Every year thousands of people gather on Christmas day to pay homage in Lalibela, Ethiopia's most holy city. Here, pilgrims prepare to enter one of Lalibela's many rock-hewn churches built in the 12th century as a 'New Jerusalem' after Muslim conquest hindered Christian passage to the holy land. Devotees gather to dance and sing songs of praise following a church ceremony.A pilgrim navigates Lalibela's narrow complex of hand-carved churches.Woman await a blessing of holy water from a priest following a church ceremony in Biete Abba Libanos, one of Lalibela's many rock-hewn churches. Devotees pray to depictions of saints deep within the inner sanctum of Biete Golgotha Mikael in Lalibela, Ethiopia.