Ethiopian tradition attributes the church to King Gebre Mesqel Lalibela of the Zagwe dynasty, and the article says it is thought to have been built during his reign. It dates it to the late 12th or early 13th century and calls it among the last of Lalibela's eleven rock-hewn churches.
The church is monolithic, carved downward from volcanic tuff, in the shape of a cross. It cannot be seen from above. Visitors reach it through a narrow man-made canyon that spirals down and becomes a tunnel near the church. The article gives a trench of 82 by 82 by 98 feet (25 by 25 by 30 m), but attributes it to the River Jordan, not the church, and gives no height for the church.
The interior holds a simple shrine to Saint George and a curtained area, visible only to priests, said to hold a replica of the Ark of the Covenant. UNESCO listed the Lalibela churches in 1978.
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