World Heritage Rock-Hewn Churches Lalibela

There are 11 monolithic cave churches that were built on 13th century by the King Lalibela. Only 4 cave churches were finished and the remains are still unfinished. These churches and its surroundings are called 'New Jerusalem'. Lalibela is a high place of Ethiopian Christianity, still today a place of pilmigrage and devotion. The World famous Church of Saint George, Lalibela is one of the finished churches.The rock-hewn churches of Lalibela are a UNESCO World heritage site.

Rock-Hewn Churches
Continent: Africa
Country: Ethiopia
Category: Cultural
Criterion: (I)(II) (III)
Date of Inscription: 1978

Rock-Hewn Churches Lalibela

The rock-hewn churches of Lalibela are exceptionally fine examples of a long-established Ethiopian building tradition. Monolithic churches are to be found all over the north and the centre of the country. Some of the oldest of such churches are to be found in Tigray, where some are believed to date from around the 6th or 7th centuries. King Lalibela is believed to have commissioned these structures with the purpose of creating a holy and symbolic place which considerably influenced Ethiopian religious beliefs.

Rock Hewn Churches Lalibela
Rock Hewn Churches Lalibela

Browse Gallery Plus UNESCO Storyline

Church of Saint George Lalibela

The Church of St. George is one of eleven monolithic churches in Lalibela, a city in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Carved from solid red volcanic rock in the twelfth century, it is the most well-known and last built of the eleven churches in the Lalibela area, and has been referred to as the "Eighth Wonder of the World". Lalibela is still a pilgrimage site for members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church; the church itself is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Rock-Hewn Churches, Lalibela".

Lalibela situated in a mountainous region in the heart of Ethiopia near a traditional village with circular-shaped dwellings. It is a small town at an altitude of almost 2,800 m in the Ethiopian highlands and surrounded by a rocky, dry area which is a high place of Ethiopian Christianity.

Slideshow for this Heritage Site


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