Churches carved from the living rock
Lalibela, high in the mountains of northern Ethiopia, holds eleven monolithic churches carved downward into the volcanic rock in the 12th and 13th centuries under King Lalibela. Connected by trenches, tunnels and passages, they remain active places of worship, with priests in robes guarding painted interiors and ancient manuscripts. Bete Giyorgis, the Church of St George, is cut in the shape of a cross and is the most famous. At major festivals such as Genna, the Ethiopian Christmas, pilgrims fill the town dressed in white.