Lalibela 2003

Lalibella 2003

Summary: The article refers to the journey to Lalibela, the holy place of pilgrimage in Northern Ethiopia. Lalibela is a complex of medieval churches hewn in massive volcanic rock, hidden inside it and forming its integral part. Due to their special situation, the churches of Lalibela resisted innumerable Muslim invasions and have survived as a unique, still living element of the Christian heritage in Africa. .
Yet, despite intensive research, it is still unknown who built them in the 12th c. Probably Byzantine architects were active here, but the style of the churches is also reminiscent to the architecture of ancient Axum, an African empire which adopted Christianity in approx. 4th c. It is one of the greatest mysteries of human civilisation, while at the same time a mystery of faith - the churches are still used for religious service, and, like centuries ago, continue to be considered holy places by the Ethiopians, especially the Amhars who remained Christians in the sea of Islam.
Until recently the site was practically inaccessible to strangers, protected by hostile landscape and climatic conditions. Unfortunately Lalibela was one of the centres of the great famine which in the 1960s and 1970s took millions of human lives in Ethiopia. This tragedy sets this holy place in a new context.

Peregrinus Cracoviensis, 2004, z.15, s. 229-242.

Instytut Geografii i Gospodarki Przestrzennej UJ

ISSN 1425-1922

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