Residents report gunfire in Ethiopian holy city, but government says all peaceful
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia/Nairobi, Kenya Reuters Fighting broke out on Wednesday between the army and a regional militia in Ethiopia’s medieval holy city of Lalibela, a World Heritage site, four residents told Reuters, but the government said the area was peaceful. Fano, a part-time militia in the northern Amhara region which has no formal command structure, […]
Clashes in Ethiopia’s Amhara region raise concern for historic churches
Nairobi, Kenya/Addis Ababa, EthiopiaReuters Fresh fighting between the Ethiopian army and a local militia in the northern Amhara region has raised concerns among residents for the safety of historic rock-hewn churches in the holy town of Lalibela. Fano militiamen over-ran Lalibela and Gondar, the second-biggest city in the Amhara region, for several days in August […]
Witnesses say Tigrayan forces in Ethiopia retook Lalibela, UN Heritage site
Addis Ababa, EthiopiaReuters Rebellious Tigrayan forces have recaptured the Ethiopian town of Lalibela, witnesses told Reuters on Sunday, less than two weeks after the military and its allies took control of it as part of a broader offensive that pushed back Tigrayan forces on multiple fronts. Lalibela is a town in the Amhara region bordering […]
Great Works: The rock-hewn churches of Lalibela
In the headlines recently over fears for their future, DAVID ADAMS takes a look at Ethiopia’s famous rock-hewn churches…
At Orthodox Easter, pandemic and war hit tourism in Lalibela, holy Ethiopian site
Lalibela, EthiopiaReuters As they have done for hundreds of years on the Orthodox Easter weekend, priests wrapped in traditional white robes read the Bible by candlelight on Saturday evening in the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela in northern Ethiopia. The ancient ritual has been a tourist draw in recent years. Ethiopian Orthodox pilgrims attend the Easter […]