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EveryParampara

Traditions of Lalibela

A mountain town of rock-cut churches, where pilgrims gather at Genna and Timkat in white shawls.

Lalibela is a town in the highlands of northern Ethiopia, where eleven medieval churches were cut down into the rock in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. They are still used for daily worship, with priests in robes carrying crosses and chanting from old books. Pilgrims arrive by foot from the surrounding region.

Lalibela: Bete Giyorgis (Church of St. George), Lalibela, Ethiopia
Photo: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Genna and Timkat

Ethiopian Orthodox Christmas, Genna, is celebrated on 7 January, with white-robed pilgrims attending a night service in the rock churches. Timkat, the Epiphany on 19 January, brings the tabot, a replica of the Ark of the Covenant, in procession to water, where people bless themselves. Priests chant with sistra and prayer sticks.

At the table

Injera, a large sour pancake of teff, is the base of every meal, with spicy stews, wot, and lentils. During the long fasts, a table is made entirely of vegetables. Coffee is prepared in a ceremony: roasted, ground, brewed in a clay pot, jebena, and poured three times. Tej, honey wine, is the drink of celebration.

Signature traditions of Lalibela

TimkatThe Ethiopian Epiphany.

Also part of it, and being written: Genna (The Ethiopian Christmas.), Rock-Hewn Churches, Lalibela (The rock-cut churches.), Coffee ceremony (The coffee ritual.), Injera (The sour flatbread.).

A trail idea for Lalibela

  1. Bete Giyorgis The church in the shape of a cross.
  2. Bete Medhane Alem The largest rock-hewn church.
  3. Asheton Maryam Monastery A mountain walk.
About this page

Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Opening hours, markets and festival dates change; check locally before travelling. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

KindSpiritualFestivalRite of passageTable customSeasonalDressPerformanceEtiquetteCraftGameFolkloreHomeCeremony
MealBreakfastLunchDinnerSupperTea-time and snacking customsTea, coffee and drinking ceremoniesSweets given and sharedFeasts and festival mealsFasting and breaking the fast
🇪🇹 Lalibela, Ethiopia and 1 moreTimkatጥምቀት The Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Epiphany celebrating the baptism of JesusSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals 🇪🇹 Lalibela, Ethiopia and 1 moreEthiopian Christmasገና The Christian Nativity feast, marked by night vigils, white garments and field hockeySpiritual

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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