Bete G

iorgis/George

Among the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, Bete

Giorgis (the house of Saint George) is found South-

west of the village on a rocky ground. The temple

is cross-shaped in its entire appearance. It has a

very attractive structure than the rest of Lalibela’s

rock-hewn churches. When Lalibela had finished

constructing the churches Saint George riding on

his white horse revealed to himself Lalibela and

told him that there was no temple in his name.

Taking George’s word, Lalibela went to this rocky

field and constructed this amazing temple. So, the

priests of the church say.

The only way to this blessed place is an

underground passageway. Entering the compound

of the church one would see many small-sized

caves in the walls of the compound. The inner

parts of the caves are crammed with bones and

skeletons of humans. Both in its design and carving

there is no church which has equal quality with

Bete Giorgis. And the reason for its incredible

beauty, say the priests, was because Saint George

himself looked after the construction daily. They

even will show you the prints of the hoofs of

George’s horse on the ground. Or even tell you the

horse riding competition that had taken place

between Lalibela and Saint George…

…The church is built in the shape of a

cross. The floor, which is designed to

have a shape of the cross, has a

special carving on it. The entrance of

the churches compound is the gate

which is found to West but the

biggest entrance is found to the East.

Bete Giorgis when viewed from the

top, it appears like a huge cross

which has not any room inside. Most

of the people when they mention the

name Lalibela the first picture that

comes to their mind is Bete Giorgis.

Even those who have never been to

Wollo, Ethiopia know Bete Giorgis for

its image is used on postcards,

calendars, T-shirts and many

advertisements. Once you have seen

it both form the outside the inside

you will have no doubt that there is

quite a relationship between the

interior and exterior of this church.

Shortly put, it has taken Lalibela, with the help of Angels, 23 years to finish building all the churches. The

very reason for these churches to have been built was that people were dying on their way to Jerusalem

every year. Some run out of food, others lost their way and some were attacked by beasts, on their way to

Jerusalem. And it usually would have taken several months of tiresome travel to reach there. For these

reasons, Lalibela felt that he must build the ‘the second Jerusalem’ in Ethiopia.

Tourists of any part of the world open their mouths in amazement when they first see these incredible

churches. There are many untold beauties of these buildings. Better is for anyone to go and see and leave

the judgement for the heart.

Bete Medhanealem is to be found at your first visit to the 11 rock-hewn churches of

Lalibela. The temple is carved out of a bright, huge stone that made it very attractive

to the eyes. A lot of pillars stand supporting the entire building. But, some of them are

replaced by cement for they were broken and fallen. There are 72 pillars supporting the

building. 34 of them are from the outside while 38 of them are from the inside. Looking

at the roof from the outside, one would realise that there is some relation in the

appearance of the roof with what is called winged-roof.

The interior of the room speaks how great the care was during the construction. The

inner part of the roof is completely flat and smooth with no paintings except a few

carvings. In every room the pillars have square bases which end in cross shape at the

top. What makes them special is that they all have same width.

The windows are made of single piece of stones. They are meant to let some light come

in to the room in the form of cross. Beautiful glasses are fixed with limestone in these

spaces.

‘Afro Ayigeba’ which means ‘never been ashamed’ is the name of the cross which is

believed to have come from the sky. It was stolen but was returned soon.

BeteMedhanealem was attacked and damaged by Gragn Ahmed in the 16 century.

Bete M

edhanealem

After finishing your visit to Bete

Medhanealem, passing through a passageway

under a cave, you will see Bete Mariam,

Lalibela’s favourite temple. Bete Mariam is

surrounded by other four churches from all

sides. To the East is Bete Medhanealem, to

the west is Bete Golgotha, to the South is

Bete Denagil, and to the North is Bete

Meskel. Among all the churches there Bete

Mariam is given a special place by the priests

and monks of all times. Perhaps, it is

because this was the first of all churches

that Lalibela built when he started

constructing the churches. It is said that

Lalibela would not spent a day without

visiting this church. Even these days, among

the Orthodox Christians of Ethiopia the

church has special place. When any holyday

comes the compound gets crowded here.

All of the relics in the church have a strong

bond with Saint Mary being the true mother

of Jesus Christ. Starting from the Western

gate of the church, the floor has much

similarity with the churches of Western

world. Unusual creative works with many of

Ethiopian churches are seen on the church’s

western, northern and southern gates. A pool

which is empty is found to the eastern wall

of the church. Another pool filled with water

is believed to heal many diseases. It is a

solution specifically to those women who

cannot give birth to children. The overall

space on which the church rests on is

13x9.2x9.1 meters…

… The beginning of the earth and its doomsday is written on this pillar after Jesus Christ revealed himself to

Lalibela and told him all. And the reason for its being covered with garment is to affirm that what is given

by God cannot be handled by humans.

Pictures that describe events from the Holy Bible are painted all over the walls. Events like when Mary went

to see Elisabeth, when they exchange greetings; while Mary travels to the land of Egypt; when the

Samaritan woman tries to fetch water from the well and when that lame man walks away carrying his near-

deathbed are few among the many attractive paintings in the walls. All of them are painted during the 13th

C. when Zera’yakob was the king of Ethiopia.

…Except the roof the interior of the church is decorated

with carvings of crosses. The absolutely flat, smooth and

wooden doors have a special attraction to the eyes. Many

of the beautiful decorations from the outside are

destroyed.

Bete Mariam is a two story building with three doorways.

Each doorway has two pillars. Theses 6 supports are

examples of the 6 gospels. Each of them has 2m and 45cm

length and 36cm width. The doorways are 1m and 68cm

length and 76cm width. The inside surfaces of the doors

have much similarity with the Axumite creative works. The

stairs that lead to the upper room is built inside the holy

place. The length of which is 1m and 77cm. When you are

close enough to the inner room of the church you will find

one pillar covered with garment. This pillar is 7m and 58cm

in length and 48cm in width. The pillar was covered by the

high priest Zena of King Fasil’s time. The pillar is an

example for one religion…