Timkat
Timkat is three days celebration, which is held by all the people. It reminds the people of John the Baptist's blessing of Christ in the River Jordan.
Ethiopia is a very religious country. More than 80% people are orthodox Christians. All religious traditions are very living. One of the most important orthodox holidays is Timkat. It’s a three days celebration, which is held by all the people. It reminds the people of John the Baptist’s blessing of Christ in the River Jordan. The course differs from one place to another. We spent the Timkat in Lalibela, a small village inside the mountains, a long away from civilization. In the 13 century, a number of rock-hewn monasteries were build by king Lalibela who ruled here for almost a century. There are two main groups of churches, the western and the northern group.
The churches are monolithic, carved from a mass of red volcanic scoria connected by a maze of tunnels and passages with openings to hermit caves and catacombs. In the Bet Golgotha church is king Lalibela’s tomb. This church is unfortunately closed to women. Inside, the churches are simple fancy. In some of them, there are colorful frescos. Almost all churches are now sheltered by basic roof, because of erosion. The only unsheltered one is the St. Georges church.