Biete Meskel — the House of the Cross — is the smallest of the eleven Lalibela churches, a petite cave chapel carved into the rock adjacent to Biete Maryam in the northern group. It shares a courtyard with its larger neighbours and is easily missed amid the grander structures around it, but it rewards a closer look: the carved relief decoration above the doorway and along the facade is delicate and precise, showing a refinement that suggests it was a prestige project despite its small scale.
The interior is intimate and low-ceilinged, with painted decoration on the walls including depictions of the True Cross and Ethiopian saints. Priests use the church for daily prayer, and its small size gives services here a particular intensity. Biete Meskel is also notable for the connection its name draws to the Meskel festival — the Ethiopian celebration of the Finding of the True Cross — which is one of the major annual celebrations at Lalibela.