Priest Mekonnen Fatne stood among his Ethiopian Orthodox faithful, looking upon a nine-centuries-old church that they feared could be wrecked at any minute.
Over the church loomed a massive tarpaulin screen supported by a lattice of metal, one of four shelters erected to protect the town of Lalibela’s historic churches, but which residents worry — despite experts’ assurances — could obliterate them.
“If this were to collapse, do you think there would be any piece of the church left?” the priest said, gesturing to the thick metal rods plunging into the red earth around Bete Maryam Church.
Photo: AFP
French President Emmanuel Macron was set to arrive in Ethiopia yesterday afternoon as the country grapples with the aftermath of an airplane crash close to capital Addis Ababa.
Macron and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed are scheduled to travel to Lalibela later this week, for a visit that locals hope would result in a plan, funding and expertise for the complex’s renewal.
Designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1978, the Lalibela churches are unique. They are carved from rock and sit below ground level, surrounded by deep, dry moats, with only their roofs visible. The courtyards surrounding these extraordinary places of worship are reachable only by staircases and tunnels.
Preservationists say that the shelters erected in 2008 to keep rain off the churches pose no threat, but that the structures have nonetheless become a symbol of the neglect that Lalibela residents say they — and the complex — endure.
“We are here because of the heritage,” complex deacon Yitibarek Getu said. “If there’s no heritage, imagine what will happen?”
Lalibela takes its name from King Gebre Mesqel Lalibela, a 13th-century leader whom local lore says built 11 churches with the help of angels after God ordered him to build a “New Jerusalem.”
Located 680km north of Addis Ababa, Lalibela is a popular destination for foreign tourists and followers of the Ethiopian Orthodox faith — the country’s largest religion.
The rock-hewn churches stand up to 15m tall, replete with ornate designs and windows carved in the shape of crosses, but their rock composition leaves them vulnerable to erosion from the intense downpours of Ethiopia’s rainy season.
The Italian-built shelters that protect some of the churches have earned the ire of residents who claim that they are ugly and could collapse in strong wind.
Priests and worshipers at the complex complain that the shelters’ heavy support pillars have damaged the underground Trinity Chapel, its roof cracking under the weight of the support pylon.
Last year, Lalibela residents sporting shirts that read: “Save Lalibela,” staged a protest over the churches’ condition, Negash said.
Hailu Zeleke Woldetsadik, the director of cultural heritage conservation at Ethiopia’s Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage, insisted there was no cause for alarm.
He denied any damage had been done to the Trinity Chapel, and said that the shelters were designed to stand safely beyond their 10-year warranty.
“There is no imminent danger,” he said, adding that the structures were designed to sway in heavy winds, rather than strain to the breaking point.
Kidanemariam Woldegiorgis, an archaeologist who grew up in Lalibela, blamed the controversy on a lack of consultation with town residents, which stoked suspicion.
“It’s not clear. It’s not transparent what they are doing,” he said.
Abiy and Macron are to sign an agreement for the temporary shelters’ maintenance and the hiring of scientists to look into permanently restoring damaged churches, Hailu said.
This could pave the way for the shelters’ replacement with lighter structures, possibly ones that can open and close depending on the weather, while repairs are done.
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