Churches of Lalibela: Africa's New Jerusalem

Ralf: Is it possible to carve an entire holy city straight out of solid rock? Well, that's exactly what awaits you at the incredible churches of Lalibela in Ethiopia.

Lina: Connected by a maze of dark tunnels, this legendary "New Jerusalem" is actually one of Africa's first World Heritage Sites.

Ralf: Get ready for history, miracles, and essential travel tips as we uncover these wonders, right after the intro.

Lina: Welcome to World Heritage Rookies, the podcast where we explore UNESCO World Heritage Sites one episode at a time. We are Lina

Ralf: and Ralf, and we will travel alongside you to some of the most stunning sites our world has to offer.

Lina: Each week, we dive into the history, fun facts, and reasons why World Heritage Sites matter for humanity, sharing our own discoveries and travel tips along the way.

Ralf: So, let's dive in and learn about some World Heritage together.

Lina: Welcome, everybody, to our seventh episode of World Heritage Rookies, the podcast where we talk about World Heritage Sites. If you are new here, welcome. I hope you find this podcast interesting.

Ralf: And if you have listened to some of the previous episodes, welcome back, and thank you very much for continuing to tune in. And today, it's again my turn. So, I will be talking about the World Heritage Site, which I think is actually the one I've been most looking forward to after Aachen Cathedral.

Lina: After, like from the 1,400?

Ralf: Sorry, to specify, like, from the first selection of World Heritage Sites what we're going to talk about, because I think a lot of you have already figured it out, we are trying to build some clusters or segments about World Heritage Sites we will follow. And the first 12 ones we are gonna talk about, yeah, I think a lot of you have figured out which criteria or which reason we are taking behind, but we're also trying to mix it up a little bit in future episodes. But from the first 12 that we're going to talk about, I think this is the one I'm looking the second most forward to after Aachen Cathedral, which will continue to be my number one spot for a very, very long time.

Lina: Now, I'm really curious. So, tell me, Ralf, what are you going to be telling us today about?

Ralf: So, today I will talk about the rock-hewn churches in Lalibela, in Ethiopia, which, yeah, they are situated in the northern highlands of Ethiopia, and they are very, very unique in the way they are being constructed and what they are symbolizing. I think that's what I was looking so forward to them.

Ralf: What do you know about the rock-hewn churches in Lalibela, Ethiopia?

Lina: Actually, I don't know much. I just know they are in Ethiopia. We were actually, before the podcast, discussing how to pronounce Ethiopia, because, of course, because of our different mother languages, we pronounce it differently, so I'm really sorry if this is not the correct pronunciation, but actually I don't know much. So, I think that I am completely blank for this episode, which makes me really excited.

Ralf: I think it's all well-deserved. I am quite sure if you see a picture of the most famous of the churches, you will recognize it, because it's really famous, in my opinion. We will obviously link some visual material also on our Instagram @worldheritagerookies, where you can find a companion post associated with this episode, subtle marketing. I know we are really smooth about it right now.

Lina: We are being smooth every episode.

Ralf: Every episode, yeah, it's not forced at all or anything, no. But yes, I think you might know them, you just are not aware that, like, this image is linked to them, but I'm very happy to talk about it today.

Ralf: So, as usual, we're gonna start a bit with the historical part and I will actually start to tell you a little bit about the namesake of the place where the churches can be found, which is King Lalibela. And so, he was a ruler that reigned in the late 12th and early 13th century, and his rule is generally associated with the construction of those churches. There is a little bit of debate about how old these churches actually are, but generally speaking, he is the one credited with the construction of them. And King Lalibela, he was originally born Gebre Meskel, which translates to servant of the cross around the year 1162 in a place called Roha, which was later renamed to Lalibela in his honor, actually. So, the place called today Lalibela is named after him as the ruler. And the name Lalibela actually means something, and it means honey eater in the old language of Agaw, of the people that were around in this region. Because according to legend, when he was born, a swarm of bees surrounded him, which was seen as a divine sign of good fortune. And his mother named him then Lalibela, sort of symbolizing, well, the bees, they are recognizing his rule. And that was the origin of the name, sort of the honorary title that he has as a king, and also what is until today the name of this place, Lalibela.

Lina: That's quite interesting. Do you think that Lalibela is also coming from the Latin libellula?

Ralf: Not that I know of. So as I found out in my research, or at least what the sources in my research said is, like, actually, Lalibela is in the tongue that was spoken at his time. The language is called Old Agaw, if I pronounce it correctly. So I do not know, I have to be honest, if it has any kind of relation to Latin. But at least it has not been directly linked in my research to any kind of Latin, no.

Lina: Understood. Interesting, though. And this is a pretty name.

Ralf: It is. And it's also very interesting, again, to highlight what kind of important symbolism will have for your legacy. Obviously, we do not know that this actually happened, yeah, but it's adding to the myth of him as a ruler. And I have to admit also I did not find so much information about his life. Apparently, it's not so well documented, as you might assume. What I found is that he actually, before becoming a ruler, he was forced into exile towards Jerusalem because he was in a conflict with his brother who, as I understood, was actually the elder brother and might therefore had more right, in quotation marks, towards the throne. But after he was in exile for several years, he returned and he was, in the end, able to claim the throne. It's not directly specified how he did, but it is assumed that it was through armed conflict and through military force, making sure that his brother, well, would not be longer in charge and he was able to rule. And during his reign probably what is mostly today is associated with him is the sacred site of the rock-hewn churches and that actually means today he is in Ethiopian culture referred both as a former king but also as a saint with high importance towards the whole Christian belief within Ethiopia. It is not 100% clear as I found in the research where his remains are. It's actually there is I found some sources that state that he is buried in a chapel in one of those churches but it's not 100% clearly documented and even if it were it is pretty difficult as I understood to visit today so only male visitors would be allowed in the central parts of it because this apparently is a bit also related to the way that Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity is working and it might be that actually only a certain holy people or priests might be allowed to visit this part but it's not 100% sure or safe from the sources that he is actually buried there.

Lina: So what you mean is that females can not enter the church?

Ralf: Some areas, some areas. So some areas can, it's not apparently as I understood it's not only restricted to female visitors it's also to non-priest visitors. I will talk about this later but apparently at least when I found the documentation here about this sort of chapel where it's believed that his remains are I found that it's being stated there that no male visitors allowed. So in case anybody from Ethiopia is listening or might know more about this please let me know if this is true or not. I found this in a few reports about traveling there if this is true. But yeah. So there's a little bit of a background of the person mostly associated with the construction of the churches. Now let's talk about the churches themselves.

Ralf: So yeah it's assumed most of them were created during the reign of King Lalibela, so in the late 12th and early 13th century. Some sources claim that a few of the churches might actually be older, some like 100 years, but it could also be like, well, that there were some other constructions in that area before. So at the moment most of the time it's assumed, well, okay, they are dating back to the late 12th and early 13th century. And the UNESCO World Heritage Site that we are especially focusing on this episode, it is including 11 of those so-called monolithic churches. They are all churches that are carved directly into volcanic stone of the highlands. So this is also why when you're first approaching the area you will not directly see them because they are in a way hidden.

Lina: Quite interesting style to be honest and maybe that also supports the conservation, right?

Ralf: I will come to this, because actually, no. But, yeah, so how was it done? So of course, a bit of a question about it, but it's mostly assumed that the builders at this time, they used subtractive techniques, so meaning they would chisel from the top downward in the soft volcanic rock, and they built everything out of this. So, you would have, in a way, like you're starting with a single piece of rock, and you carve out of it roofs, windows, doors, pillars, and other supporting functions. So, in the complex, you will see, actually, drainage ditches to make sure that when it's raining or when there's waterfalls that the site is preserved. Yeah, you will have trenches and tunnels that are connecting the different sites, and this results in these eleven churches being a really unique complex. So, you have a few churches that are actually fully perfect monolithic churches. That means they are freestanding from rock, so there is no rock surrounding them. And then you have a few churches which are then called, yeah, they are like semi-monolithic. That means they have like one part, for example, still, like one wall is still connected to the surrounding rock area.

Lina: That's really interesting. Do you have any information on how much it will take them to do one church, or one of these complexes?

Ralf: There is, actually, not for one specifically, but there is the belief, again, I emphasize here on belief, that the construction of the whole complex took 24 years, and...

Lina: For the full complex?

Ralf: For the full complex.

Lina: Quite fast.

Ralf: Yeah, again, it's a belief, and I'm sort of jumping between what I researched, and what they are attributing to it is how it happened so fast, is during the day, the human builders were working, and in the night, angels would come to help the construction of the churches. I actually found one source, if I remember correctly, that stated that one of the churches was actually built within one day, with the help of angels, so take it with a grain of salt, but you will find a lot of sources that state that the whole complex was built over 24 years.

Lina: I mean, even if it was, no thanks to the angels and the divine part, it's quite fast. I mean, even if it would take, I would have, I even initially thought about 200 years or something like that, but...

Ralf: No, it... with those 24 years, it would be really, really fast, and what helps, of course, is that the rock is comparably soft, and this is also posing today still one of the challenges of the site. So as you can imagine, over the centuries, various influence factors from erosion or the natural elements, but also the continued presence of humans around there have made an impact, and this is actually a bit of a challenge today. So today you will find, in various of the places, supporting materials or, yeah, sort of construction that has tried to help keeping it together. What makes it challenging, as I understood, is that especially in the inner sanctuaries of the, so the most holy places within the churches, only priests are allowed. So that means that even the conservation experts were not allowed to go into this, otherwise they would, um, well, like not follow traditions that they have in the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian belief. What they did, therefore, is that they specifically trained local priests that were allowed to enter the inner areas to be able to support in a conservation effort. So, you will have the situation that priests are not only acting as holy men, but actually as conservative efforts and people supporting the maintenance of these holy places.

Lina: It is, for me, it is for me amazing how much, for instance, archaeologists and conservators would go to really protect these places. That's something I really appreciate, to the fact that you have to train priests in order to actually conserve these places you cannot visit. Quite impressive, and also quite interesting methodology, because I think that there is a lot of holy places around the world that could also adopt this kind of, kind of dual conservation.

Ralf: Yeah, it's obviously depending on how complex is the conservation and can you teach it to somebody, but in my belief, if you think about it, no person is better suited to be motivated to keep it preserved than, well, than the priests and the ones who are the spiritual guardians also of this place. So, I think it is a very, it is a very, it's a very clever approach, like you said, to educate those people, well, we cannot do it ourselves, so let's try to educate the people. And I think that's a very good approach, and if you can follow it on a larger scale, that makes sense.

Lina: That makes a lot of sense, and actually, it should be also promoted between places that can also be visited by tourism or by religious population, because everybody would become part of the conservation effort.

Ralf: That's true, yeah. And so now we have talked a little bit about how they were constructed and when. You might now ask yourself why were they constructed in the first place. And before I answer this question, what do you think? Why might Lalibela have been motivated to order the construction of these churches?

Lina: Well, he was a profound Catholic, so that's probably the reason, the main reason he wanted to promote the religion. That's for sure. But I would also be more interested, I mean, maybe the question here for me is, why to the floor, and not why up? I think that maybe also comes a little bit to Ethiopian culture and construction knowledge by the time. I would say probably, but I'm not really 100% sure. I would say, well, for sure churches, because he was a religious person, and wanted to motivate the growth of the religion. The style that is something I don't really know.

Ralf: To be fully honest about the style, I did not find that many information, why you would cut it into the stone and do not make it any other way, I have an assumption. But for the reason why he built it, so obviously again, the story told that he had a divine vision that commanded him to build this, but there is actually the assumption that had very pragmatic reasons. So, as I mentioned before, he has been during his exile in Jerusalem, and it can be assumed that this visit as a devout Christian really impacted him. By the time he was in rule, Jerusalem actually was under control by the Muslims. So that made it difficult for Ethiopian Christians to visit Jerusalem as a holy place, and therefore what he did, he wanted to build a new Jerusalem. So, sort of an alternative for Ethiopian Christians to see, or to have a pilgrimage in a way to Jerusalem, when it was not possible, or at least not easy for them to go to the actual Jerusalem, because of the political situation at the moment. And this is why you will actually find a huge amount of symbolism within Lalibela and the rock-hewn churches, that are reflecting his ambition to sort of build a New Jerusalem in Africa. And one of those is, for example, generally speaking, it is assumed that the churches are divided in two bigger complexes, so you will have the northern complex with five churches. Then you will have the southern, or more specifically, I think it is more like an eastern complex with other five churches. And you will have the probably most famous church, which is the House of St. George, or Bet Giyorgis, standing a little bit apart. And they are separated by a trench, a deep trench into the rock, which is called Jordanos Wenz, which is supposed to symbolize the River Jordan.

Lina: Oh, okay, so it was pictured geographically how it is around Jerusalem.

Ralf: Yes, exactly. So he was trying to sort of build a new pilgrimage, or like an alternative pilgrimage site for Ethiopian Christians. And perhaps this might have been a reason why it was cut into the rock. It's easier to build a trench within the rock to symbolize a river instead of, well, you cannot build a river up. That might be a reason. To be 100% clear, I did not find any information why it was built into the rock, but there could perhaps be a reason. Yes, and this is why until today, all of the buildings, you can find a lot of symbolism and holy symbols and remarks towards Jerusalem and overall the stories of the testament in it. Perhaps one thing important to mention before I continue more about the individual churches. You will hear me say, like, the name is like Biete something or Bet something. That means Bet stands as translation for house of. So this is why you will often call it a house of and then like the saint or the person that it's dedicated to. So, for example, this 11th church that I mentioned, Bet Giyorgis, is the house of St. George. So this is when I'm talking about Bet, this is just basically saying that's the house of a dedicated person.

Ralf: And for this reason, for it being such an important site for Ethiopian Christian belief, it is until today an extremely important pilgrimage site, so actually it's considered the holiest site in Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity and it's assumed that you will have each year more than 100,000 pilgrims visiting Lalibela as part of their belief in traditions.

Lina: I see, quite popular place. You can visit when you are not Orthodox Christian?

Ralf: I believe you can visit if you are not Orthodox Christian, but you will have to follow certain rules that I will mention later. Perhaps, just out of curiosity, so we already mentioned one legend when it comes to the construction and angels being used as builders, but what do you think could be some other legends? Do you have any sort of understanding, because we know already, like, there's sort of a pattern associated with a lot of holy places. Can you have a feeling what might be other legends?

Lina: The, uh, the devil came and he wanted to support and then somebody tricked him, and he left his mark somewhere?

Ralf: Well, close. So, like, the devil did not offer his help as far as I understood in building this, but there are legends that have to do with a mark, and of course, we are having some legends about the devil or slash hell. So, yes, so I mentioned already the legend of the angels as night builders. Apart from that, you also have a legend that is associated with the construction of Bet Giyorgis, the Church of St. George. Because it is said that King Lalibela originally made sure that the first 10 churches are being constructed. And after he had finished them, he had a vision of St. George. And St. George appeared to him and sort of has been complaining, hey, why didn't you build a sanctuary in my honor? And after this, the king was extremely humbled and he immediately commissioned a church which is dedicated to St. George. And this has today become the most famous of the churches, which is a little bit further away from the other churches. And it's especially famous because it's shaped like a perfect cross. So, it's like a perfect symmetrical cross and this is why I assume you might have seen the church already. Yeah, it's by far the most famous and it's sort of like the symbol of the rock-hewn churches. And apparently, after it was constructed, St. George himself appeared to witness and say, okay, you did well there, I can accept this. And you can apparently find still the marks of the horse of St. George close to the church where you can see like, this is where the saint has appeared to make sure that... yeah.

Lina: To check.

Ralf: Yeah, to do the check. Apart from that, some other stories are telling, for example, about a sort of heavenly or divine pillar in the church of Bet Maryam, so the house of Mary. So there is famously a sacred pillar that was once believed to glow with a divine bright light, which is supposed to have inscriptions, first about the story of King Lalibela, but also about the 12 commandments. And apparently it had this divine light until the 16th century, and then it was covered with a piece of cloth. And this piece of cloth is until today in place. Not really... I did not really find out why is it there. Was it there, well, yeah, okay, we want to keep a bit of mystery alive, but when you see today this column, you will probably point it out that it was supposed to shine like with this really divine and heavenly light in the past. And last but not least, another myth that I found coming to the influence of the devil or hell. So, as I mentioned before, the churches, they are connected via a complex of tunnels that you can go around, and one of those is famously called the Pathway to Hell, which is a totally dark tunnel which you will enter around the twin archangel church of Bet Gabriel-Rufael, so which is dedicated to the archangels, Gabriel and Raphael. And you are walking there through an area that is absolutely pitch black, and it's supposed to symbolize the, yeah, the walk through hell, and the spiritual journey you would then take, going first into darkness and then ascending again to the light.

Lina: Mm-hmm.

Ralf: So, another really good example of all the symbolism that you will find in the area and in the local complexes.

Lina: So, that means you can actually visit some of these tunnels?

Ralf: Ah, yes, so you will walk through those tunnels if you want to move in between the complexes, so moving...

Lina: You are not moving up to the surface?

Ralf: I assume you can, but those tunnel complexes are actually meant to connect the different church complexes, so you will be able to walk around in these tunnels and see them and move possibly from church to church within these tunnels that I mentioned.

Lina: Sounds absolutely amazing.

Ralf: Yeah. Apart from that, there's also the assumption that one of those churches might, in the past, have been served as sort of a prison, because archaeological evidence are hinting that iron shackles were fixed to the rock in the past, so this could mean that when also it was perhaps more of a royal complex, or you would have more of the royal nature around there, that could serve as a sort of a prison complex. And yes, these were some of the historical and fun facts I wanted to share about it. First impression so far?

Lina: I mean, and I think the churches are absolutely beautiful, and of course I know the main one, or the most famous one, because it's a really normal, like a really famous image. But I didn't know much, and I think that it's really interesting. First, something surprised me a lot, it's the time that is supposedly to be constructed, with angels or without them, it's quite impressive. Of course they are churches, there are myths behind, there is a lot of mysticism but I think that it's quite interesting to see a little bit more of the reason why they are carved as an image of a second Jerusalem. I find that it's absolutely impressive.

Ralf: Yeah, I agree with this.

Lina: Interesting.

Ralf: I agree. This was also one of the reasons why I was so looking forward to discuss it, because just the way it was constructed, the way it's shown, it is really, really impressive and specific to it. And then having learned more about also the history, was just adding to the interest that this site eludes.

Lina: It's an architectural marvel, because it's not an easy thing to do, to carve in the rock, in the floor. So, yeah, quite impressive.

Ralf: I'm taking this as a good hint to transition to the next section that we always talk about, why it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site. So, I think it's not coming as a surprise, it's mostly, or it is a cultural World Heritage Site. How many criteria do you think it fulfills?

Lina: Well, I would say that because of its infrastructure amazingness, it would be one, two, I would say three. It feels three.

Ralf: That's absolutely correct.

Lina: I always guess correctly. I just wanted to point out.

Ralf: I don't think you always do, but at least this time.

Lina: We have to record the episodes behind, but I think that I'm winning. This will be a competition. I'm winning.

Ralf: Let's see. So, but yeah, it is fulfilling three criteria. Actually, criteria one, two, and three. So, the first criteria, which is, yeah, counting as a masterpiece of human creative genius. Like I mentioned before, it is seen as a peak of human creativity and technical mastery with the fact that it's cutting inside the stone and building it from the top towards the bottom. And this whole subtractive process is obviously a very unique way of construction and a very impressive way of construction. Like you mentioned, it doesn't matter if it was with or without the help of angels. And I think there are not many buildings or complexes that actually can match to its scale at the moment. And probably, again, the best example that we have here is the Church of St. George or Bet Giyorgis, which is not just impressive with the way it was constructed, but also when you look at the symmetry. I mean, it is really as good as it can be done from a piece of stone, a perfectly symmetrical cross. And what is also very unique is like the churches are by themselves pretty unique. So, it's not that they all follow the same design. So, each church looks a bit different from the other one. So, you will have also kind of a huge amount of variety around there. So, it's not that they just like copy-paste, copy-paste, copy-paste. They actually like, yeah...

Lina: Not the same kind of measurement, they change.

Ralf: Yeah, they were able to make something unique from the individual churches. And this is obviously, yeah, we can fully agree that this is meeting criteria number one, being a masterpiece of human creative genius. Then, because of its nature as sort of a Jerusalem in Africa, it is also meeting criteria number two, the exchange of human values, so it is considered as an interchange of these spiritual values that are encompassing Christianity or specifically here in this sense also the Orthodox Christianity of Ethiopia, because it was specifically built with the purpose to serve as a new Jerusalem and as a pilgrimage site for Ethiopian pilgrims that could not go to Jerusalem by themselves, and what is then a specific part about it is the symbolism that you can see with it, so what I mentioned before already, the river sort of, like, in between, but next to this you have also other recreations that are, for example, supposed to symbolize the tomb of Christ, or the resting place of Adam, the father of mankind, the nativity crypt. There is, for example, if I remember correctly, the Church of St. George has elements that are supposed to reflect Noah's Ark, so you see a huge influence of especially Christian culture and beliefs reflected here within these Ethiopian buildings or, like, churches. And last but not least, criteria number three, it's a testimony to a living cultural tradition. Like I mentioned before, it's until today used as a pilgrimage site, it has served as a pilgrimage site since their construction in the Middle Ages. And interesting enough also is that the small village or town of Lalibela also has some kind of this living cultural tradition because they still preserve the traditional two-story circular houses of this area, which are mostly built out of stone and wood with some thatched roofs, which offer insight into historical domestic life. And this combination makes this here, like, a really good way to experience, yeah, the life of...

Lina: The normal life in this times. So, basically, they maintain some of the houses that you could also experience how normal life was in this time?

Ralf: Yes, so apparently the way they are building houses is also spanning back to, like, yes, centuries and traditional way of living in this area.

Lina: How interesting.

Ralf: Indeed, yeah. And, yes, so with the combination of these three different criteria, that's what makes the place by itself pretty special. I think now you might also be curious, okay, what do you need to consider when you want to go around there? But, before I go into more of the general recommendations and remarks, I found from people that have been there a quick word of advice. So, as usual, we ask you that please, in advance, obviously, do your own research and make sure that you are keeping updated. I know, for example, at the time of recording of this, there is civil unrest within Ethiopia. So, a lot of countries, like for, foreign offices, they are issuing certain travel warnings towards Ethiopia. So, obviously, before you travel to any of those places in general in this podcast, make your own research, make sure that you're safe. And this is the most important thing, but I will share some of the more, yeah, general recommendations that I found about traveling there. So, bit of a logistical topic, theoretically, you can visit the churches, probably all of them within one day, but there is general recommendation, you should stay at least two or three days in the area to fully explore the best impact. So, not only the churches and the local place around it, but also perhaps some of the surrounding places that are interesting to visit. So, that is in general the recommendation, try to stay there for two or three days.

Lina: I think it's also recommended to any major historical complex. We have been in some of them. And at some point, you need to rest, and in order to actually enjoy it truthfully, maybe not rush through them. I think that that's a really good advice for every site. But in general, yes, I do agree that you have to take care of this, especially because it's a huge complex, and it is interesting to really enjoy each of the churches, which doesn't happen if you see it at once. Believe us, we have done both, rush through many of the places, and do some with time, and I can tell you the difference in experience really relies on how much you can rest, how much you can take some off-site activities, so you can come back and keep enjoying the marvel.

Ralf: So, um, yeah, like I mentioned, two to three days is normally assumed a good pace. You can get there advisably by air, so there's a one-hour direct flight within the country, um, that is going to an airport that is close by to Lalibela, um, it's about 25 kilometers far away from the town. Apparently, there are regularly minibuses or anything else that will just pick up people who have arrived and then drive you off there, so...

Lina: That's nice. Helps the logistics.

Ralf: Yes, it's generally what I found recommended, do not go by bus there because it's apparently not the most pleasant experience, both from conditions of the road, but also apparently there have been reports of tourists being, like, scammed or, like, being approached in a not-so-friendly way. Again, not our own experience, but from the research that I found is, like, people say it's safer and more comfortable and better if you fly directly there.

Lina: Flying in and flying out, I guess.

Ralf: Yeah, so, like, try to move around there mostly by airplane and not necessarily by car or public transportation. The place itself, Lalibela, is considered a pretty walkable place, you can still get there tuk-tuks and everything to get you around, but when you are in Lalibela by itself, transportation is becoming easier. What you have to know is that there is a entrance fee, obviously, associated with the church complex. The most, what I found most of the research is meaning you have a multi-day fee, a ticket costs 50 US dollars per person. I have found some reports that were stating higher prices, but I could not fully confirm it, so it could either... perhaps it might be somebody got scammed or they might be telling the numbers of multiple people, but so most sources I found at the time of recording state it's 50 USD, which gives you, like, a multi-day ticket, to visit places. They are generally open from 6 to 12, so noon, and then again from 2 p. m. until 5 p. m., which is important to notice, because if you want to visit some of the churches around sunrise, for example, it might be that actually the churches are open before the ticket office, so it's generally advised try to go to the ticket office the day before you're going to visit one of the churches for sunrise because, well, it might be closed or it will most likely be closed when you're trying to enter one of the churches for sunrise, so good to keep in mind.

Lina: How interesting.

Ralf: Yeah. Apart from that, they have some recommendations about how you can try to make the most of your visit, so first, try to make your visit on a weekend, because that gives you two benefits. Apparently in Lalibela on Saturday there is the local market, which is just allowing you to get a bit of a feeling of the life around there and then, like, see really how the people are, yeah, doing commerce and how their, their, yeah, their life might be looking like, and then the main thing is obviously in the morning of Sunday you will be able to actually witness locals attending mass of the church. So, like, you will have hundreds of people in the traditional white robes, around chanting and praying as the sun rises, so early in the morning, which I think is generally recommended, arrive around five or five thirty, so way before the church is also open, but the most you seem apparently to make out of Lalibela is when you visit around the weekends.

Lina: So basically, just to follow with your tips, it will be recommended to arrive on a Friday, kind of take the day just to go around the town, get the tickets, and start really exploring the churches from Sunday morning.

Ralf: Well, yeah, so you can obviously explore them before and, like, they are beautiful for sunrise and sunset, I guess, with or without a ceremony, but if you want to get the full impact, also if it is a spiritual site, obviously if you can witness one of those, yeah, ceremonies that gives you a very specific experience. It's also recommended, while it's not mandatory, that you hire a local guide who can tell you more about the stories behind this.

Lina: I think that it's always really interesting also because, of course, you can really ask questions and sometimes it's really good information to get, so yeah, it's always... we always try to have tour guides, I mean, we are kind of really picky about... we ask a lot, so sometimes tour groups are not for us, because we can be found a little bit annoying, but, of course, also tour guides that are in groups could also be a solution, but we always recommend having private tour guides.

Ralf: Yeah, if possible. So, and a little bit last practical, uh, recommendation, so when you're not familiar with travelling to Ethiopia or especially the northern highlands, even when it's in, well, it's an African country, so I will just go in T-shirt, so Lalibela is sitting at about 2,600 meters above sea level, so it can be really, really cool around there, so especially in the evening, bring layers, you can bring around yourself, make sure you're keeping warm, also a bit of a dress code, obviously, it's a holy place, do not go there around, like, with...

Lina: Bikini.

Ralf: With, yeah, well, it's a bit exaggerated, but, like, do not go there with super short clothes, so, like, both as a male and a female visitor, make sure you are trying to wear long-sleeved clothing, it's also sometimes recommended for female visitors that you might bring a white shawl, like, sort of showing respect to the local traditions, you will see a lot of the local women that are going in this kind of garb towards the ceremonies.

Lina: In the photos, and I also think that you mentioned it, it's been more of... most of the visitors during the ceremony are dressing white, and it is a really typical white vestment. It is recommended also to use this kind of clothing for tourists, or it's not mandatory, but could be nice too.

Ralf: I did not find any information that said it was mandatory, but it could be, obviously, trying to show some kind of effort in trying to fit with local tourists. I mean, of course, like, you might always think, okay, is it cultural appropriation when I'm not Orthodox, but it's like, I've always tried to see, like, what do you think would most suit you, and it's, I think, personally, when you try to come up with this, like, you're trying to show respect to the local culture and traditions, but as I found out, it's not mandatory.

Lina: Mm-hmm. Just try to dress modest and be careful.

Ralf: Exactly, yes, as always. And last but not least, also wear comfortable shoes that it's easy to slip in and out of, because you are not allowed to enter the churches with shoes, so you will have to take off your shoes in between.

Lina: Good detail.

Ralf: Yes. And yeah, as the last topic, I would say, like I mentioned, if you have the time to be around Lalibela a bit more, there are also some places that are generally recommended beyond the main churches. So, in the surrounding Amhara highlands, where Lalibela is situated, you can find other cool things. So one topic that is mentioned, which is about five kilometers away, is a monastery called the Asheton Maryam Monastery. Apparently, you can take a trek that takes about six hours as a round trip to the top, where you have really great views of the surrounding area and the local villages. I have read that apparently on the top there is also a church that you can enter, which has an entry fee of around 20 US dollars, and a lot of tourists that went there, and especially if you compare it with the price for Lalibela with 50 US dollars, that it's not really worth it compared to that. But, again, this is just something that I found. If you have this experience or want to contradict, please let us know, perhaps on our Instagram channel. Apart from that, there's also a place called, I hope I pronounced it correctly, Na'akuto La'ab Monastery, which is apparently a monastery built into a natural cave with holy pools, which by themselves just are an interesting experience, but also is considered as a nice place to watch a sunset over the hillside around it, there's also a cave church called Yemrehana Krestos, which is predating, apparently, the churches of Lalibela and is also a very impressive site. And last but not least, the whole highlands around there are also really just very popular for trekking and any kind of excursions that you have there. So you will find community-run guest houses and, like, really just impressive sites, and this is just in case you would like to have some inspiration how you can try to make more of your stay in Lalibela and the surroundings.

Lina: That sounds quite interesting.

Ralf: Yes, and yeah, I think this, this is it. Thoughts about it?

Lina: I mean, I was just thinking, you know, after listening to you, like, what year we could be planning? But I guess that happens every time we finalize an episode, I mean, if we push it to 2028, I think there will be...

Ralf: Let's see, let's see.

Lina: It sounds amazing, it sounds something that we will really enjoy. Now I know why you were so excited about this specific place. I have to be honest, I particularly like complexes, architectural complexes, because it really, you can see a lot and understand the history and the motivations to be in these places as more than just one unique building. I think that that's something I particularly like.

Ralf: Then you will definitely enjoy, Lalibela or the Churches of Lalibela, yeah.

Lina: I think so, and I think that now I understand a little bit more why it was built or with what intention, thinking that, okay, maybe my communities or like thinking about the King, my communities cannot go to Jerusalem, let's build something for them. I think that it's also quite an interesting approach and not seen in many other parts of the world.

Ralf: I agree, yes. So, thank you, everybody for listening. So, thank you, as usual, Lina, for the interesting discussions and dialogue we had. Next time, I will listen to you again. We're not staying in Africa, we're actually moving to the Americas, right? So, you want to give a short spoiler what you will present us?

Lina: I will be. I think that it's a quite easy hint, but it's worth it. We are gonna talk about the biggest supervolcano in the world.

Ralf: Or at least the place where it can be found, right? So it's definitely a cool episode to tune in. Not biased, but if I were you I would listen in the next episode. And until then, thank you so much for listening and spending your time with us. Take care. Bye bye

Lina: Goodbye.