Although many travellers will have heard of the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela in Ethiopia, few will know about the "new Lalibela" being carved out of the rockface by a devoted monk.
egend has it that the dramatic rock-hewn churches of Lalibela were created with the help of a team of angels. Buried deep into the rock in the highlands of northern Ethiopia, the 11 monolithic churches were built in the late 12th and early 13th Centuries by King Lalibela, who, so he claimed, had built the churches on the instruction from God.
With the Crusades in full swing and the pilgrimage sites of Jerusalem too dangerous to visit, the Lalibela churches were envisioned to be a "new" Jerusalem and a place of pilgrimage for Ethiopia's large Orthodox Christian community.
Today, the churches remain a major place of pilgrimage for Ethiopia's Christians. They're also a Unesco World Heritage site, and international travellers flock here to see one of Africa's most extraordinary historical spots
According to local guide Workeye Desale Alemu, there are two possible reasons why the churches were buried into the rock. The first was as a form of protection: during proceeding centuries, Muslim invaders had destroyed many of the more obvious churches, and so King Lalibela thought (rightly, as it turned out) that burying them would keep them safely hidden from potential attackers. The other reason, according to Alemu, is that King Lalibela "was also inspired by the Biblical account that Jesus was born in a cave in Bethlehem and was buried in a cave in Golgotha".
Whatever the reason, the churches at Lalibela are architecturally remarkable. One of the churches, Bete Medhane Alem, which is 33m long, 23m wide and 10m high, is considered to be the largest monolithic church in the world; while the Bete Amanuel church (pictured above), is known for its fine stone carvings. It's been suggested that this church actually started life as a royal residence for King Lalibela.
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