This is a Google Earth satellite view of the village of Lalibela in rugged mountains. It used to be named Roha but was made famous for the churches carved out of volcanic rock, inside and outside. King Lalibela, who had previously had a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, guided that construction of stone churches after the Muslims conquered Jerusalem in 1187, thereby cutting off future pilgrimages of Ethiopian Christians to Jerusalem. Lalibela applied various Israel and Biblical names to local features in the array of rock churches. A River Jordan runs among them. It is also noted that churches built out of rock cannot be burned down by enemies. Later the town name of Roha was changed to Lalibela in honor of his effort.

We arrived mid-day on 7 January as many pilgrims were still leaving Lalibela after the Orthodox Christmas celebrations. The great majority were going home on foot, though some in taxis and busses.

There have been changes over the past twenty years in attempts to preserve these stone churches, as shown in satellite views.
Preservation Click on this link to see the recent historic changes. Also notice the removal of modern buildings within large areas as further protection for the stone churches area.

In the following image the area is of the northern stone churches. Most of the scene is from 2023. But for the tight area of the churches themselves I have inserted the unobstructed view from 2006. The yellow line shows the approximate route traveled by some of us as lead by our exellent tour guide. The large yellow dots mark the churches for which we viewed the interior: Medhane Alem and Maryam. We did not try to enter Golgotha because of the long line waiting outside it.

At the left side of this view are many circular buildings with thatch roofs. Their walls are of stone excavated from the carving of the churches. They are generally two storys tall. Here are photos of three of them.

Medhane Alem Click on this link for views of the outside and inside of this largest church

Maryam Click on this link for views of the outside and inside of this church

In the middle is the vertical wall between the Medhane Alem church (rear) and the Maryam church (to left). It shows the canopies erected in a partial attempt to protect these churches.

From the same location, looking the other way, this is a view across the top rock surface on the south side of the northern churches. From here we went down that narrow channel from the center towards the upper right, taking us to the Golgotha church.

These two show the lineup of people waiting to enter the Golgotha church. We continued down the deep channel to the left and out of the complex.

This is a view back of our exit from the northern stone churches area. From here we went by the cluster of circular dwellings (shown above) built out of the rock from these cuts.

St. George Click on this link for views of the outside and inside of this famous church, from both 7 and 8 January visits

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