Biete Maryam (Bêta Mâryâm, "The House of Mary" or Saint Mary) is an Ethiopian Orthodox church located in Lalibela, Amhara, Ethiopia.
Monolithic in type, imposing in size (15.6 m by 9.2 m by 9 m) high, its exterior is quite simple despite the diversity of its windows and its three characteristic entrance porches. The porch of the main facade to the west is more developed than the other two and decorated with bas-reliefs.
This main door is surmounted by two sculpted horsemen slaying a dragon, an exceptional bas-relief due to the rarity of animated sculptures in Ethiopian shrines, as elsewhere, throughout the Christian East.
The interior in the shape of a Latin cross (basilica plan) is richly adorned from floor to ceiling with painted bas-reliefs and frescoes. These decorative paintings represent various geometric motifs (Greek crosses, swastikas, stars, rosettes) or animals (doves, phoenixes, peacocks, zebus, camels, as well as scenes from the life of Christ and Mary taken from the Gospels. These paintings date back to the reign of King Zara Yaqob.
The ceiling is supported by twelve pillars, one of which, located in the center, symbolically represents Jacob's ladder. This particular pillar is engraved on its four sides with symbols and texts in Ge'ez, Hebrew and Arabic. Under the two-pitched roof, on the last of its three floors, seven rooms contain the oldest treasures of the church. Only priests are authorized to access it to take out the ornaments during festivals and religious ceremonies.
The pillar representing Jacob's ladder
Source: Bete Maryam - Wikipédia