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Lalibela (Amharic: ላሊበላ, romanized: Lalibäla) is a town in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia.Located in the Lasta district and North Wollo Zone, it is a tourist site for its famous rock-cut monolithic churches designed in contrast to the earlier monolithic churches in Ethiopia. [1]
The eleven Rock-hewn Churches of Lalibela are monolithic churches located in the western Ethiopian Highlands near the town of Lalibela, named after the late-12th and early-13th century King Gebre Meskel Lalibela of the Zagwe dynasty, who commissioned the massive building project of 11 rock-hewn churches to recreate the holy city of Jerusalem in his own kingdom.
Of these, the largest and oldest is the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, an Oriental Orthodox church centered in Ethiopia. The Orthodox Tewahedo Church was part of the Coptic Orthodox Church until 1959 when it was granted its own patriarch by the Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of All Africa Cyril VI.
Owing to the dry climate of the church, the paintings on the walls and domes of the church are well-preserved. [11] The design of the traceries in the church replicates those found in nearby churches of Gher'alta, such as Debre Tsion church (which houses more paintings depicting figures from the Old Testament than from the New Testament ).
The church was built in 1877 by Emperor Menelik II characterized by octagonal domes. [1] [2] [3] Founded on the Entoto Hills about 2.5 km away, [4] it is the oldest church in Ethiopia, and the burial places of Menelik and his wife Taytu in a tomb called "Shera Bet" built in 1918. [5] Eucalyptus trees are available through the church.
The Church of Saint Mary of Zion claims to contain the original Ark of the Covenant. Accordingly, the Ark was moved to the Chapel of the Tablet adjacent to the old church because a divine 'heat' from the Tablets had cracked the stones of its previous inner sanctum. The Ethiopian Empress Menen funded the construction of the present chapel.
[1] The Dura-Europos church in Syria is the oldest surviving church building in the world, [2] while the archaeological remains of both the Aqaba Church and the Megiddo church have been considered to be the world's oldest known purpose-built church, erected in the Roman Empire's administrative Diocese of the East in the 3rd century.
The Church of Saint George (Amharic: ቤተ ጊዮርጊስ, romanized: Betä Giyorgis) is one of eleven rock-hewn monolithic churches in Lalibela, a town in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Originally named Roha ( Warwar ), the historical and religious site was named Lalibela after the King Gebre Mesqel Lalibela of the Zagwe dynasty , who ...