7. Mar Saba Monastery
This historic old Greek Orthodox monastery is a magnificent sight squeezed between the almost vertical rock walls of the Kidron Gorge.
Saint Sabas (born in AD 439) was a native of Cappadocia. In AD 457, he entered a Jerusalem monastery, but left in AD 437 to seek solitude in the Kidron Valley. Mar Saba Monastery was founded by him in AD 492 on the slopes of the gorge opposite the cave where he used to dwell.
Sabas gained a great reputation, not only in Palestine, but also in the capital of the Empire, Constantinople (modern Istanbul). At the great age of 90, he traveled to that city and persuaded the Emperor Justinian to rebuild the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
8. St. Theodosius Monastery
St. Theodosius is another Cappadocia priest who ended up in the Holy Land.
He began this monastery in AD 476, and during its heyday, the cloisters here were home to a population of 400 monks.
The most important part of the complex is the cave where Christians believe the three magi (holy men from Persia) spent the night on the way to see the baby Jesus. The monastery also contains the St. Theodosius’ tomb.
St. Theodosius Monastery was destroyed by the Persians in AD 614 and only reoccupied and rebuilt by Greek Orthodox monks in 1900.
Location: 8 kilometers east of Bethlehem
