If you’re planning to travel to
Africa, you might consider visiting the Ethiopian city of
Lalibela, where you can find the only rock-hewn monolithic churches in the world. Built between the 12th and 13th century, the town of
Lalibela was meant to be the new
Jerusalem, after the
Holy City fell to the Muslims, in 1181.
The 13 churches are either carved in vertical cliffs, in natural caves or right into the ground and separated by trenches. They were all hand-carved by the
Ethiopian Orthodox Christians and the technical details are studying material even for modern architects. The churches of
Lalibela are all connected through tunnels and the trench system transports the water to the nearby River Jordan. Anyone who knows the heavy rains that fall in
Ethiopia, can appreciate this evacuation system.
All the religious structures of
Lalibela are named after buildings in
Jerusalem.
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