File:Church of Bet Medhane Alem (House of the Redeemer of the World), Lalibela, Ethiopia (3197206589).jpg

The first thing a visitor to Lalibela's famed rock-hewn churches notices is the profusion of scaffolding, in various stages of assembly and disassembly, that surrounds many of the venerable buildings. Oh, and the sheet-metal roofs hovering over the structures on tall metal supports.

I haven't been able to obtain a clear understanding of The Plan for preserving and restoring Lalibela's churches which, being carved out of soft volcanic rock, are as subject to erosion from the elements as, well, soft volcanic rock.

The best information I found was on UNESCO's Web site, which says:

"UNESCO and the European Community have organized an international competition to built temporary shelters to protect the monuments from the rains. As soon as it is technically possible, the sites will be restored."

whc.unesco.org/en/activities/160/

Based on that tidbit, I'd have to say the scaffolding you see is being used to erect the temporary shelters referred to above.

Well, I'd rather have seen the churches at Lalibela with their scaffolding than have missed them altogether. At least something is being done to protect these marvelous ancient edifices.

Who knows - maybe someday I'll have the time and patience to remove the scaffolding from this image with PhotoShop. After all, I deleted a non-Ethiopian visitor from the center of this photo, and you'd never know he'd been there, captured in mid-stride walking toward the camera!

According to the Website "King Lalibela,"

"Bet Medhane Alem is the largest monolithic rock-hewn church in the world, measuring 11.5m [37' 8"] in height and covering an area of almost 800m2 [8,610 square feet]."

"A plain building, held up by 36 pillars on the inside and another 36 around the outside, Bet Medhane Alem has a classical dignity reminiscent of an Ancient Greek temple, a resemblance that has led some experts to imagine it was modeled on the original St Mary Zion Church built by King Ezana at Axum."

"The interior of the church is also plain, and its huge size creates a cathedral-like austerity. Graves have been carved into the rock floor; they are no longer permanently occupied, Bet Medhane Alem has a wide courtyard whose walls are pockmarked with niches that originally served as graves or hermits’ caves."

"Approaching the most eastern church of this group, Bet Medhane Alem, you first catch a sight of the roof, decorated with relief crosses connected by blind arcades, and the upper part of the solemn colonnade surrounding the church: The roof demonstrates traces of the plaster remains of the restoration efforts of the early 1930’s."

"The tuff, from which the church is carved, blazes a typical deep pink color in striking harmony to the brownish-yellow earth and green-leaved trees of the landscape."

"It is a dignified structure, standing on its platform with its pitched roof and surrounding external columns, somewhat reminiscent of ancient Greek temple architecture."