LALIBELA

Lalibela («Les abeilles reconnaissent sa souveraineté»), empereur et saint.

À la fin du 12e siècle, le pouvoir était entre les mains d’un empereur Zagoué, appelé Gadla Lalibela, contemporain de Frédéric Barberousse et de Saladin, qui transféra la capitale de son royaume au sud, au coeur des hauts plateaux, à Roha, ancien nom d’Edesse (Syrie). Roha reçut ensuite le nom de Lalibela pour honorer son fondateur. Dans le but d’asseoir la légitimité de leur pouvoir et afin d’être considérés comme des héritiers légitimes d’Axoum, les Zagoué tentèrent de créer à Roha non seulement une nouvelle Axoum, mais aussi une nouvelle Jérusalem.

Remerciements : Éthiopie, Guides Olizane, Marc Aubert, Luigi Cantamessa, Genève, 2000 (www.olizane.ch)

Labilela is a complex of churches in mountainous northern Ethiopia (at 4,200 metres) that
was built in the 12th century by the emperor and saint known as Lalibela (meaning the bees
respect his sovereignty) ... built to rival Jerusalem.

They are astounding for several reasons. First, the ambition of the builders was no less than to rival Jerusalem – a place that Christian pilgrims were intimidated about visiting during the tumult of the Crusades; Saladin had occupied the city in 1187.

Second, the stone churches were not built up, but rather the builders dug down over a century to chisel entire buildings out of the ground itself. The stone church ensemble stretches over several hectares, including deeply secluded rocky passageways and tunnels, and also underground churches at the edge of broad valleys that offer great views.

The site requires some out-of-the-way travel, usually by plane, but enough adventurous visitors make it here that warning signs have been chiselled on the wall in English, French and German notifying tourists of the sacred nature of the site they are visiting. (Others are put off by the steep entry charge and do not enter at all.)