly eight centuries ago. Priests far outnumber tourists.

Early in his reign King Lalibela is said to have been in a coma as a result of being poisoned by his envious brother. During the coma, he was instructed by God to create a “New Jerusalem.” When he returned to consciousness, he set about creating these eleven Orthodox churches. While they are called churches, in many ways they resemble a cathedral. As we walked along the road in the direction of the churches, we couldn’t see any sign of them. This is because their roofs are at ground level at the top of the mountain in which they were carved, and the walls go down into the mountain. Each church has three areas: the outer area is where the hymns are sung and is sometimes located just outside the church’s walls; the second area is where communion is served; and the third area is where the replica of the Ark of the Covenant is located. Visitors can go into the first two areas, but never into the place where the Ark is located. Like many places of worship throughout the world, we removed our shoes when we entered each church.

The last church to be built was one dedicated to St. George. He is the patron saint of Ethiopia and is similar to St. Patrick’s role in Irish lore. In Ethiopia, it is said that children had to be given as sacrifices to a terrible dragon who ate them. Finally, George came along and killed the dragon that terrorized the country. Since he slew the dragon, he was made a saint and is the patron saint of Ethiopia. Each of these rock hewn cathedrals has pictures or frescos that depict St. George slaying the dragon. Depictions of St. George are every place! We took many pictures of them.

Since the churches are built into mountains, the walkway to and from each of them is hilly and strewn with rocks. Of course, we are also about 2500 meters above sea level. Visiting these very famous and distinctive landmarks was a most fascinating and enjoyable experience. The exertion of the day nearly wiped Jean out. So we returned to our hotel room with plans to go to dinner to celebrate Kirk’s birthday, and then to get to bed early.

For dinner we caught a cab to the Seven Olives Hotel which is set on a hillside on the other side of town, overlooking the valley in which Lalibela rests. It has a lovely garden which attracts many native birds. We sat on the patio, enjoyed the birds’ callings and songs, and watched a gorgeous sunset. Each of us ordered a pasta dinner. Jean’s was spaghetti with meat sauce and Kirk’s was spaghetti with an interesting sauce made up of spices, olives, and greens. Both were simple but hit the spot. To cap off the birthday celebration, we returned to our hotel room and enjoyed a double rationing of the daily M&M’s treat! 

Today is Wednesday, March 2. This is our last day in Ethiopia and, more importantly, St. George’s Day. Schools and offices are closed in honor of the holiday. As readers know from yesterday’s writing, St. George is the greatly loved patron saint of Ethiopia. Today’s holiday is a big deal. The rock-carved church here in Lalibela that is widely regarded as the most beautiful, the most visually perfect, and the most often photographed is the St. George’s Church.

Jean wasn’t feeling well, so Kirk got up early to join the throngs of pilgrims that wound their way on the hilly and winding pathway to the rock-carved St. George’s Church. [This is Kirk writing.] What a sight. Thousands of pilgrims, most dressed in white religious attire, were led in worship and prayers by a host of priests who themselves were attired in very colorful robes. A loudspeaker system was set up to enable worshippers who could not get close to the church to participate. Many were squatting for hours upon end while they read from prayer books… although they would stand, kneel, and bow as instructed. The sound of chants, songs, and private murmurs was as memorable as the sights of this wonderful occasion. To be in Lalibela and at the famous St. George’s Church on the day of the year devoted to honor this patron saint was our very good fortune.

While at the Church, I came upon two brothers who wanted to practice their English. One was 14 and the other 10. They were from the country but had come to live with their grandmother in Lalibela so they could attend a better school. I was impressed by how much they knew about the world and how alert and spirited they were. The 14 year old hopes to be a water engineer (because “people here don’t have enough water”) and the other an animal doctor (because “so many animals get sick and die”). It’s great when kids in places like this have lofty goals. Be that as it may, we had fun together.

The boys had let me know that they liked geography in school and knew the name of every country’s capital city. I tried very hard to name a country that they didn’t know the capital of, but never succeeded. Finally, I told them that I’d buy them a book of their choice if they could name the capital of Lithuania! For the first time, they weren’t totally sure. They had one chance. Write down the correct name and we’d go to the bookstore. This became serious business because if the name they wrote down was not the correct spelling of Vildinus, there would be no trip to the bookstore. They worked together and finally produced a “final answer.” It was correct. They hugged and jumped up and down with joy. And the three of us walked to a book store and for $6 I purchased a very large Amharic-English dictionary with special sections for mathematics and geography. The boys were thrilled and so very happy. Which pleased me too. I was even more gratified when they took me to their home. It was a very simple and austere round mud hut hanging on the side of a hill. One can’t help but wonder where these two guys with so much potential will end up and how life will treat them. All in all, this was a very good and memorable day.

This brief visit to Lalibela ends our five weeks in Africa. It’s hard to believe that this most amazing experience has come to an end. We feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to be in Tanzania and Ethiopia. Tomorrow we fly from Lalibela to Addis Ababa where we transfer to our Ethiopian Airlines flight to Washington DC and a connecting Delta flight to Cincinnati. Bo Manning and Becky Winn have so kindly agreed to meet us and take us home to Louisville.

We thank those who have faithfully read this blog. We tried to post a new entry every day, but there were many times during these five weeks when the electricity was off or we couldn’t find or connect with the internet. As a result, there was often no new posting. We apologize for that. Jean has been our official photographer and, on the plane to the US and as soon as we arrive home, will edit her photos into a select and manageable group of outstanding pictures. I’ve already seen many of her safari photos and they are terrific! She will be happy to share them with you. Just ask.

So, this is it from Africa. We’ll see you soon.

Jean has had trouble uploading pictures while we've been in Ethiopia. Therefore, she will add photos to the last two blogs after we return to the US. We're sorry about the delay, but hope that the pictures have added another dimension to the blog entries.

With our love,
Kirk and Jean