Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi (the monastery of Saint Moses the Abyssinian) is a Christian monastery in Syria. Its earliest date of use appears to be in 6th century AD, when it was used by cave dwelling hermit monks as a place to gather and pray. It reached its peak between the 11th and 12th centuries AD and several beautiful frescos have been recovered from that era.
Last summer Dr. Robert Mason, an archaeologist with the Royal Ontario Museum, made a far more ancient discovery. To the east of the site he found an ancient landscape with stone circles, alignments and what appear to be corbelled rock tombs.
From the stone tools found it appears to date to some point in the Middle East Neolithic period (8500-4300 BC). This means that this landscape could well be older then the megalithic sites found in Europe.
Submitted by veigapaula on Tue, 11/10/2009 - 23:54
The Christian Monastery of Saint Anthony, or Deir Mar Antonios, is the the first ever monastery, and lies at the coast of the Red Sea, to the east of the Fayum oasis. Dedicated to St Anthony, it was founded in 356 AD immediately after the saint's death, and is now the oldest Christian monastery still active in the world. Near the monastery (2 km away) there is also St. Anthony's cave, where he lived as a hermit.
This video provides a rare glimpse inside this wonderful monastery, filled with art and the postumous home of a hermit saint, Saint Anthony. Monasticism was a reality in Egypt after the first followers of Jesus entered the country and from here, from the land of the extinct pharaohs, monks and monastic life spread out to all the rest of the world.
Father Maximous el-Antony guides us through the Monastery of Saint Anthony in Egypt, founded in 356AD and one of the oldest monasteries still active today - and tells us more about its past and the current restoration works.
Today Saint Anthony's Monastery is a beautiful self-contained village with gardens, a mill, a bakery and five churches, the most famous of which is St. Anthony's Church. Egypt's monasteries are experiencing a revival, and the monk population of St. Anthony's has grown considerably in recent years. For more information about the current reconstruction works, watch the video and read Paula Veiga's blog.
This active monastery is a box full of surprises as the restoration works have uncovered exquisite medieval paintings, mostly of Holy Knights and Saints. It is really worth the three-hour drive from Cairo to visit this piece of architecture, built as a fortress as a result of Bedouin 'activity' in the past.
According to Abuna ('our Father' in Arabic) Maximos, a resident monk and the brain behind the restoration works, Bedouins still come for food. They have a trap door at the monastery for these occasions.
The small island of Patmos is a major pilgrimage destination and centre of Greek Orthodox learning - all because of the Cave of the Apocalypse, which is the subject of a major biblical legend. It is said that the Book of Revelation was dictated by God to the Apostle John (also known as John of Patmos, John the Divine or John the Theologian), who was exiled on the island, through a crack in a rock in the cave.
The cave is located about half way up the mountain towards the Monastery of St John The Theologian. Its entrance is marked with a mosaic which is based on the visions John had of his experience. Inside is a small grotto where you can see a fenced-off spot upon which John is said to have laid his head down to rest every night.
The ruins of the palace/fortress built by the parricidal King Kassapa I (477 AD – 495 AD), Sigiriya lies on the steep slopes and at the summit of a granite peak standing some 370 m high (the 'Lion's Rock', which dominates the jungle from all sides). Access to the site is through a series of galleries and staircases emerging from the mouth of a gigantic lion made of bricks and plaster. One of the seven World Heritage Sites of Sri Lanka, Sigiriya is famous not only for its spectacular location, but also for its frescos, which are very similar to the paintings found in India's Ajanta Caves.
Although Sigiriya may well have been inhabited through prehistoric times, the site emerges as a rock-shelter Buddhist mountain monastery from about the 5th century BC. The garden and palace were added by King Kashyapa (also known as Kashyapa), but following his death the site reverts to being a monastery complex until it was abandoned in the 14th century.
Home to six monasteries, this is one of the most extensive and significant Eastern Orthodox worship complexes in the world. The origins of the community are obscure, although it is thought that hermit monks were living in caves in the area by the 11th century AD and that a monastic state was established there by the early 12th century. The rough terrain provided the monks with excellent protection from the expanding Turkish occupation. In its heyday, Meteora boasted 20 monasteries; of these, six remain today. The monasteries were originally only accessible by rope ladders, which were only replaced when they broke, making the journey treacherous. The monasteries are now inhabited by a handful of monks and nuns and serve primarily as museums. They are among the most popular tourist attractions in the world.
Parts of this monastery complex used pieces from the ancient temple to Apollo, such as the Ionic columns in the portico. Only one of these remains, the others having been removed to London by the 7th Earl of Elgin. The central church is an 11th century Byzantine building and houses the best-preserved early Comnenan mosaic. Sacked by the Crusaders in 1205, the church was handed to a French order of monks, who inhabited it until they were thrown out by the Turks in 1458. Thereafter, the cloister began to fall into disrepair until the monastery was disbanded in 1821 and a restoration project started in 1888. A World Heritage Site, the monastery is currently closed to the public for further restoration.
Nea Moni, the 'new monastery', on Chios is renowned for its mosaics, which are among the finest examples of Macedonian Renaissance art in Greece. It is said to be built on the spot where three monks miraculously discovered an icon of the Virgin Mary hanging from a branch of myrtle. The monks approached Constantine, who was exiled from Lesbos at the time of the discovery, and he gave the monastery project his protection, granting the community many grants and tax exemptions which enabled it to prosper throughout the Byzantine period. At its height, the monastery accommodated 800 monks but began to decline with the Genoese domination and the eventual destruction of Chios by the Ottomans in 1822 when the monastery was sacked and looted. The damage was compounded by an earthquake in 1881 and was finally converted to a convent in 1952, owing to a lack of monks. In 2001, the census showed that only three nuns still lived there.
The monastery complex consists of the katholikon, two smaller churches (dedicated to the Holy Cross and to St Panteleimon) the dining hall, the monks' cells, the reception hall and underground water cistern. Outside the walls, near the monks' cemetery, there is a small chapel dedicated to St Luke.
The Sacred and Imperial Monastery of the God-Trodden Mount of Sinai, or St Catherine's Monastery as it is more commonly known, is the one of the oldest continuously functioning monasteries in the world. Built to enclose the earlier Chapel of the Burning Bush, which was commissioned by Helena, the mother of Constatine I, the monastery is thought to have received Muhammad's protection and a mosque stands within its walls, although it has never been used as it is incorrectly aligned with Mecca. The site became associated with Catherine, one of the early Christian martyrs, after her remains were found near the site, believed to have been transported there by angels. The mighty fortifications which protected the monastery throughout the region's turbulent history still remain, as does the library, the second largest collection of ancient manuscripts in the world after the Vatican Library.
