{"id":19386,"date":"2014-05-17T19:09:15","date_gmt":"2014-05-18T00:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kathyschiffer\/?p=19386"},"modified":"2016-09-30T15:53:12","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T20:53:12","slug":"the-amazing-rock-cut-churches-of-lalibela","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kathyschiffer\/2014\/05\/the-amazing-rock-cut-churches-of-lalibela\/","title":{"rendered":"The Amazing Rock-Cut Churches of Lalibela"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Recently I came upon this photo of worshippers<\/strong> gathered for Mass in Ethiopia:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWHAT?\u201d I thought. \u201cWhere is this?!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

And so began my research into the fantastic rock-cut underground churches in Lalibela.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Church of St. George, Lalibela<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the twelfth century,<\/strong> King Lalibela, a member of the Zagwe dynasty which had seized the throne of Ethiopia around 1000 A.D., sought support from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. \u00a0To garner support, he commissioned a series of twelve extraordinary churches<\/strong> in the small town of Roha (now renamed Lalibela). \u00a0He hoped to create a New Jerusalem, a pilgrimage site for Christians who could not make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.<\/span><\/p>\n

The sacred architecture of Roha<\/strong> was not like that in the Holy Land, though. \u00a0Roha\u2019s churches were actually underground excavations. \u00a0According to Sacred-destinations.com<\/a>: \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Beta Medhane Alem (House of the Savior of the World)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Each church was created by first carving out a wide trench on all four sides of the rock, then painstakingly chiseling out the interior. The largest church is 40 feet high, and the labor required to complete such a task with only hammers and chisels is astounding.<\/em><\/p>\n

Popular legend has it that\u00a0angels<\/strong>\u00a0came every night to pick up where the workmen had left off. One of the churches, Bet Maryam, contains a stone pillar on which King Lalibela wrote the\u00a0secrets<\/strong>\u00a0of the buildings\u2019 construction. It is covered with old cloths and only the priests may look on it.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Bet Merkorios<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

King Lalibela\u2019s project for gaining the church\u2019s favor had two unexpected results: the creation of a holy place of unparalleled beauty and the\u00a0king\u2019s conversion<\/strong>\u00a0to a religious life. After laboring for 20 years, he abdicated his throne to become a hermit, living in a cave and eating only roots and vegetables. To this day, Ethiopian Christians regard King Lalibela as one of their greatest saints.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Ethiopian Orthodox priests on the small streets and pathways at an underground church in Lalibela<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recently I came upon this photo of worshippers gathered for Mass in Ethiopia: \u201cWHAT?\u201d I thought. \u201cWhere is this?!\u201d And so began my research into the fantastic rock-cut underground churches in Lalibela. In the twelfth century, King Lalibela, a member of the Zagwe dynasty which had seized the throne of Ethiopia around 1000 A.D., sought […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":556,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,25,56],"tags":[1816,647],"class_list":["post-19386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archeology","category-architecture","category-churches","tag-lalibela","tag-sacred-architecture"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Amazing Rock-Cut Churches of Lalibela<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Recently I came upon this photo of worshippers gathered for Mass in Ethiopia: "WHAT?" I thought. 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And so began my research into the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kathyschiffer\/2014\/05\/the-amazing-rock-cut-churches-of-lalibela\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Seasons of Grace\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-05-18T00:09:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-09-30T20:53:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/kathyschiffer\/files\/2014\/05\/Ethiopia-Mass-underground-church-768x1024.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kathy Schiffer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kathy Schiffer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" 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