At Lalibela, eleven monolithic churches were carved downward and inward out of the solid volcanic bedrock, cut from the top so that each building, including its roof, windows, columns and interior, is a single excavated mass rather than an assembled structure. The complex is linked by a system of trenches, tunnels and drainage channels conceived as a symbolic 'New Jerusalem', with a watercourse named the Jordan. The work was sponsored by the Zagwe dynasty as a pilgrimage centre. The churches remain in continuous religious use.
Rock-hewn architecture is a distinct subtractive method of monumental building, and Lalibela shows an African capital planned as a single sacred landscape carved into living stone.