Rock-hewn churches of Lalibela

The rock-hewn churches of Lalibela are a group of medieval churches carved directly out of rock in the town of Lalibela in the highlands of northern Ethiopia. They are traditionally associated with King Lalibela of the Zagwe dynasty and are a major site of Ethiopian Orthodox pilgrimage. Accounts of the Aksumite Empire cite them as part of the long Christian architectural tradition of the Ethiopian highlands that followed Aksum.