Tracing angels' footsteps in ancient Ethiopia

By Katie Nguyen

LALIBELA, Ethiopia (Reuters) - As a stranger draws near, priest Mesganaw Tarkgn whips on an embroidered cape and raises an ancient cross in a picture-perfect pose. He is used to the demands of visitors to one of Ethiopia's holiest sites.

Rather than a blessing, these days they want a snapshot of religious life in Lalibela's red rock-hewn churches, said by many locals to be the eighth wonder of the world.

Ethiopia is the second oldest Christian country on earth and also possesses treasures from Muslim kingdoms, which the government hopes will help draw more travellers interested in faith.

Legend has it that these churches were carved below ground at the end of 11th century and beginning of the 12th after God ordered King Lalibela to build churches the world had never seen -- and dispatched a team of angels to help him.

"I'd be happy to welcome more tourists," said Mesganaw, a Christian Orthodox who has been a priest for 32 years. "I want people to know about Lalibela."

For centuries, devout Christians travelled by foot and donkey to see the churches perched in the northern highlands. The skulls and mummified remains of some lie even now in tombs chiselled deep into the cliff walls around one church, Beit Giorgis.

Today, the minivans of Americans, Britons and Chinese that motor along remote, winding highland passes suggest a growing number of foreign tourists are discovering what the pilgrims have always known.

"What we're witnessing is a revitalisation of the tourism sector in Ethiopia," Minister of Culture and Tourism Mahmoud Dirir told Reuters.