Lalibela Rock Church

The Rock -hewn Church of Lalibela

Widely known as the "Eighth Wonder if the world ",the medieval complex of 11rock-hewn churches and 2chaples at Lalibela must surely rank as the single most breathtaking historical site in sub Saharan Africa.hand -carved,flake by painstaking flake, into the remote mountains of the Ethiopian interior ,this labyrinthine cluster of religions shrines represents the Apex of an ancient church -excavating tradition that dates to the arrival of christianity in ethiopia in the 4th century.curved towards the end of the 12th century, the complex at Lalibela was created under the direction of the king of the same name ,who conceived it as a king of 'new Jerusalem 'Many of the finest churches at Lalibela are subterranean monoliths, created in two stages.first a quadrangular courtyard of four trenches up to 15meters deep would be hand -cut into a horizontal rock surface.only then could the artisans commence work on the actual church, which would be excavated into the massive freestanding central block enclosed by the artificial courtyard.otger churches we're carved into cliffs,or enclosed by deep dry moats, and the complex as whole is connected by a Warren of bank tunnels,shady passages and wide courtyards pockmarked with cramped hermit cells.Architecturally ,it is an astonishing place moreover,Lalibela is one of the very few UNESCO world heritage sites of comparable vintage that still functions as a living shrine ,one whose ancient stone churches have remained in active use since their excavation all those centuries ago.