File:A Rock Face Transformed (3330207410).jpg

It was fascinating to stand far back from the Church of Bet Abba Libanos and see how the raw cliff face metamorphoses into the façade of a simple yet elegant church.

The zone where the cliff transitions into the top tier of windows is especially fascinating because the dividing line between the living rock and the man-made surfaces isn't solid or uniform. It's almost as if molten rock had solidified unevenly there when the earth brought forth the church from its own substance.

Of all the images I brought back from Lalibela, this one best captures the notion of a "rock-hewn" church.

The bottom third of the frame depicts a sun-dappled stone berm covered with grasses. I had to position myself behind the berm to capture the fascinating juxtaposition of the cliff and the church that appears to descend from it.

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In his Bradt Guide Ethiopia (November 2005, 4th Ed.), Phillip Briggs writes:

"According to the legends, Bet Abba Libanos was built overnight by Lalibela's wife Meskel Kebre, assisted by a group of angels."

"The church has been built around [sic] a cave in a vertical face, and although the roof is still connected to the original rock, the sides and back are separated from the rock by narrow tunnels."