Lalibela

From Axum we then flew to Lalibela. Lalibela has rightly been placed on or close to the top of the list of tourist sites in Ethiopia not to miss. This is apparently all because of a Christian ruler named King Lalibela from the 12th century. According to legend, Lalibela was born the brother of the incumbent king. As a young child he was covered by a swarm of bees, which his mother took as a sign he would one day be king (One translation of Lalibela is "the bees recognize his sovereignty"). The incumbent king wasn't too pleased with this, so tried to poison his younger brother. Instead of poisoning him he cast him into a deep sleep for three days. During this time Lalibela was transported to heaven by an angel and shown a city of rock hewn churches which he was ordered to replicate. As it turns out his brother also had a vision during this time which told him to abdicate his kingdom to his younger brother, Lalibela.

What this all gets to is an explanation of these very cool churches carved out of solid rock in this mountain top village. The story above is the Ethiopian Orthodox Church's version of the story, which therefore credits all these rock hewn churches as being carved during Lalibela's time. Archeologists suspect they were carved at different times and that their history is more spread out. Some of these churches, as legend goes, were carved with the help of angels. When you see them, it may make you a believer.

Ethiopia is very much a living country still at these tourist destinations. Priests and monks actively use these churches as they have for centuries. When you witness these pictures, just remember: these were carved from solid rock. They each are made from one continuous piece of rock (except in areas where repairs were necessary due to weathering; in the last couple of years UNESCO has built shelters to preserve some of these churches at risk). Lalibela is where you will find the largest monolithic churches in the world.

Behold the wonders of Lalibela: