From The Telegraph

It’s impossible to avoid religion in Ethiopia. I could not have escaped from it, even if I’d wanted to, because it’s everywhere, and it defines everyone’s lives. And because Ethiopia has been Christian since AD 4 (some believing one of Jesus’s Apostles was Ethiopian), Christianity hasn’t been thrust on Ethiopians by missionaries, instead being woven into their DNA and into their culture.

The church seems to play a role similar to that which it must have played in medieval Europe: a place to worship, of course, but also to air grievances and solve problems, a place to learn and to bind communities together. The church, it’s fair to say, is very much alive to Ethiopians of all ages. Whatever god or gods you do or don’t believe in, it’s hard not to feel moved.

Addis Ababa is a modern city, getting to grips with a modern future, but ancient Ethiopia is more compelling. Axum, for example, was once home to the Queen of Sheba, and was considered a major civilisation during the third and fourth centuries AD, while in Gondar, Ethiopia’s first capital that lies at the foot of the mighty Simien mountains, you can explore the castle of Emperor Fasiladas and the Palace of Queen Mentuab.

Of the country’s many ancient gems, I chose Lalibela, flying there from Addis Ababa, because I wanted to see its famous churches, carved below ground by the Zaghawa, a powerful people that had originated in northern Ethiopia in the fourth century.

Read the complete story from The Telegraph