Ethiopia had many Christians before Christianity was made a state religion. Ethiopians had to embark on long pilgrimages to Jerusalem, going across the hot Sahara Desert. This was to continue for centuries until Muslim armies, captured Jerusalem, having already conquered Egypt and Sudan and it became risky for Ethiopian Christians to continue.
The thirteenth century Emperor decided to build a ‘New Jerusalem’ in Ethiopia where pilgrims could meet, thus saving people’s lives and resources. He embarked on the construction, building eleven (11) churches in the town that is today known as, Lalibela. These churches were completely hewn from mountain rocks, rather that above ground on the surface. The aim was to shield the people from invading armies.