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Church of St John the Baptist

Jerusalem

The oldest intact church in Jerusalem is the little-known Church of St John the Baptist in the Muristan market of the Old City. It was erected around 1070, some 80 years before the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was rebuilt in its present form, and its crypt dates back to the fifth century.

Golden dome of Church of St John the Baptist peeps over Muristan roofs (Seetheholyland.net)

Almost hidden in plain sight, the church’s golden dome peeps above Muristan roofs but its entrance is difficult to find. Its little iron door is nestled between shops at 113 Christian Quarter Road, under a relief of disciples carrying the head of St John the Baptist and a sign in Greek.

This Greek Orthodox church is dedicated to the memory of the beheading of the Baptiser. It should not be confused with the Catholic church of the same name at Ein Karem, which marks the place where he was born.

According to a Greek Orthodox tradition, the saint’s head was held in what is now the crypt after he was executed by Herod Antipas at Machaerus in present-day Jordan. (An early Christian tradition says his body was buried at Sebastiya.)

Centrepiece of pilgrim complex

The traditional view is that the crypt was a church established around 450 by Empress Eudocia, estranged wife of Emperor Theodosius II.

By the 11th century this ancient structure had sunk several metres below street level, and Italian merchants from the maritime republic of Amalfi built the Church of St John the Baptist on top of it. It was the centrepiece of a pilgrim complex including a hospital that treated Crusader knights injured in the 1099 siege of Jerusalem.

Door leading to Church of St John the Baptist among Muristan market shops (Seetheholyland.net)

The presence of the hospital gave the name of Muristan to the area, after the Persian word for hospital or hospice. Some of the injured knights founded what became the Order of Knights of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem (also known as the Knights Hospitaller), the forerunner of the Order of St John.

“As the church of the Hospitallers, St John’s was of great importance during the Crusader period,” said archaeological authority Jerome Murphy-O’Connor.

Benedictine monks and nuns originally administered the church, but by the end of the 15th century the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem had acquired it.

Long and ornate iconostasis

The church stands in a small courtyard, which also contains a monastery of nuns and an ancient well. The facade, with a double bell tower, is a modern addition to the 11th-century building.

Constructed on a trefoil plan without a nave, the church has a green and gold iconostasis that is one of the longest and most ornate in Jerusalem. It is adorned with many icons, some illustrating the life and work of the Baptiser. A golden chandelier hangs in front of the iconostasis.

There is an elegant bishop’s throne and a tiny elevated pulpit at the top of a narrow flight of stairs.

A highly treasured icon on a raised stand depicts the head of John the Baptist on a silver platter. Beside it, within a jewelled silver case, is a piece of skull believed to be a relic of the saint.

Facade and belltower of Church of St John the Baptist (Wikimedia)

Walls covered with murals

Walls and arches are covered with colourful murals and artwork. One of the most striking shows Jesus pulling Adam and Eve from their graves during his descent into Hades, symbolising his victory over both death and Hades.

The four evangelists are portrayed on all four corners of the ceiling, while under each of two arches are representations of the 12 apostles.

In the arched entry area, two murals depict Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist. One shows the archangel Gabriel announcing that his wife Elizabeth would bear a child; the other shows him, struck dumb by Gabriel, writing that his son would be called John.

Related sites:

Ein Karem

Machaerus

Sebastiya

In Scripture:

The birth of John the Baptist: Luke 1:5-24, 39-66

Herod Antipas executes John the Baptist: Mark 6:14-29; Matthew 14:1-12; Luke 3:18-20

Administered by: Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem

Tel.: +972 2 9943038

Open: Seldom open except for early morning service for the church’s own community.

: Golden dome of Church of St John the Baptist peeps over Muristan roofs (Seetheholyland.net)

: Door leading to Church of St John the Baptist among Muristan market shops (Seetheholyland.net)

: Facade and belltower of Church of St John the Baptist (Seetheholyland.net)

: Icon depicting head of John the Baptist on a platter, beside a jewelled silver case containing a piece of a skull said to be a relic of the saint (© Holy Land Photos)

: Veneration of the saint’s relic during Divine Liturgy on a feast day (© Greek Orthodox Patriarchate)

: Mural showing Jesus pulling Adam and Eve from their graves during his descent into Hades (Seetheholyland.net)

: Glimpse into courtyard of Church of St John the Baptist (Seetheholyland.net)

: Icon of the saint at entrance to courtyard of theChurch of St John the Baptist (Seetheholyland.net)

: Mural of the saint’s beheading, in the Church of St John the Baptist (Seetheholyland.net)

: Tiny pulpit in the Church of St John the Baptist (Seetheholyland.net)

: Bishop’s throne in the Church of St John the Baptist (Seetheholyland.net)

: Mural of the Crucifixion in the Church of St John the Baptist (Seetheholyland.net)

: Interior of Church of St John the Baptist (Seetheholyland.net)

: Green and gold iconostasis in the Church of St John the Baptist (Seetheholyland.net)

: Greek Orthodox nuns entering the Church of St John the Baptist (Seetheholyland.net)

: Monastery in courtyard of the Church of St John the Baptist (Seetheholyland.net)

: Morning service in Church of St John the Baptist (Seetheholyland.net)

: Monastery cells at Church of St John the Baptist (Alex Ostrovskiy / Wikimedia)

: Facade of Church of St John the Baptist (Alex Ostrovskiy / Wikimedia)

: Golden dome of the Church of St John the Baptist (Seetheholyland.net)

: Church of the Redeemer towering over dome of the Church of St John the Baptist (Seetheholyland.net)

: Ancient crypt below Church of St John the Baptist (© TPGPhotos.com)

References:

Bar-Am, Aviva: Beyond the Walls: Churches of Jerusalem (Ahva Press, 1998)

Murphy-O’Connor, Jerome: Keys to Jerusalem (Oxford University Press, 2012)

External link

Greek Orthodox Church of Saint John the Baptist, Jerusalem (Wikipedia)

Monastery of St Gerasimus

Filed under: Israel and Palestine - Outside Jerusalem,Locations — Tags: caves, Chalcedon, Crusader, Deir Hajla, Euthymius, Flight into Egypt, Gerasimos, Gerasimus, Gerassimos, hermit, Herod and Great, Jericho, Jordan Valley, Judaean Desert, kalamon, lion, monastery, monks, pilgrims, St Jerome — 2:54 pm

West Bank

Monastery of St Gerasimus (Bukvoed)

The Monastery of St Gerasimus, one of the earliest of the 70-plus monasteries in the Judaean desert, is named in honour of a pioneering monk who is usually depicted with a pet lion.

A verdant and welcoming oasis in the arid lower Jordan Valley, it is on the east side of highway 90 just north of the Beit-Ha’aravah junction, and about 7 kilometres southeast of Jericho.

Across the Jordan River is the place of Jesus’ baptism, Bethany Beyond the Jordan, but the two-storey monastery commemorates an earlier event in Jesus’ life.

According to an old tradition, the monastery was built where Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus took shelter in a cave while fleeing from Herod the Great.

This event is commemorated in the ground-floor crypt beneath the monastery church. An icon illustrates the Flight of the Holy Family into Egypt and a large painting depicts a contented Jesus being nursed at the breast by his mother Mary.

Fresco of St Gerasimus with his lion (Bukvoed)

The upper-floor church contains many holy icons and frescoes, including paintings of Gerasimus and his lion. Cabinets in the crypt store the bones of monks killed during the Persian invasion of 614.

Hospitable place for pilgrims

A place of hospitality and refreshment for pilgrims, with fruit trees, flowers and birdsong, the gold-domed monastery offers a contrast to the hot and barren environment of the Judaean wilderness.

Founded in the fifth century, it was originally dedicated to Our Lady of Kalamon (Greek for reeds), but was later renamed in honour of Gerasimus, who founded a nearby monastery that had been abandoned.

It was destroyed in 614, rebuilt by the Crusaders, abandoned after the Crusader period, restored in the 12th century, rebuilt in 1588, destroyed around 1734 and re-established in 1885.

In Arabic it is known as Deir Hajla, meaning the monastery of the partridge, a bird common to the area.

Cloister in Monastery of St Gerasimus (© Deror Avi)

The monastery functioned in the form of a laura — with a cluster of hermits’ caves located around a community and worship centre. The hermits spent weekdays alone in their caves, occupied in prayer and making ropes and baskets. They went to the centre for Saturdays and Sundays, taking their handiwork and partaking in Divine Liturgy and communal activities.

The monastic rule was strict. During the week the hermit monks survived on dry bread, dates and water. At the weekends they ate cooked food and drank wine. Their only personal belongings were a rush mat and a drinking bowl.

Hermits’ caves can still be seen in the steep cliffs a kilometre east of the monastery and in the adjacent mountains.

Gerasimus redeveloped monastic life

Like many who founded Judaean monasteries, Gerasimus (also spelt Gerassimos or Gerasimos) came from outside the Holy Land — from a wealthy family in Lycia, in present-day Turkey.

Already a monk when he came to Palestine, he followed the monastic leader Euthymius into the desert and became renowned for his piety and asceticism.

Because of the similarity of names, Gerasimus is sometimes confused with St Jerome, the Bible translator who lived in Bethlehem.

Gerasimus is credited with a new development in monastic life. Previously desert monks lived either in caves or in monasteries. He was the first to combine the solitude of a wilderness hermit with the communal aspect of a monastery by bringing hermits together on Saturdays and Sundays for worship and fellowship.

Upper part of iconostasis in monastery church (© Deror Avi)

He is believed to have attended the crucial Council of Chalcedon in 451, which caused a major rift in the Eastern Orthodox world.

Called to settle differences of opinion on the nature of Christ, the council declared that he has two natures in one Person as truly God and truly man. Gerasimus briefly opposed this declaration, then accepted it.

The lion depicted in icons of Gerasimus comes from a story that he found the animal wandering in the desert, suffering from a thorn embedded in a paw. The saint gently removed the thorn and tended to the wound.

The lion thereafter devoted himself to Gerasimus, serving him and the monastery and retrieving the monastery’s donkey when it was stolen by thieves.

The story has it that when Gerasimus died in 475 the lion lay on his grave and died of grief.

Administered by: Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem

Tel.: +972 2 9943038

Open: 8am-6pm daily

: Monastery of St Gerasimus (Bukvoed)

: Fresco of St Gerasimus with his lion (Bukvoed)

: High defensive wall surrounding the monastery (Bukvoed)

: Ground-floor entrance to the monastery (Bukvoed)

: Mosaic of St Gerasimus’s lion in the monastery (Deror Avi)

: Bell tower of Monastery of St Gerasimus (© Deror Avi)

: Cloister in Monastery of St Gerasimus (© Deror Avi)

: Well in courtyard of Monastery of St Gerasimus (Bukvoed)

: Frescoes and icons in nave of monastery church (Bukvoed)

: View across nave of monastery church (Bukvoed)

: Fresco of the death of Mary in monastery church (Bukvoed)

: Iconostasis in monastery church (Bukvoed)

: Upper part of iconostasis in monastery church (© Deror Avi)

: Saints depicted in frescoes in monastery church (Bukvoed)

: God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in dome of monastery church (© Deror Avi)

: Mary suckling Jesus, in Monastery of St Gerasimus (© Deror Avi)

: Icons in the crypt of the monastery (Bukvoed)

: Cloister in Monastery of St Gerasimus (Bukvoed)

: Greek Orthodox pilgrimage centre at Monastery of St Gerasimus (Bukvoed)

: Dovecote on wall of Monastery of St Gerasimus (Bukvoed)

: Skulls of martyred monks displayed in monastery (Bukvoed)

: Remains of victims massacre and earthquake in Monastery of St Gerasimus (Bukvoed)

: Skulls of martyred monks in Monastery of St Gerasimus (© Deror Avi)

: Graves at Monastery of St Gerasimus (Bukvoed)

: Mosaic under construction at Monastery of St Gerasimus (Bukvoed)

: Containers of tesserae to be used in mosaic at Monastery of St Gerasimus (© Deror Avi)

References

Gonen, Rivka: Biblical Holy Places: An illustrated guide (Collier Macmillan, 1987)

Irving, Sarah: Palestine (Bradt Travel Guides, 2011)

Murphy-O’Connor, Jerome: The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700 (Oxford University Press, 2005)

Prag, Kay: Israel & the Palestinian Territories: Blue Guide (A. & C. Black, 2002)

Rossing, Daniel: Between Heaven and Earth: Churches and Monasteries of the Holy Land (Penn Publishing, 2012)

External links

St. Gerassimos (BibleWalks)

The Holy Monastery of Saint Gerasimos of the Jordan (Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem)

Mar Saba

Filed under: Israel and Palestine - Outside Jerusalem,Locations — Tags: Bethlehem, cell caves, Greek Orthodox, John Damascene, Judaean Desert, Kidron Valley, Mar Saba, monastery, monk, St Catherine's Monastery, St Sabas, Women's Tower — 1:53 pm

West Bank

Mar Saba from above (Steve Peterson)

The greatest of the ancient monasteries dotting the wilderness of the Judaean Desert, Mar Saba hangs dramatically down the cliff edge of a deep ravine.

The grey-domed Greek Orthodox complex was established in the 5th century by St Sabas (Mar Saba in Arabic), a monk from central Turkey, and was largely rebuilt following a major earthquake in 1834.

Its remote location is 15 kilometres east of Bethlehem, off route 398 and reached down a steep road.

During its heyday the monastery was home to more than 300 monks. Though it remains a functioning desert monastery, its numbers have dropped to fewer than 20 in the 21st century.

Women’s Tower standing apart from monastery at Mar Saba (© Deror Avi)

Occupied almost continuously since its founding, Mar Saba ranks with St Catherine’s Monastery in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula as one of the oldest inhabited monasteries in the world.

It also provides an enduring reminder of the age-old tradition of holy people leaving behind worldly distractions and seeking God in the solitude of the desert.

Part of the Mar Saba tradition is the exclusion of women visitors. They may only look over the complex from a vantage point called the Women’s Tower — built, according to tradition, by St Sabas’ mother, who was also forbidden to enter the monastery.

Saint’s body returned from Venice

Defensive wall around Mar Saba (Kaasmail)

A thick wall and slit-like windows give Mar Saba the appearance of a fortress. These defensive features recall plunder by the Persians in 615 and attacks from Bedouins in the following centuries.

What began as a series of cell-caves along two kilometres of cliffs has been consolidated into a complex containing two churches, several chapels, a common dining room, kitchen storerooms, 14 cisterns, cells for monks and a hostel for visitors.

From the entrance, a low door in the western wall, a stepped passageway descends to the central courtyard. In the centre is a hexagon-shaped dome which was once the tomb of St Sabas.

During the Crusades the saint’s body was taken to Venice. Pope Paul VI arranged for its return after his Holy Land visit in 1964, and it now lies in a glass case in the main church.

Remains of St Sabas in main church of Mar Saba (Adriatikus)

This church, with a large blue dome and small bell tower, is dedicated to the Theotokos (Mother of God).

From the entrance area, a stairway leads to a series of small chapels — one in the cramped cave where a brilliant monk, St John Damascene, spent 20 years in the 8th century writing classic defences of Christianity against heresy and Islam.

On the northwest side of the courtyard is the second church, built into a grotto in the rock. It is dedicated to St Nicholas.

The skulls of monks killed by Persians invaders are displayed in the sacristy and their bones are collected behind a grille.

In contrast to the austere simplicity of the monks’ lifestyle, church and chapel walls glitter with the gold of innumerable icons, many donated to the monastery by the Russian government in the 19th century.

Holiness attracted other hermits

Mar Saba clings to one side of the Kidron Valley — the valley that begins between the Temple Mount and Mount of Olives in Jerusalem and runs eastward to the Dead Sea.

At the foot of the monastery, beneath three great buttresses that support the wall of the dining room, kitchen, storehouse and bakery, is a walled-in space containing the spring that attracted St Sabas to the site. The Kidron stream is dry in summer.

Across the valley is a cave where St Sabas spent five years in solitude. The opening is protected by a metal grille with a cross set between the letters A and C. Inside an entrance lower down, two ladders climb a 6-metre shaft to the simple cave, containing a rock-cut bench and a prayer niche cut into the eastern wall.

St Sabas had been a monk for 18 years before he sought seclusion in the Kidron Valley. Other hermits, attracted by his holiness, settled nearby and their cluster of cells led to the founding of Mar Saba.

A legacy from his mother and the arrival of two monks who had been architects paved the way for the construction of a large church and communal facilities.

St Sabas founded several other monasteries and became superior of all the hermit monks of Palestine. He is credited with taming a lion that tried to eat him, and vowing never to eat apples because he believed Eve tempted Adam with this fruit.

Monks developed Orthodox worship

Originally the monks of Mar Saba meditated in isolation in their caves from Monday to Saturday, then gathered to spend Saturday night in prayer together before celebrating Mass at dawn on Sunday.

They returned to their caves on Sunday evening, taking food for the following week and palm branches and rushes for their daily work of making rope, baskets and mats to be sold in Jerusalem to finance the monastery.

The monks of Mar Saba made a crucial contribution to the development of the liturgy in the Orthodox Church. They compiled a typicon — a book of directions for worship services and ceremonies — that became the standard for the Orthodox world up till the 19th century.

Administered by: Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem

Tel.: 972-2-2773135

Open: Open daily except Wednesdays and Fridays, 8am-4pm (ring bell). Only men may enter monastery; women are admitted only to Women’s Tower.