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Related: About this forumHeritage Project Announced for Religious Ethiopian Site
Rock-Hewn Churches, Lalibela. Image Credit: Traveling Heart Project
By Jemilla Russell-Clough
Published on 08 April 2013
The Ethiopian Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ARCCH) has announced a new heritage project for a region of northern Ethiopia in an attempt to preserve a sacred pilgrimage site.
The project will aim to preserve the structures of 11 monolithic World-Heritage listed churches built in the 12th and 13th centuries by King Lalibela. The region has become an important pilgrimage destination for locals and tourists. The region of Lalibela is deeply connected to Ethiopian Christianity and the 11 churches sit near a traditional village in the heart of Ethiopia. The building of the churches were credited to King Lalibela after he set out to construct a New Jerusalem in the 12th Century after Christian pilgrimages were prevented from making their way to the Holy Land.
The churches are situated 150 kilometres east of Lake Tana, Ethiopia and the preservation project will see their structural integrity reinforced and improved architectural detail on the windows and doors. The finished site will include four free standing churches and seven churches embedded into rock. The site will also be home to the Medhane Alem, the worlds largest rock-hewn church building. It contains 72 pillars and is partially underground. There are a number of narrow causeways, steps, passages and tunnels running between the various religious buildings.
This preservation project follows past attempts at protecting the site by the European Commission. In 2008, large metal shelters were erected for the protection of five of the most degraded buildings, to prevent further damage from weather changes and tourism. The churches were not constructed in a traditional way, instead being hewn from monolithic blocks of rock. The blocks were chiseled out to include columns, doors, windows, floors and roofs. The original finished churches also included systems of drainage ditches and ceremonial passages, some of which lead to caves, catacombs and trenches.
http://designbuildsource.com.au/heritage-project-announced-for-religious-ethiopian-site
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Heritage Project Announced for Religious Ethiopian Site (Original Post)
rug
Apr 2013
OP
pinto
(106,886 posts)1. Interesting project... "hewn from monolithic blocks of rock"
I hope they are able to preserve them. Thanks for the find.
rug
(82,333 posts)2. It reminds me of Petra.
backscatter712
(26,355 posts)3. I'm gonna have to watch Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade again!
rug
(82,333 posts)4. This can tide you over.
Amazing place.
On edit, there's a video on Lalibela too.