Lalibela’s 11 monolithic churches date to the 12th–13th centuries under King Lalibela

March 22, 2026EthiopiaGeneralShare

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Key facts

• UNESCO identifies the site as 11 medieval monolithic churches forming a 13th-century “New Jerusalem”; the complex is more broadly dated to the late 12th and early 13th centuries, during King Lalibela’s reign.
• King Lalibela commissioned the churches as a symbolic New Jerusalem in Ethiopia.
• The churches were excavated from volcanic bedrock. UNESCO describes them as monolithic, although some remain connected to the surrounding rock.
• Each is a complete, independent church with carved pillars, roofs or ceilings, doorways and chambers; not all are properly cathedrals.
• Ethiopian oral tradition says angels helped with the work and gives the construction period as 23 years, not 24.
• Tunnels, trenches and underground passages link parts of the church groups; “labyrinths” overstates them.
• A local tradition claims the Lalibela churches were intended to house the Ark of the Covenant.
• The volcanic tuff was workable when freshly exposed and later hardened, rather than simply being hard and unworkable.
• French-led 20th-century conservation work added exterior supports or pillars to some structures.
• The Church of St George has a Greek-cross plan.

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