Christmas pilgrimage in Lalibela

Every year, during Christmas, hundreds of thousands of Christian Ethiopians complete a pilgrimage to the ancient sacred city of Lalibela. In this city, during the XII Century, a semi-mythical king ordered the construction of eleven churches, all excavated on rocky hills and sculpted from single blocks of stone. The pilgrims, all dressed in white, complete a circuit between the churches by walking through narrow and dark tunnels in which they all crowd each other while singing chants in a language that sounds biblical. The churches get more crowded as Christmas comes closer, up to a point in which it is almost impossible to get in or out of them. At all times, one can feel the fervor from the chants, the reading of scriptures and the gestures of the pilgrims. Being there feels like going back centuries in time.