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about Lalibela
The legend of
Lalibela
Ever since the first European to describe the rock churches of
Lalibela, Francisco Alvarez, came to this holy city between 1521
and 1525, travellers have tried to put into words their
experiences. Praising it as a “New Jerusalem”, a “New Golgotha”,
the “Christian Citadel in the Mountains of Wondrous Ethiopia”. The
inhabitants of the monastic township of Roha-Lalibela in Lasta,
province of Wollo, dwelling in two storeyed circular huts with dry
stonewalls, are unable to believe that the rock churches are
entirely made by man. They ascribe their creation to one of the
last kings of the Zagwe dynasty, Lalibela, who reigned about 1200
A.D.
The Zagwe dynasty had come to power in the eleventh century, one
hundred years after Queen Judith, a ferocious woman warrior had
led her tribes up from the Semyen mountains to destroy Axum, the
capital of the ancient Ethiopian empire in the north.
The charming Ethiopian folklore pictures telling the story of King
Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, which are sold in Addis Ababa,
give a popular version of how not only the dynasty of ancient Axum
(and present day Ethiopia) descended from King Solomon, but also
the medieval Zagwe dynasty. The Queen of Sheba gave birth to
Menelik, who became the first King of Ethiopia. But the handmaid
of the Queen, too, gave birth to a son whose father was King
Solomon, and her son was the ancestor of the Zagwe dynasty.
The Zagwe kings ruled until the thirteenth century, when a famous
priest, Tekla Haymanot, persuaded them to abdicate in favour of a
descendant of the old Axumite Solomonic dynasty.
However, according to legend before the throne of Ethiopia was
restored to its rightful rulers, upon command of God and with the
help of angels, Lalibela’s pious zeal converted the royal
residence of the Zagwe in the town of Roha in to a prayer of
stone.
The Ethiopian Church later canonized him and changed the name of
Roha to Lalibela. Roha, the centre of worldly might, became
Lalibela the holy city; pilgrims to Lalibela shared the same
blessings as pilgrims to Jerusalem, while the focus of political
power drifted to the south, to the region of Shoa. Legends flower
in Lalibela, and it is also according to legend that Lalibela grew
up in Roha, where his brother was king. It is said that bees
prophesied his future greatness, social advance and coming riches.
The king, made jealous by these prophecies about his brother tried
to poison him, but the poison merely cast Lalibela into a death
like sleep for three days. During these three days an angel
carried his soul to heaven to show him the churches which he was
to build. Returned once more to earth he withdrew into the
wilderness then took a wife upon God’s command with the name of
Maskal Kebra (Exalted Cross) and flew with an angel to Jerusalem.
Christ himself ordered the king to abdicate in favour of Lalibela.
Anointed king under the throne name Gare Maskal (Servant of the
Cross) Lalibela, living himself an even more severe monastic life
than before, carried out the construction of the churches. Angels
worked side by side with the stone masons, and within twenty four
years the entire work was completed.
Rock
hewn churches
Walking through the village you will see the mountainous landscape
of the region of Lasta, where the peasants labour to cultivate
their patches of stony fields with the traditional hook-plough.
Strolling across a gently undulating meadow, you will suddenly
discover in a pit below you a mighty rock - carefully chiselled
and shaped -the first rock church. None of these monuments of
Christian faith presents itself to the visitor on top of a
mountain as a glorious symbol of Christ’s victory, to be seen from
far away by the masses of pilgrims on their road to the 'Holy
City', they rather hide themselves in the rock, surrounded by
their deep trenches, only to be discovered by the visitor when
standing very close on top of the rock and looking downwards.
In Lalibela itself you will find two main groups of churches, one
on each side of the river Jordan and one other church set apart
from the rest. The town of Roha-Lalibela lies between the first
and the second group of churches. It is situated on the higher
part of a mountain-terrace on a vast plateau of rock. At Timkat
(Ethiopian Epiphany. ca. January 19) a vivid ritual unfolds before
the spectator: here the dances of the priests take place after the
annual repetition of mass baptism in the river Jordan.
There are twelve churches and chapels, including various shrines.
Four churches are monolithic in the strict sense; the remainder
are excavated churches in different degrees of separation from the
rock. The walls of the trenches and courtyards contain cavities
and chambers sometimes filled with the mummies of pious monks and
pilgrims.
Types
of Churches
There are three basic types of rock churches in Ethiopia:
1. Built-up cave churches, which are ordinary structures inside a
natural cave (Makina Medhane Alem and Yemrehanna Krestos near
Lalibela are examples of this style).
2. Rock-hewn cave churches, which are cut inwards from a more or
less vertical cliff face sometimes using and widening an existing
natural cave (Abba Libanos in Lalibela).
3. Rock-hewn monolithic churches, which imitate a built- up
structure but are cut in one piece from the rock and separated
from it all round by a trench. Most churches of this type are
found in or near Lalibela (Bet Medhane Alem. Bet Maryam. Bet
Giorgis, and others). Nowhere else in the world are constructions
of this particular kind found.
There are some fairly obvious technical details to prove the high
standard of technical knowledge the architects of Lalibela must
have had: the churches in a group are set on several levels, in
order to carry off the heavy summer rains. The trenches serve also
as a drainage system to the river Jordan. With churches whose
placing conforms to the slope of the terrain, the ridge of the
roof, gutter edges, the base of the plinth, are slanted in line
with it.
Whoever has experienced the "rainy season" in Ethiopia will
appreciate the great skill shown by these early builders. The
rains are so heavy that Lalibela is inaccessible in the rainy
season; landing at the airport as well as an approach by
Land-Rover from the main road are impossible.
Authorities claim that the rock churches in Ethiopia have two
roots:
(1) the Axumite architecture with its palaces of wood and stone
construction and with its monolithic stelae, and
(2) the early Christian basilica.
The rock churches reflect the blending of Axumite tradition and
early eastern Mediterranean Christianity: Yet they are an entirely
new creation of early Christian art on Ethiopian soil.
The
First Group of Churches
The churches of the first main group lie in their rock cradles one
behind the other north of the river Jordan. The original approach
might well have been from the river Jordan up to the churches
Golgota-Debre Sina (Mika'el) in the west. The whole complex, seen
in an east-westerly direction, may be divided into three smaller
groups:
Bet Medhane Alem in the east, the Bet Maryam group in the centre,
and the twin church Golgota- Debre Sina (Mika'el) with the
Selassie Chapel in the west.
While each sub-group has a courtyard of its own, the whole complex
is surrounded by a deep outer trench.
Bet
Medhane Alem
Approaching the most eastern church of this group, Bet Medhane
Alem (House of the Redeemer of the World) , you first catch a
glimpse of the roof, decorated with relief crosses connected by
blind arcades, and the upper part of the solemn colonnade
surrounding the church: The roof still shows traces of the plaster
remains of the restoration efforts of the early 1930's. The tuff,
from which the church is carved, glows a typical deep pink colour
in striking contrast to the brownish-yellow earth and green-leaved
trees of the landscape. Standing in the courtyard you face the
largest of the rock-hewn churches.
It has been cut free from a block of stone 33.7 m. in length, 23.7
m. in width and 11.5 m. in height. It is a noble structure,
standing on its plinth with its pitched roof and surrounding
external columns, somewhat reminiscent of ancient Greek temple
architecture.
Exterior
The low-pitched saddle-backed roof lies directly on the order
of columns, so that there is no entablature as there would be in a
Greek temple. A frieze of round arches in relief decorates the
vertical edges of the roof. The gallery running round the four
sides of the church between the colonnade and the outer wall of
the church itself is only 70 cm wide. While most of the slender
pillars, which are square in cross-section, are still the original
ones some of them had collapsed and have had to be replaced by new
built-up structures. Note the fine sarcelly cross relief on the
slabs of stone which connect the four corner pillars with adjacent
pillars about two thirds of the way up. Traditional sarcelly
crosses like the ones seen here have been copied in modern
buildings in Addis Ababa, e.g., the entrance pillar stumps of the
Municipality.
Interior
Around the high walls of the nave runs a frieze of blind
windows framed by protruding beams at each corner. Along the
sides, the windows are either blind windows with decorations or
actual openings between the "galleries" and the nave. The
"galleries" can be reached from a cell to the left of the narthex.
The doorways inside again exhibit Axumite framework style.
One particular pillar in the centre is covered with a cloth. This
is the "amd" - the symbol of the unity of faith. The priests
explain that Christ touched the pillar when appearing to King
Lalibela in one of his visions. Since that time the past and the
future of the world are written on it. Since man is too weak to
bear the truth revealed by God the pillar is covered.
In the nave the shafts, capitals and corbels of the columns and
pilasters as well as the arches are carved in bas-relief some of
them painted. There is a great variety of crosses.
Paintings proper can be found on the spandrels, the string-courses
above the arches, the area of friezes of the blind windows and the
barrel vault.
Bet
Maskal
The chapel of Bet Maskal(The House Of The Cross) has been
excavated in a bulge in the northern wall of the Bet Maryam
courtyard. It is a broad gallery of 11 m. length and 3.4 m. width.
A row of four pillars divides the space into two aisles spanned by
arcades. The doorways show imitation of monkey-head framework.
Beams of light deflect downwards into the chapel from two windows,
one of them having a swastika design through which is pierced a
Greek cross, while the sanctuary window opening has a Maltese
cross motif. A frieze of arches between two projecting horizontal
courses finishes the facade on top.
Bet
Danaghel
Bet Danaghel (The House Of The Virgins Or Martyrs). Jutting out at
the south of the Bet Maryam courtyard is the little chapel of Bet
Danaghel (8.6 m. length and 3.6 m. height). This tiny chapel is
connected with one of the most fascinating legends of Lalibela.
Priests will tell you that the chapel was constructed in honour of
maidens martyred under Julian. The memorial day of the maidens is
the 10th of Hedar (November) in the Ethiopian calendar.
Located just outside the southern wall of the courtyard proper is
the twentieth century memorial to Ras Kassa Darge. Ras Kassa was
the governor of central and northwestern Ethiopia, prior to the
Italian occupation. He died in 1956.
Bet
Debre Sina and Bet Golgota with the Selassie Chapel and the Tomb
of Adam
This is the most mysterious complex in Lalibela, housing its
holiest shrine, the Selassie Chapel, and according to the whispers
of the priests - perhaps even the tomb of King Lalibela himself.
While the ancient entrance to this group was probably from the
west, passing the hollowed block of the Tomb of Adam, the
courtyard is now entered from the south, being connected by the
trench leading to the Bet Maryam churches. A side door leads to
the first church, Bet Debre Sina or Bet Mika'el.
Bet
Debre Sina
Bet Debre Sina(House Of Mt. Sinai) displays a proper east-west
orientation and has a raised chancel. The holy of holies is in the
east. Thus, we may assume that it has always been an independent
and separate church. It is a semi-monolithic creation measuring
9.5 X 8.5 m. and resting on a steep plinth 3 m in height. On three
sides it is exposed by excavation to a trench, the northern side
leading to Bet Golgota.
Exterior
The exterior walls are smooth, with two rows of windows. In
the bottom row of the south facade there are window openings in
the shape of key-holes.
Interior
The interior is simple and solemn in atmosphere. It is divided
by pillars into a nave and two aisles with five bays each. Round
arches connect the pillars and pilasters in the walls. Cruciform
in section, the pillars support round arches; their
pseudo-capitals are decorated with Greek crosses in relief, which
are also found on the blind arches and on the ceiling.
Bet
Golgota
Leaving Bet Debre Sina you enter its northern twin church, Bet
Golgota (The House Of Golgotha). Bet Golgota represents the type
of excavated church with one worked facade (the west face).
Exterior
The facade is smooth and scantily decorated. Piercings are
functional, providing the church with light and air. A few
protruding beams frame the uppermost windows, while the lower
ones, semicircular and cruciform in shape display a few mouldings
only
Yet there are two harmoniously designed window openings in the
southern wall which give light to two shrines, the one on the left
to the "lyasus-Cell" (Cell of Jesus) of Bet GoIgota; the
right-hand one to the Selassie Chapel.
Interior
Entering the church proper you will find that it is divided
into two "naves" by three cruciform pillars that display no
decoration apart from the usual corbels. Flattened arches connect
the pillars with the corresponding pilasters at the wall.
The "Iyasus-Cell" at the east end of the right-hand nave and the
"tomb of Christ", an arched recess in the northeast corner of the
church, add an air of sanctity. The church with the name of
Golgota is dedicated to the passion and Death of the Saviour.
The church, simple in its architecture, houses, however, some of
the most remarkable pieces of early Christian Ethiopian art:
figurative relieves, rare elsewhere in Ethiopia. The "tomb of
Christ" displays behind a wrought-iron grille a recumbent figure
in high-relief with an angel in low-relief above its head. The
figures of seven saints, mostly larger than life, decorate arched
niches in the walls.
The
Selassie Chapel
From Bet Golgota a doorway at the east end of the right-hand nave
next of the one leading to the "Iyasus-Cell" opens on to the
Selassie Chapel - the place of greatest sanctity in Lalibela.
A curtain covering two thirds of the wall will offer you only a
glimpse inside the shrine. The ribs decorating the ceiling in the
shape of a cross might also be discernible. This holy place is
rarely open even to the priests themselves, and very few visitors
have been permitted to enter it.
The shrine is completely imprisoned in the rock. A single pillar
supports the roof with its barrel-vault in the rear section and
flat-arch above the platform with the three monolithic altars.
This pillar, which has no base, rises up more than five metres to
the apex of the vault.
The
Tomb of Adam
Impressive in its simplicity, a huge square block of stone stands
in a deep trench in front of the western face of Bet Golgota. This
is the Tomb of Adam. The block has been hollowed out, the ground
floor serving as the western entrance to the first group of
churches. The upper floor houses a hermit's cell. Again it is a
cross that is the only decoration of this "tomb ". The large
opening in the eastern wall provides light for the cell and has
the shape of a harmonious croix pattee with flat-pitched finials.
The
Second Group of Churches
This second group comprises from east to west, the churches and
sanctuaries of Bet Emanuel, Bet Mercurios, Bet Abba Libanos, the
Chapel of Bet Lehem and Bet Gabriel-Rufa'el.
Approaching the town of Roha-Lalibela from the south, you will
see, south of the river Jordan, a bastion of red tuff severed from
the rock plateau in the north, east and south by a broad
artificial outer trench, eleven metres deep. Another deep central
trench cuts this area into two parts, leaving at its end a
cone-shaped hill. An old entrance led from this central trench to
the sanctuaries mainly by way of narrow subterranean passages. The
'Original function of this complex of churches has not yet been
clarified. Two of them were certainly planned as such, Bet Emanuel
and Bet Abba Libanos. They have a proper church plan and are
oriented to the east.
Bet
Emanuel
Art historians consider Bet Emanuel to be the finest and most
impressive church in Lalibela. Looked at from above, its mighty,
flat- pitched roof can be seen glistening from the rock cradle
that houses the church. It is the only true monolithic structure
of this group, carefully sculptured from a block 18 X 12 X 12 m.
The church offers an almost classic example of Axumite style
despite the fact that the floor and side plans follow the true
basilica pattern with a proper east-west orientation.
Exterior
Entering the courtyard you will see this fascinating church on
its stepped platform shining in the bright red colour of the
Lalibela tuff. The imitation of Axumite wood and stone
construction is striking, its walls built in horizontal and
vertical bands, alternately recessed and projecting. At the three
entrances, in front of which the stepped platform widens into
landings, the church has a framework of protruding beams; genuine
monkey-heads are missing. There are three rows of windows, the
bottom and top ones having frames with corner posts. The bottom
windows are pierced in that shape of straight Greek crosses; those
in the top row have no fillings.
Interior
Inside you will find the true basilica plan: aisles and a
mighty vaulted nave. Yet Axumite style is here again: the in-
dentations in the outside walls, in which all the doors and
windows are placed, reflect the internal division, as do the
mouldings, the number of aisles and bays, the position of the
galleries and the height of the vault. In the hall there are four
complete and four three-sided pillars. A rock staircase leads from
a side room by the main entrance to a second storey, here little
rock chambers surround the hall. The striking interior feature is
the double frieze of blind windows in the vaulted nave, the lower
frieze being purely ornamental, the upper one consisting of
windows alternating with decorated areas. In the rock floor of the
southern aisle a hole opens into a long, subterranean tunnel
leading to neighbouring Bet Mercurios.
Chambers and cavities for sacred bees in the outer wall of the
courtyard are reminder of the bees that prophesied kingship to
Lalibela. Some of the chambers, however, are the graves of monks
and pilgrims who wanted to be buried in the "holy city. In this
outer wall two further underground passages have been discovered
leading to Bet Mercurios.
Bet
Mercurios
The church is neither orientated nor conventionally planned. The
part serving today as a church occupies the eastern end of a
subterranean hall which opens to a courtyard. The interior appears
to be void of decoration although there is a fine mural on the
lower pan of a pillar, depicting six kings or saints in royal
apparel, holding in their hands beautifully shaped hand- crosses,
reminiscent of late Gondarene processional crosses.
Rich paintings once adorned the church but for preservation they
have been removed and are now to be seen in the National Museum in
Addis Ababa.
Bet
Abba Libanos
Lalibela's wife, Maskal Kebra, with the help of angels, is said to
have created this church in one night. It is dedicated to one of
the most famous monastic saints of the Ethiopian Church, Abba
Libanos.
Bet
Abba Libanos (The House Of Abba Ubanos)
Exterior
The facade is reminiscent of Axumite architecture, although
here - unlike Bet Emanuel - the horizontal bands are missing. It
is a good example of a cave church. The roof is not separated from
the rock, but the other three sides are detached by a tunnel.
Interior
The aisles and the nave of the church run exactly from east to
west. The priests will tell you that there is a "little light'; in
the middle of the altar-wall shining day and night "by its own
power: Conjectures by visitors run from "a piece of phosphorescent
stone" to "a hole in the wall" trying to give a more "natural"
explanation and at the same time robbing the phenomenon" of the
charm of its mystery.
Bet
Lehem (The Chapel Of
Bethlehem)
You may reach Bet Lehem by a passageway 50 m. long that starts at
the right-hand aisle of Bet Emanuel, and passes Bet Mercurios and
the courtyard of Abba Libanos. The shrine has been shaped into a
cone by the central trench: the tunnel still winds up in spiral
form within the hill and ends in a low, round room. A tree-trunk
in the room serves as a central pillar.
The original function of this shrine is not known. Visitors may
not be allowed to enter the interior of Bet Lehem.
Bet
Gabriel-Rufa'el (The House of Gabriel And Raphael Or The House of
the Archangels)
Bet Gabriel-Rufa’el (The House Of Gabriel And Raphael Or The House
Of The Archangels). This church is more difficult to describe in
character and situation than the others. Its disorientation and
unusual plan suggest that it was originally not intended to serve
as a church. Instead, the floor plan is labyrinthine: three
angular halls with pillars and pilasters are squeezed between two
courtyards. The most impressive part of the church is the
monumental facade.
The church is usually entered from the top of the rock near Bet
Emanuel in the east, by a small bridge of logs leading over the
central trench.
You may also approach from the east by a series of small tunnels,
a gallery like passage and another log bridge 10 m, above the
courtyard.
The triangular floor of the northern courtyard is enclosed by
walls whence, high up, the facade of the church and the gallery
opposite can be seen. Down in the courtyard there is a well and an
underground cistern. Steps lead down to a subterranean hall of
pillars, where the water sinks or rises, according to the dry and
rainy seasons.
Exterior
The monumental front of the church can only be properly
examined from the opposite gallery in the north. This truly royal
façade is another example of a survival of the Axumite style;
pilasters and niches give the impression of breaking the line of
the wall into projections and the niches themselves.
Interior
The interior of the church, which is far smaller than the
exterior suggests, is carefully hollowed out forming a hall
divided by pillars. Three straight Latin crosses are incised into
the wall, the only decoration discernible.
The floor in the church has a number of partly covered holes of
various sizes which are said to go down to great depth. Drains run
across the floor and little grooves surround the holes.
Bet
Giorgis
The monolithic Bet Giorgis - dedicated to the national saint of
Ethiopia is isolated from the other two groups of churches. It is
located in the southwest of the village on a sloping rock terrace.
In its deep pit with perpendicular walls it can only be reached
through a tunnel which is entered from some distance away through
a trench. Small round caves and chambers have been found in the
walls of the courtyard graves for pious pilgrims and monks.
The church is described as Lalibela's "most elegant" and "refined"
in its architecture and stonemasonry. Although its floor plan is
of a cross with nearly equal arms the church is properly
orientated, the main entrance being in the west, the holy of
holies in the east.
Exterior
Like a tower the cruciform church cut out of the pink tuff
rises from its triple-stepped platform, the regularity of which is
broken only by the landings in front of the three doorways in the
west, north and south. The roof decoration, often represented as
the symbol of the Lalibela monuments on photographs and postcards,
is a relief of three equilateral Greek crosses inside each other.
On the north, south and west sides, gutters and spouts drain the
water from the roof.
One of the more sophisticated details of Bet Giorgis is that the
wall thickness increases step by step downwards but that the
increase is cleverly hidden by the horizontal bands of mouldings
on the exterior walls.
Interior
Despite the orientation you will find that the interior of the
church follows the cruciform floor plan of the church. There are
no genuine pillars; instead four three-sided pilasters with.
corbels support the arches. The dome above the sanctuary in the
eastern arm of the church is decorated with a croix pattee in
relief, while the flat ceiling of the other arms display a
straight relief cross: The ceiling of the intersection is left
without decoration.
Other
Churches Near Lalibela
There are several other churches in the vicinity :
the churches of the Bilbala district, including the beautiful
built up cave church of Yemrehanna Krestos, the tiny rock church
Arbatu Entzessa, Bilbala Gioris and Bilbala Cherqos. Also the
church of Sarsana Mika'el.
Yemrehanna Krestos
This remarkable church is located six hours by foot and mule
to the northeast of Lalibela, on the mountain ridge the peak of
which is Abuna Yosef. It is a built-up cave church in Axumite wood
and stone construction. The church has become famous for the
decoration of its interior. The flat-span roof displays paneling
richly adorned with .geometrical designs. The ceiling over the
sanctuary is domed and displays carvings and paintings. The
founder of the church is said to have been King Yemrehanna Krestos,
a predecessor of King Lalibela.
Arbatu Entzessa
can be reached from Yemrehanna Krestos proceeding to the
southwest. This tiny monolithic sanctuary is detached from the
surrounding rock on two sides. It shows remains of old ornaments;
pillars, capitals and doors are chiselled in Axumite style. The
name suggests that the church is dedicated to the "four beasts",
symbols of the Four Evangelists following the vision of St. John.
The Ethiopian synaxarium dedicates the 8th of Hedar (November) to
these four beasts.
Bilbala. Giorgis
Proceeding from Arbatu Entzessa to the west you find Bilbala
Giorgis, of which only the facade is visible. The other sides are
surrounded by a tunnel: the roof is not separated from the rock. A
frieze with emblems of the vault of heaven decorates the facade.
Legend says that holy bees live under the roof rock in niches.
Bilbala Cherqos
Bilbala Cherqos. West of Bilbala Giorgis is this
semi-monolithic church, one day's travel by mule to the northwest
of Lalibela. The church is properly orientated and has been worked
from a piece tuff from east to west. The careful stone masonry on
the facade is reminiscent of the facade of Bet Gabriel-Rufa'el.
Sarsana Mikaél
The tiny monolithic church lies in a grove of euphorbia trees
in the Sarsana plains and is scarcely visible in its bed of rock.
Through a passage you reach a deep trench running round the
church. Three sides are exposed revealing influences of the
Axumite style.
Crosses In Lalibela
The two basic types are the Greek cross, which has equal straight
arms, and the Latin cross, which has straight arms with the
inferior one longer than the other three. These have been
developed into a great number of very elaborate and artistic
designs.
The favourite form in Ethiopia is the croix pattee -a Greek cross
with flaring arms - and its rich variations.
In the Zagwe sphere a special kind of elongated processional cross
has been developed.
Lalibela crosses very often have bird heads at the sides and have
a crown of stylized human figures as symbols of the twelve
apostles; the finial cross then represents Christ. Birds (doves)
are often depicted together with the cross.
The swastika shapes found in Lalibela should not be confused with
the old sun symbol found for example in Europe and in India. The
Lalibela swastikas were developed from the Greek cross with bent
arms and were often combined to form interwoven patterns as was
the case in Christian art and in the Middle Ages.
The priests have developed a rich symbolism, every pattern having
a different meaning. Three- tipped crosses refer to the Trinity;
five incised circles or indentations represent the wounds of
Christ. However, these decorative patterns often are interpreted
differently according to the schooling of the individual priest. |
