Give Lalibela two full days. One covers the northern group, where Bete Medhane Alem stands as the largest monolithic church in the world, and the eastern group across the channel the town calls the Jordan. The second takes Bete Giyorgis at first light and one church beyond town: Yemrehanna Kristos in its cave, or Asheton Maryam on the ridge above. A single ticket covers all eleven and is checked at every entrance.
Lalibela is a small highland town holding eleven churches cut downwards into solid rock in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. They are not ruins. Priests serve in all of them, and pilgrims still fill the trenches around them.
The one everyone pictures: a Greek cross cut about twelve metres down into a sloping rock terrace, with nothing above ground but its roof. It stands apart from both church groups, and it only reads as a cross from the rim.
The largest monolithic church in the world, roughly 33 metres long, 23 wide and 10 deep, carried on rows of square columns. It holds the Lalibela Cross, a processional cross of about 7 kg that the priests bring out on request.
Thought to be the earliest of the eleven and still the most used by worshippers. Carved rosettes, painted ceilings and a baptismal pool that remains in service, in a courtyard where pilgrims sit through the long services.
Twin churches sharing one entrance, with the Selassie Chapel and the Tomb of Adam attached. Golgotha carries life-size reliefs of saints cut into its walls and is said to hold King Lalibela’s own tomb. Women are not admitted.
The finest carving in Lalibela and the only true monolith of the eastern group. Its facade copies the stepped stone-and-timber walling of Aksumite building in solid rock, over an arched nave five bays deep.
Reached across a walkway over a deep trench, which is the point: the twin church may have begun as a palace, and it still reads as a fortress rather than a sanctuary. The tunnels behind it are walked in the dark by tradition.
Older than the rock churches and built rather than carved: alternating layers of wood and stone in the Aksumite manner, standing inside a cave. It predates King Lalibela, and the cave floor behind it holds pilgrim remains.
A church cut into the cliff at around 3,500 m on the shoulder of Mount Abuna Yosef. The climb takes roughly two hours on foot, and the view back over the Lasta highlands is the reason to walk it rather than ride a mule.
A small church built into a natural cave, where water seeping through the rock overhang is caught in bowls on the floor and treated as holy. Its treasury holds crosses, crowns and painted drums attributed to the founder.
On Saturdays the centre of town fills with people who have walked in from the highlands, selling grain, spices, firewood, salt blocks and woven cloth. It is the one morning the town belongs to Lasta rather than to visitors.
The earliest and the most used. Painted ceilings, carved rosettes, a working baptismal pool.
A shallow chapel cut into the north wall of Bete Maryam’s courtyard. Easy to walk past.
Twin churches under one entrance, with life-size reliefs and the tomb attributed to King Lalibela. Closed to women.
The holiest room in Lalibela and the least often opened, reached through Golgotha.
The finest carving here, and the only true monolith of the group. Aksumite walling in solid rock.
Entered over a walkway above a deep trench. Possibly a palace before it was a church.
The most damaged of the eleven, partly collapsed and irregular. Held to have been a prison.
Built of wood and stone inside a cave, and older than the rock churches. About 42 km north.
Cut into the cliff at around 3,500 m. Two hours up on foot, or a mule and a driver.
Around 32 km out, then twenty minutes uphill from the road. Known for its beehives.
Held by tradition to date from the sixth century, which would make it far older than Lalibela.
The closest of the three to the main road, and the usual first stop on the Yemrehanna run.
A spiral of clifftop terraces above the valley. Ethiopian and Scottish cooking, and the sunset.
A plain room on the main street doing the standards well. Beyaynetu on fasting days.
Ethiopian cooking without the hotel mark-up, and one of the town’s more reliable kitchens.
About two hours up to the monastery, and the classic half-day walk from town.
Ethiopia’s third-highest peak at around 4,280 m, with gelada and, rarely, Ethiopian wolf.
The best tej in town, served in a berele, with azmari music and dancing from about eight.
A straightforward bar and kitchen near Tukul Village, and a reliable late drink.
Ethiopian Christmas, and the biggest night of the year here. Pilgrims in white fill the trenches for an all-night vigil.
Epiphany. The tabot is carried out under cover for a dawn blessing, and the crowd is soaked in the blessed water.
The 55-day Lenten fast. Every kitchen cooks vegan by default, which is when beyaynetu is at its best.
Ethiopian Easter, broken after a midnight service. It follows the Orthodox calendar, so confirm the date for your year.
Bete Giyorgis draws its own congregation for the saint the church is cut for. Chanting from before dawn.
Known as Shadey in Lasta. Girls in embroidered dresses sing through the streets to close the Filseta fast.
The Ethiopian new year, at the end of the long rains, when the highlands are green and yellow with meskel daisies.
The finding of the True Cross, marked by a procession and the lighting of the demera bonfire at dusk.
The practical way in. Ethiopian Airlines flies from Addis Ababa in about an hour, and the terminal sits some 23 km southwest of town, a 30 to 45 minute drive.
Almost every hotel meets the flight, shared or private, with the fare agreed before you set off. There is no scheduled bus between the airport and the town.
Three-wheelers work the main road and the hill up to the churches. Fares are negotiated before you get in, and the climb back from the market is the one worth paying for.
Yemrehanna Kristos, Genete Maryam and the Bilbila churches are all rough unpaved approaches, so the outlying churches mean a vehicle for the day rather than a taxi.
The fasting platter: a wheel of pulses and vegetables on injera. Wednesdays, Fridays and all of Lent.
Chicken cooked down in berbere and spiced butter until the sauce runs nearly black, with a boiled egg.
Milled chickpeas cooked with berbere and onion, served bubbling in the clay dish it was made in.
Cubes of lamb or goat seared hard with onion, garlic and chilli, often still sizzling at the table.
Sourdough flatbread of fermented teff. It is the plate, the cutlery and the base of the meal at once.
Barley porridge with a well of spiced butter in the middle. A highland breakfast that holds all morning.
Yesterday’s injera torn up and fried back through berbere and onion. Nothing here goes to waste.
Honey wine fermented with gesho and poured from a round-bottomed berele. Ask for the dry one.
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