Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Bamboo shelters proposed to refurbish Lalibela churches

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Lalibela projects led by Agence Française de Développement /AFD/ propose bamboo made shelters for the Lalibela rock-hewn churches to replace the old metal shelters set by UNESCO.
The eleven rock-hewn churches in Lalibela, which has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1978 have existed for almost a millennium. The United Nations, Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization /UNESCO/ lead an effort in 2008 with help from the European Union to launch the project and built the industrial shelters which covered and protected several of the churches at risk.
Despite four protective shelters being erected over five of the rock-hewn churches with the aim to protect them from weathering, in particular water infiltration from the roofs; this project, have encountered several problems with its design and construction, and has caused controversy among the local community. Similarly, questions about the success of the project have been raised from time to time.
“Defining a sustainable solution for the protection of a World heritage site such as Lalibela required a very deep multi-disciplinary feasibility study. The results of the diagnosis showed the necessity to cover not only the churches but also the courtyards. Thus, it is necessary to remove the metal shelter,” said Feven Tewolde, Lalibela Project Manager, adding that a canopy option was selected as most conducive.
According to the project’s feasibility study, this option consists covering the churches and their courtyards with continuous structure resembling a light organic bamboo covered with waterproof membrane or canvas.
“Given the ownership of the project to the local community both construction and maintenance of the project will involve local resource and labor,” said Feven.
As Feven elaborates, although three alternative shelters have been proposed, UNESCO has been informed of this possibility on its 44th annual meeting held in July 2021, to which the organization has given its agreements in principle while requesting a detailed architectural design with heritage impact assessments, environmental and social impacts assessments including the final design.
Currently, the project is working to hire a company to do these various assessments, and is expecting to present the results on the 2023 UNESCO annual meeting. The conservation work is expected to start after the approval of UNESCO.
Initially presented as temporary, the metal shelters which have been a matter of concern to the World Heritage Committee since the project’s introduction in 2006, now represent a challenging issue affecting the churches and community of Lalibela.
Many residents and religious leaders of Lalibela town have complained repeatedly that the metal rods are causing immense damage to the ancient world heritage sites.
In 2018 UNESCO has also sent its advisory mission to Lalibela and stressed the necessity to remove the shelters after the necessary conservation works to the churches are carried out
In 2019, Ethiopia, under the initiative of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, requested support from the French authorities in the management of Ethiopian national heritage, and especially on the site of the churches in Lalibela, to which the French rose to the call.
President Emmanuel Macron of France in his first official trip to Ethiopia on March 2019 met Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Lalibela, and expressed support for PM Abiy’s ambitious reforms and diplomatic peace efforts during the Prime Minister’s Paris visit last October. To this end, the French president promised France would help Ethiopia restore the UNESCO registered heritages of Lalibela churches. A bilateral project aiming to conserve, restore and enhance the touristic experience was born.
The first stage of the project was the performance of a feasibility study which was set to define the most appropriate solution for the long-term conservation of the churches. This also include the restoration of the cracks and damages and to that end a training will be given to local craftsmen and Ethiopian heritage specialists, so that the country will be in the capacity to continue restoring alone the site. The project also incorporates urgent restoration and exhibition activities. The exhibition was set to first be presented in the Lalibela cultural center and then moved to Addis Ababa before finally becoming a traveling international exhibition.
Cut directly from the volcanic rock of the area, the churches have attracted foreign attention. Recently, new attention is being given to the churches in an attempt to save them from deterioration that threatens both the structural integrity of the buildings and the priceless artwork inside.

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