Lalibela ascends in Ethiopia
1197
The Zagwe king Gebre Meskel Lalibela took the throne and began rebuilding his mountain capital as a New Jerusalem, commissioning a dozen churches carved downward out of the living basalt bedrock. Several took decades to complete and still stand, carved from a single stone each. The rock-hewn churches of Lalibela remain active sites of Ethiopian Orthodox worship and one of the most extraordinary architectural achievements on the African continent.
In context
Also in 1197 (3 other events on record)
- Jayavarman VII builds the Bayon · Southeast Asia · Culture
- Death of Henry VI · Europe · Politics
- German crusade to the Holy Land · Middle East · War
Before and after in Africa
- Before: 1196: Ibn Rushd dismissed and exiled
- After: 1198: Death of Averroes
Before and after in Religion
Era
High Middle Ages (1000–1300), one of 1,306 events from that era on Saeculum.