My first visit to Lalibela, far and away Ethiopia's
most popular tourist destination, was neither planned nor auspicious. Flying to
Axum from Gonder, bad weather at our destination
resulted in a five-hour layover at the Lalibela aeroport while waiting and hoping
that the skies above Axum would clear enough for us to
complete our journey. Much of the waiting was done in the aeroport's second
floor restaurant, which my daughter - a conoisseur of Italian cuisine - recalls
as serving Ethiopia's
best spaghetti and tomato sauce. Also memorable was our captain holding court
with the flight crew and other hangers on at a neighbouring table for the
duration of our layover. His table weighed down with plates of shiro, tibs and
other delicacies, taking calls on his mobile phone, and enjoying a
laugh-a-minute with his entourage, the life of a pilot in Ethiopia
seems a lot more fun than anything I've seen of the harried existence of flight
crews in Canadian aeroports.
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| Lalibela aeroport |
On our subsequent - and this time planned - stay in Lalibela
we again arrived at the aeroport, only this time we skipped the restaurant and
headed straight out of the terminal where we were promptly met by the driver
from our hotel. The fact that airport transfers are almost always included in
room rates is one of my favourite features of the Ethiopian hotel sector, and
it is hard to imagine better value for money than is the case in Lalibela,
where the aeroport is located almost 30km from the town centre along a winding
mountain road. Difficult to reach as recently as the mid-1990s, Lalibela has
since become the centrepiece of Ethiopia's
"historical circuit". While the tourist influx has undoubtedly
brought a measure of prosperity to both the town and surrounding region - not
to mention home comforts for foreign visitors - tourism-led development clearly
has a downside as well. More on this later.
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| Lalibela Countryside |
Navigating the town's peripheral sprawl, we arrived at the
Lal Hotel under a light drizzle. With over 100 rooms the Lal is the town's
largest hotel and a tour group favourite. However, the rainy season and travel
warnings had clearly put a damper on bookings, and perhaps as a result the
hotel had a desolate feel to it, like a ski resort in the middle of summer. Concretely,
this meant the swimming pool had been drained, satellite TV reception cut off,
all but one of the hotel's vaunted bars and restaurants were closed and water
leaked into our room whenever it rained.
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| Biete Ghiorghis |
Of course, Lalibela is not a place you to visit for the
quality of the pool-side lounge but rather the world heritage site it is built
around. In this regard, stay at almost any hotel in town and chances are you're
a stone's throw away from one of the town's rock-hewn churches or associated
warren of canals and subterranean passages. And they are truly amazing, not
only for their outstanding workmanship and the unique history they embody, but
above all because of the enduring role they play in the religious lives of
Ethiopian Christians. Visiting Biete Golgotha Mikael on a fasting day when the
church is thronged by the faitfful, I felt halfway between the stone-carved
Nabatean temples of Petra and
Copacabana beach on New Year's Eve, when thousands of white-clad followers of
Macumba make offerings to Iemanjá, Goddess of the Water.
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| Biete Medhani Alem |
As is the case elsewhere in Ethiopia,
Lalibela's is understudied by historians and archaeologists, especially
considering the magnitude and significance of the site. While myth and
tradition has more than filled the breach in scholdarship, some features of
Lalibela's history are relatively uncontested. Notably, Lalibela's rock-hewn
church are thought to have been built in four or five stages, between the 7th
and 13th centuries. Physically, the churches form two distinct clusters: A
northern group, consisting of Biete Golgotha Mikael, Biete Mariam, Biete
Denagel, Biete Maskal and Biete Medhani
Alem, and a southern group, consisting of Biete Lehem, Biete Gabriel Rafael ,
Biete Abba Libanos, Biete Amanuel and Biete Qeddus Mercoreus. A final church,
Biete Ghiorghis, stands alone a short walk from the southern cluster, and is
undoubtedly the most recognizable of all Lalibela's churches (think St George's
Cross).
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| Worshippers' shoes left outside the sanctum |
Drawing on Axumite architectural traditions, the churches'
consistently square or rectangular shape belies many striking and unique
features, while the layout of the site - with its subterranean passages,
drainage canals and assorted caves and other dark openings - fosters a sense of
otherworldliness that is consistent with Lalibela's traditional representation
as the "New Jerusalem". In this regard, I found it striking how the
sacred and the profane mingled so seamlessly in Lalibela. On the one hand,
these are very much working churches where the faithful come in their thousands
on major feast days such as Orthodox Christmas. On the other, it a key income
earner for the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and sustains a major tourism industry
and everything good and bad that this entails.
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| Biete Golgotha Mikael |
At the time of our visit in July 2016, the entry fee for the
churches was USD50 per person and USD25 for "students", with ample
care taken at the visitor centre to ensure that tickets, which are valid for
five days, are not shared among multiple visitors. While the visitor centre
houses a quickly forgotten museum in its basement with a collection of dusty
relics and a few ancient books, those interested in learning about the history
and archaeology of Lalibela are advised to visit the Lalibela Cultural Centre
instead. Located next door to the Tukul Village Hotel, its displays are top
notch with lots of interesting context, photos and artefacts that are bound to
enrich anyone's visit to Lalibela.
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| Biete Mariam |
As for the church themselves, what can I say that has not
already been written by someone far more learned than me? Despite on again, off
again rain for the two days I spent visiting the site, the experience was
nothing short of remarkable. And especially memorable for me was the
distinctiveness of each of the churches, notwithstanding their superficial
similarities. While Biete Ghiorghis' cruciform layout has become the face of
Lalibela (if not Ethiopia) among tourism promoters, the carved statues of Biete
Golgotha Mikael or the majestic columns of Biete Medhani Alem are no less
striking in both their beauty and craftsmanship.
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| Every church has its bell |
At a more prosaic level, visitors to Lalibela will
undoubtedly encounter the usual characters who feature anywhere in Ethiopia
frequented by large numbers of foreign visitors: guides, touts and assorted
hustlers. Featuring prominently in the latter group are large numbers of
"grade 10" students keen on practising their English and acquiring a
gift-giving benefactor in the process. That being said, the hassles in Lalibela
are very mild compared with many other places around the world, and I was left
a warm impression of almost everyone I dealt with. I'm looking forward to a
return trip soon!
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| Looking towards the sanctum sanctorum |
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