Lalibela: the rock-hewn churches of Ethiopia's highlands

It’s 5:45 a.m. at Bete Giyorgis — the Church of Saint George, the most photographed of the eleven rock-hewn churches of Lalibela — and a chanted Ge’ez liturgy is rising up out of the cross-shaped pit in the ground. The church is below me; from this vantage on the rim of the excavation, I am looking down at its cruciform roof. Priests in white robes are walking the surrounding processional galleries. The morning fog is just lifting off the highland. The temperature is, agreeably, about 11 degrees. This is the Lalibela morning.

Why I keep coming back

Lalibela is the second-most important pilgrimage site in Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity (after Aksum) and one of the most extraordinary architectural achievements anywhere. King Lalibela of the Zagwe dynasty, in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, commissioned the carving of eleven monolithic churches out of the volcanic tuff bedrock. The technique: dig a deep rectangular trench, then chisel the inner block down into a freestanding church, hollow out the interior, and excavate connecting tunnels. The result is a complex of below-ground basilicas, accessible by stepped passages, that has been in continuous liturgical use for eight centuries.

Ethiopia is also the only African nation that was never colonised (except for the brief Italian occupation of 1936–41), and the country’s Christian tradition is one of the oldest in the world — Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity dates to the 4th century AD.

Where to base yourself

Lalibela town itself — small, walkable, the churches a 5–10 minute walk from most accommodations.

Mountain View Hotel, Maribela Hotel, or Tukul Village for the mid-range options.

Mezena Lodge, Sora Lodge, or Hotel Mountain View for the upper-end options with the highland-valley views.

What to actually do

Visit the churches with a licensed guide. Two clusters — the northern group (Bete Medhane Alem, the largest; Bete Maryam; the smaller chapels) and the southern group — plus the standalone Bete Giyorgis. A guide is essential; the iconography, the priest culture, the underground tunnels between churches are not legible without one. About 1500 birr for a full-day guide.

Witness an early-morning service. The churches open at dawn for liturgy; visitors can stand respectfully at the entry. Dress modestly; shoes off.

Attend a festival if you can plan it. Ethiopian Christmas (Genna) on January 7 and Epiphany (Timkat) on January 19 are the major festivals; tens of thousands of pilgrims descend. The country’s January feast schedule offsets from the Gregorian by 7–13 days because the Ethiopian calendar is its own thing.

Trek to Asheton Maryam. A monastery on a cliffside above the town, an hour or two’s hike up. The view of the surrounding highland and the church itself, embedded in the rock face, are worth the climb.

Walk through the village. Lalibela town is small, traditionally constructed of round stone tukul houses with thatched roofs; agricultural, mostly subsistence; the texture of rural highland Ethiopia.

Eat a traditional injera meal. Injera — a large sourdough flatbread of teff grain — is the bottom-of-the-plate base for all Ethiopian meals; you tear pieces and use them to scoop the various wat (stew) dishes. The vegetarian Wednesday and Friday fasting meals (yetsom beyaynetu) are particularly good.

Where to eat

Food options in Lalibela are limited but the local Ethiopian cooking is excellent.

Ben Abeba — A distinctive multi-level architectural restaurant on a hillside; Scottish-Ethiopian fusion; the building itself is the show. Mountain View Hotel restaurant — Reliable mid-range; the kifto (Ethiopian raw beef tartare, like steak tartare with chili butter) is a specialty. Hotel Tukul Village restaurant — Ethiopian fasting meals (vegetarian) particularly good. Local injera houses in the town — small, cheap, the proper Ethiopian eating experience. Ask your guide. Coffee ceremony: every guesthouse will offer the full three-rounds coffee ceremony at some point during your stay; sit, drink the coffee, smell the frankincense; it’s a particular Ethiopian ritual.

When to come

October through March is the dry season — the highland is clear, the temperatures pleasant.

January 7 (Genna) and January 19 (Timkat) are the religious festivals; accommodation books a year ahead.

April through September is the rainy season; less reliable for travel.

Practical notes

• Visa: Ethiopian e-visa is the standard route for most Western passports.
• Money: Ethiopian birr; ATMs reliable in Lalibela; cash mostly.
• Getting there: Domestic flight from Addis Ababa (the only practical route). Ethiopian Airlines has multiple daily flights.
• Altitude: Lalibela is at 2500 m. Some travellers feel the altitude on arrival; take it slow on day one.
• Dress code at churches: Shoulders and knees covered; shoes off when entering.
• Tipping at the churches: The priests sometimes display the church’s most sacred crosses (a small per-display tip is appropriate); the singers (debteras) and the candle-bearers similarly.
• The 2020–2022 conflict in northern Ethiopia affected the Tigray region significantly. Lalibela is in the Amhara region; check current safety and access advisories before booking.

A final thought

Lalibela is one of the most extraordinary architectural and liturgical sites I have visited and one of the least promoted in the standard travel-magazine canon. The combination of the medieval rock-cut architecture, the continuous Ethiopian Orthodox liturgical use, and the highland setting at 2500 m makes the place genuinely without analogue.

The pilgrimage character of the site is not performed for visitors. The priests are doing what they have been doing for 800 years. The pilgrims walking on the surrounding hills, in white shamma cloths, are doing what their grandparents did. Visitors are tolerated but not catered to.

Go for three or four nights. Hire a licensed guide. Witness an early-morning service from a respectful distance. Trek to Asheton Maryam. Eat injera with the right hand. Sit for the coffee ceremony. The country is old. The churches are older. The highland air is thin and clear, and it has been clearing those churches’ chants for centuries.