We are in Ethiopia, at Lalibela, this town, located at 2600 meters above sea level, houses some of the most important and impressive architectural and historical jewels of the Sub-Saharian Africa: the churches carved into the rock.

These are 13 churches built into the rock, that was excavated to derive these works of art; legend has it that they were built by King Lalibela to build a new Jerusalem, so that the faithful did not have to face a long and expensive journey to go on a pilgrimage to the real Jerusalem.

It is said that the churches were all built during the reign of Lalibela even though there are some inconsistencies, such as the time needed to carry out works of this kind and the architectural style of some churches, that does not correspond to the hypothesized period.

This morning we woke up early enough, we are relaxed and rested, the air is chilly, it seems to be on the mountains in the Alps, and the sky is clear luckily; we feared it would rain because we are at the limit of the rainy season.

Today we have a busy day ahead and we have high expectations, we will visit the rock-hewn churches that are here in Lalibela, we have been imagining this moment for a long time and we are looking forward to it; we bring our reflexes with all the lenses, our mirrorless, the GoPro and the iPhone: we are ready for any eventuality.

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We have breakfast quickly and then we leave together with our guide; the churches are located South of the town of Lalibela in a limited area and are divided into 2 groups, one consisting of 7 churches and one of 5 churches, divided by a seasonal river called Jordan, also, not far away, rises another solitary church, the church of Saint George.

The churches are all carved into the rock but there are of two different types.

The first type are churches that were excavated in the rocky terrain, so they started from the top and, as they dug the rock, the church was built; these churches now have, all around, or on three sides, a space that allows visitors to walk to admire them.

The other typology of churches, on the other hand, was excavated in caves or cracks in the existing rock or that were formed following the excavations for the other types of churches; the result is that these churches do not have the four sides free from the rock, but often they have only one exposed side, while the rest of the church develops inside the rock; these churches recall the churches of Tigrai.

The morning is the best time to visit the churches since many tourists, who visit Lalibela during the day, have not arrived yet, also today is Sunday and therefore there will be many faithful who will go to the churches to pray and be blessed by priests.

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We will visit all the churches, we have the whole day at our disposal, so we have plenty of time to visit them calmly, take pictures, read our guide, listen to our guide's stories and, why not, talk with other visitors and stop to admire paintings and objects that these churches contain.

In addition to our guide we are also accompanied by a woman, she is also from Lalibela and accompanies visitors and helps them find the right places to go and not just because, once you get off you risk losing your orientation between narrow passages and tunnels , but also because the rock is slippery in different points and, even if it has not rained for some time, puddles and some flooding are not a rarity.

When our guide told us that she would come with us it seemed useless, but, in hindsight, we realized that it was very useful and also pleasant because she was very nice and kind; the funny thing is that we had to speak with gestures because she speaks only in Amharic, that for us is incomprehensible, but we can understand each other and laugh at this funny situation.

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Data di inserimento: 
Sunday, September 15, 2019