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Formerly known as Roha,
lalibela now bears the name of King lalibela (1181-1221), a member
of the Zagwe dynasty. Shortly after his birth at Roha, the future
King’s mystical life began to unfold Legend has it that one day
his mother saw him lying happily in his cradle surrouded by a dense
swarm of bees. Recalling an old Ethiopian belief that the animal
world could foretell the advent of important personages, the second
sight came up on her and she cried out: ‘the bees know that this
child will become King.’ Accordingly, she called her son’ Lalibela’,
which means ‘the bee recognizeds his sovereignty’.
Lalibela’s older brother, Harbay, the incumbent monarch was naturally
disturbed to hear this news and unsuccessfully tried to have his
brother murdered. Persecution continued for several years, culminating
in a deadly potion that left the young prince in mortal sleep. During
the three-day stupor, Lalibela was transported by angels to heaven,
where God ordered him to return to Roha and build churches the like
of which the world had never seen before. The Almighty, it is said,
also told the prince how to design those churches, where to build
them, and how to decorate them.
After Lalibela resumed mortal existence, Harbay-acting
on God’s instructions-went to pay homage to Lalibela and beg his
forgiveness. The two brothers then rode together on the same mule
to Roha, and Harbay abdicated in favor of his younger brother.
When Lalibela was crowned, he gathered masons,
carpenters, tools, set down a wage scale, and purchased the land
needed for building. The churches went up with extra ordinary speed,
goes the legend, because the angels continued the work at night.
Those who scoff at the tail are soon silenced when
they glimpse the famous Lalibela churches. Physically prised from
the rock on which they stand, these towering edifices seem super
human in scale, workmanship and concept. Some lie almost completely
hidden in deep trenches, while others stand in open quarried caves.
A complex and bewildering labyrinth of tunnels and narrow passageways
with offset crypts, grottos, and galleries connects them all. Throughout
this mysterious and wonderful settlement, priests and deacons go
about their timeless business.
Seeing all the Lalibela churches take a long time,
but they are well worth the visitor’s effort-particularly during
the colorful Ethiopian Christmas and Timkat (Epiphany) celebrations(on
January 7th and January 19th respectively).
The churches can be divided in to two main groups.
The first groups of six lies in rock cradles one behind the other
north of a stream known locally as the Jordan River: Bet Golgotha,
Bet Mika’el(also known as Bet Debre Sina), Bet Maryam, Bet Meskel,
Bet Danaghel, and Bet Medhani Alem.
Bet Medhani Alem is the largest of all the Lalibela
churches. Built like a Greek temple, it is unusual, being entirely
surrounded by square columns, with a further forest of twenty-eight
massive rectangular columns supporting the roof inside. Polished
by centuries of pressure from countless feet, the stone floor reflects
shafts of light from apertures in the walls high above. In a corner,
one can see three empty graves said to have been symbolically dug
for biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
The interconnected churches of Bet Golgotha and
Bet Mika’el form the most mysterious complex in Lalibela. It’s holiest
shrine- the Selassie Chapel-is housed here, and according the whispers
of the priests, perhaps even the tomb of King Lalibela himself.
Some of the most beautiful processional crosses of Lalibela are
here. One, a very rich and elaborate metal cross, black with age
and decorated with inlaid circles, is said to have belonged to Lalibela.
Also to the north of the Jordan, but much further
to the west, and somewhat isolated from the others, is the remarkable
church of Bet Giyorgis, possibly the most elegant of all the Lalibela
structures located in the south-west of the village on a sloping
rock terrace. In a deep pit with perpendicular walls, it can only
be reached through a tunnel entered a distance away through a trench.
Small round caves and chambers have been found in the country yard
walls--graves for pious pilgrims and monks.
Legend says that when King Lalibela had almost
completed his churches, he was severely reproached by Ethiopia’s
‘national saint’, Saint Gorge- who in full armour rode up to him
on his white horse—for not having constructed a house for him. Lalibela
thereupon promised the saint the most beautiful church, and Saint
Gorge apparently personally supervised the work, as attested to
by the fact that the monks still know the hoof marks of his horse
to visitors today.
Standing on a three-tiered plinth, Bet Giyorgisis
shaped like a Greek cross and has walls—with an alternation of projecting
and recessing horizontal layers –-reminiscent of Axumite architecture.
The church also has been an elaborately shaped doorway.
The group south of the Jordan River comprises four
churches: Bet Emanuel, Bet Mercurious, bet Abba Libnos, and Bet
Gabriel-Rufa’el.
Bet Emanuel is perhaps the finest; its elaborate
exterior much praised by art historians. The structure contains
a large hall with four pillars, and its irregularly placed windows
are Axumite in style, as are the walls. A spiral staircase leads
up to an upper storey. The most striking interior feature is the
double frieze of blind windows in the vaulted nave, the lower frieze
being purely ornamental and the upper consisting of windows (to
provide light from the galleries) alternating with decorated areas.
Chambers and cavities for sacred bees in the outer
wall of the courtyard are a reminder of the bees that prophesied
kingship to Lalibela. Some of the chambers, however, are the graves
of monks and pilgrims who wanted to be buried in this ‘holy city’.
Although not as famous as those in Lalibela, not
far away (a worthwhile trek over the Lalibela Mountains), are the
equally fascinating rock-hewn churches of Ashentan maryam, na’akuto
La’ab and Yemrehanna krestos.
More than mere monuments, the churches n and around
lalibela are a living link with the past and testify to the power
and spirit of an ancient Christian faitsh.
From kings and churches to emperors and castle:
another not-to-be missed stop on Ethiopia’s historic route is what
has been called the ‘Camelot’ of Africa: Gondar.
It is easy to imagine the intrigue and pageantry
that took place back in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,
when Gondar, then the Ethiopian capital, was home to a number of
emperors and warlords, courtiers and kings. One only has to stroll
through the banqueting halls and gaze down from the balconies of
the many castles and palaces here to drift back into a long-ago
world of battles and court conspiracies.
Nestled in the foothills of the simian Mountains
in north-western Ethiopia, Gondar become the capital during the
reign of Emperor Fasilidas (1632-1667), who built the first of a
number of castle-like palaces to be found here. He established a
tradition that was followed by most of his successors, whose buildings
greatly enhanced the city’s grandeur.
Gondar, which rose to prominence after Ethiopia
went through a lng period with out a fixed capital, emerged in the
seventeenth century as the country’s largest settlement. In its
day, the city was an important administrative, commercial, religious,
and cultural centre. It was famous for its sophisticated aristocratic
life, its church scholarship, and its extensive trade, which took
its merchants to Sudan and the port of Massawa as well as to the
rich lands south of the Blue Nile. Gondar was also noted for the
skill of its many craftsmen.
The city retained its pre-eminence until the middle
of the nineteenth century, when Emperor Twodros II moved his seat
of government to Debre tabor and later to Mekdela. As a result,
gondar declined greatly in importance and was subsequently looted
in the 1880s by the Sudanese Dervishes. By theearly nineteenth century
the city was a mere shadow of its former self. More recently, its
appearance was not aided by the fact that several historic buildings
were damaged by British bombs during Ethiopia’s liberation campaign
of 1941. Most of Gondar’s famous castles and other imperial buildings
nevertheless survived the ravages of time and together constitute
on of Ethiopia’s most fascinating antiquities.
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