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Lalibela is a strikingly singular town famed for its
12th century rock-hewn churches. No matter if you've visited
other rock-hewn churches in the rest of the world; nothing
will prepare you for these.
Lalibela,
previously known as Roha, is named after king Lalibela
himself at the end of 12th century. Lalibela is considered
to be a New Jerusalem as a pilgrimage to the real Jerusalem
wasn't possible At the end of the 12th and beginning of the
13th centuries, King Lalibela of the Zaghwe dynasty built a
series of eleven rock hewn churches, carved into the rugged
mountainsides. The churches are carved below ground level
and they are ringed by trenches and courtyards and connected
to each other by a tangled maze of tunnels and passages. In
size and scope, the church complex feels like a subterranean
village. These churches are, and what they have been for at
least 800 years, an active Christian shrine, and the
spiritual centre of a town's religious life. Lalibela would
rightly be celebrated as one of the wonders of the world.
The mountains around Lalibela are also studded with medieval
monasteries and churches. Many of them are very different
from their Lalibela counterparts and can be visited as
straightforward day trips from the town like Ashetun Mariam
and the cave churches of Yemrehane Christos and Naakuto
laab.
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