One of the country's main attractions is the town of Lalibela, which has been a religious centre and pilgrimage site for centuries. It is home to 11 rock-cut temples. The largest of them, the Temple of Christ the Saviour ("Bete Madhane Alem"), is 33.7 metres long, 23.7 metres wide and 11.6 metres high. The most revered of the temples is the Temple of the Virgin Mary ("Bete Maryam"), where the windows are shaped like Roman and Greek crosses, swastikas and wicker crosses. The church stands in a large courtyard, which with incredible effort was carved right into the rock. Later, the Church of the Cross ("Bete Maeskel") was carved into the northern wall of the courtyard. On the opposite side of the courtyard is the Church of the Virgin Mary ("Bete Denagyl"), dedicated to the agony of the Blessed Virgin. Through the tunnel-labyrinth one can access other rock temples connected to the courtyard.
The church of St George ("Bete Giyorgis"), patron saint of Ethiopians, Georgians and English, is carved as a cruciform tower with equal crossbeams of a cross. It was first carved as a solid block in the rock, then it was given the shape of a Greek cross, and finally the interior was hollowed out. The roof of the church is at ground level, the church itself is in a deep pit and can only be reached through a tunnel.
