Photos
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Profile Pictures 11 photos |
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Photos of Me 30 photos |
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Lalibela's Rock-Hewn Churches (Part II - July, 2008) Bete Giyorgis is known to be the most finely executed and best preserved church as it was the last of the 13 monolothic churches built at Lalibela. The roof contained a unique rain run-off system of trenches that were constructed in the shape of an embossed cross with a midly slopeing face. The churches are even more significant an engineering feat, given that they are all associated with water (which fills the wells next to many of the churches) exploiting an artesian geological system that brings the water up to the top of the mountain ridge on which the city rests. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_St._George,_Lalibela My Lalibela Travelogue (Vagabum.com): http://www.vagabum.com/blogs/archives/203 60 photos |
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Lalibela's Rock-Hewn Churches (Part I - July, 2008) Visiting Lalibela has been a dream for meever since I first saw the spectacular Bete Giyorgis rock-hewn monastery on The Amazing Race four or five seasons back. Of the 100 or so top UNESCO World Heritage sites I have visited, Lalibela is definitely in my Top 5 Most Favorite (only after Abu Simbel, Petra, and Tikal). Lalibela is a town in northern Ethiopia and one of Ethiopia's holiest cities, second only to Aksum. The town is a center of pilgrimage for much of the country. Lalibela was intended to be a New Jerusalem in response to the capture of Jerusalem by Muslims, and many of its historic buildings take their name and layout from buildings in Jerusalem. The town and the UNESCO World Heritage site comprised of the 13 spectacular rock-hewn monasteries have been given the name Lalibela after the 13th Century King who built them - Saint Gebre Mesqel Lalibela. The majority of the 13 rock-hewn monasteries are monolithic meaning they are entirely freed from the surrounding rock and carved from the top on down and into the inside in one massive and intricate single piece of stone. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lalibela My Lalibela Travelogue (Vagabum.com): http://www.vagabum.com/blogs/archives/203 60 photos |
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Aksum & the Lost Ark, Ethiopia (July, 2008) Aksum (aka Axum) was once the capitol of the Ethiopian Axumite Kingdom. The Kingdom of Aksum had its own written language called Ge’ez, and also developed a distinctive architecture exemplified by giant stelae, the oldest of which date from 5,000-2,000 BC. This kingdom was at its height under King Ezana in the 4th Century AD - which was also when it officially embraced Christianity. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church claims that the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Aksum houses the Biblical Ark of the Covenant in which lies the Tablets of Law upon which the Ten Commandments are inscribed. This church was also the site where all Ethiopian Emperors were crowned for centuries until the end of the Empire in the 20th Century with Hali Selassie’s crowning. Aksum is considered to be the holiest city in Ethiopia and is an important destination of pilgrimages. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aksum My Aksum Travelogue (Vagabum.com): http://www.vagabum.com/blogs/archives/200 54 photos |
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Gonder, Ethiopia (July, 2008) Gonder was the 17th Century capitol of the Ethiopian Empire and it is famous for its medieval castle ruins (an unexpected sight to see in Africa). One has to wonder if Gonder in name at least was a partial inspiration for Tolkien's Gondor in The Lord of the Rings. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonder My Gonder Travelogue (Vagabum.com): http://www.vagabum.com/blogs/archives/197 60 photos |
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Bahir Dar & Lake Tana, Ethiopia (July, 2008) I had to get my archaeology fix on my trip so three weeks in Ethiopia was just the ticket and Bahir Dar was my first stop out of Addis Ababa (the capitol). Bahir Dar is famous for Lake Tana (the source of the Nile) and for a dozen or so ancient Ethiopian Orthodox monasteries that reside upon islands on the lake, including one that is clamed by Ethiopian religous lore to have been a holding point for the Lost Ark of the Covenant as it made its was from Jerusalem upriver along the Nile. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Tana My Lake Tana, Ethiopia Travelogue (Vagabum.com): http://www.vagabum.com/blogs/archives/195 28 photos |
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Gede Ruins (July, 2008) I often seek out interesting archaeological sites and since I had missed an opportunity to visit Great Zimbabwe due to the unrest in that country I jumped at a chance to visit these 15th Century ruins of a Swahili palace. While not as massive a the Mayan and Egyptian ruins I have visited the setting was lovely and the arab-influenced architecture made me glad I had visited there. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruins_of_Gedi My Kenya Travelogue (Vagabum.com): http://www.vagabum.com/blogs/archives/193 27 photos |
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