More Lalibela churches

Lalibela had been exiled to Jerusalem for about 12 years. When he returned, his older brother abdicated to him, and he moved from Axum to found his capital here. I'm told he came back with the mission to create a new Jerusalem in Ethiopia.
In the 1st picture I'm standing under the Tomb of Adam. Next door is the house of Uriel. The 2nd picture is of the largest of the rock hewn churches. The upper windows are Ahksumite in design, with the specific shape brought from there by Lalibela. The 3rd picture is the passage to the St. Michael and Golgatha churches which are to the right. Another post is a brief recording of Ethiopian Orthodox chanting taking place in this church.
Several tombs for the royal family are excavated into the sides of the rock exposed during construction. That is the 4th picture.
The 5th picture is another of the churches. Note the influence from the Indian subcontinent in the design of the lower windows. Lalibela seems to have been influenced by several cultures that can be seen on n the design. One I haven't yet mentioned and you can see here and there, especially in some of the windows is the Arabic influence.
The 6th picture is one of several baptismal pools. All of these that I saw are located outside the churches.
The rest of the pictures are more examples of the extensive interior decoration in the churches. Given that these all date to the 12th century, it follows that artwork like this helps in teaching a preliterate population.Lue lisää