Lalibela

In the mountains of Lasta stands Lalibela, a holy place of Ethiopian Christianity renowned for its churches carved from living rock. Traditionally known as Roha, the town is associated with the Zagwe king Lalibela and the vision of a New Jerusalem. Eleven medieval churches, cut down into the stone and connected by trenches and passages, form an extraordinary place of worship and pilgrimage.

In the fifteenth century the town appeared as Lalabeda on Fra Mauro's map. The Portuguese priest Francisco Álvares visited twice during an embassy to Ethiopia in the 1520s and marveled at the churches, fearing that readers would scarcely believe his description. Plans of several churches accompanied a later printing of his account. During Ahmad al-Ghazi's invasion, the surrounding district was devastated in 1531, but the rock-hewn sanctuaries endured as a centre of prayer.