Churches of Lalibela
Ancient site
Eleven churches not built up, but carved down into the rock.
In the highlands of Ethiopia, about eight hundred years ago, King Lalibela had churches made in a way nobody had tried before. The builders started on top of the rock and cut downwards, leaving the church standing in a pit.
Then they hollowed it out: doors, windows, pillars and roof, all from one piece of stone. The churches are joined by tunnels and trenches, and they are still used every day.
- churches
- 11
- years old, roughly
- 800
- deep in the rock
- 12 m
- 1
The most famous one, the Church of Saint George, has the shape of a cross when you see it from above.
- 2
The king wanted to build a new Jerusalem, so that pilgrims need not make the dangerous journey to the real one.
- 3
Ethiopia is one of the oldest Christian countries in the world.
Question 1 of 2
How were the churches made?
- Mount KenyaAfrica's second-highest mountain stands almost on the equator, with ice on top.
- Abu SimbelA temple with four giant statues, moved to save it from a lake.
- NileThe longest river in Africa, and the reason there is an Egypt.
- Lake VictoriaThe largest lake in Africa, shared by three countries.
It is in Ethiopia.
Read about Ethiopia