Lalibela without the queues — Tigray rock churches in raw red desert
Wukro is a small Tigray town that serves as the base for the northern circuit of Ethiopia's rock-hewn churches, most importantly Wukro Chirkos — a 4th-century church carved into a sandstone cliff face above the town, with interior columns and frescoes that predate most European medieval art. The surrounding Tigray highlands contain over 120 rock-hewn churches, many accessible only by scrambling up cliff faces via iron chains, with priests who bring out manuscripts and processional crosses for visiting pilgrims. Unlike Lalibela, Wukro sees few international tourists, which means the ceremonies…
Wukro sits in the Tigray heartland — the cradle of the Aksumite Empire that dominated northeastern Africa and the Red Sea trade routes between the 1st and 7th centuries CE. The rock-hewn churches of the region predate the more famous Lalibela complex by several centuries; Wukro Chirkos is believed to have been excavated in the 4th century, shortly after Ethiopia's conversion to Christianity under King Ezana. The town is named for its association with the surrounding Tigray region, whose monasteries and cliff churches represent one of the oldest continuous Christian traditions on earth.