The Lalibela Cross is a large, elaborately decorated processional cross variation of the Ethiopian cross, considered one of Ethiopia's most precious religious and historical heirlooms. It is held by the Bet Medhane Alem, the House of the Redeemer of the World, a 12th-century rock-cut church in Lalibela. A priest may rub believers with the cross to bless them or heal them. The style of the cross was common in its time and those of this style are often simply referred to today as "Lalibela crosses".