I met Jesus Christ in Lalibela

Priests practicing their chants and dance

That’s what a Filipino co-volunteer said to me when he first arrived in Ethiopia.   It had not  occurred to me before but, I think he was right, especially after seeing the priests in Lalibela.

Scene from the School of Athens?  

Lalibela is famous for its rock-hewn churches -  11 churches mostly carved (not constructed but excavated) entirely out of a single block of granite with the roof at ground level.  

Church of  Emmanuel

These churches, some still in use today,  were allegedly built around the 11^th and 12^th century at the time of King Lalibela – the  king who abdicated his throne to become a hermit and later canonized as saint.  He wanted to build a "New Jerusalem".

Church of St. George, 40 meters below ground level

Roof (Greek cruciform) of  St. George at ground level 

Portuguese explorers "discovered" the churches in the 15th century.  It takes a brave heart to reach Lalibela by road from the nearest city but most who visited Lalibela left awestruck.

He guards the tomb of St. Lalibela

For this blog, I chose the pictures not only of the churches, but also of the laid back town of Lalibela that still seems biblical with its hilly and rocky roads (with 8,000 people, 1,000 of them priests according to my very competent and pricey guide). 

I mailed post cards from here

Coffee house

He makes  icons from cowhide.  

More pictures of Lalibela are available to the public in my Facebook (Evelyna Avila) album, Lalibela.

Praying outside the church

Praying inside the church

The churches of Lalibela reminded me of the rose-colored city of Petra, Jordan and the rock-houses in Capadoccia, Turkey - all 3 locations are UNESCO Heritage sites.

Will  future generations be looking then at our modern infrastructure today as part of antiquity?  

Centuries-old feet of pilgrims displayed inside a church.  

Believed not to have decomposed as the pilgrims were blessed by 

the waters of  the River Jordan on their way to Lalibela.

Ain't no pilgrim but this leads to one church

This post is dedicated to a Portuguese Comboni missionary priest who has spent 20 years of his young life in Uganda.  May he have the gift of good health as he continues to spread the Word.

Obrigada!