Palestine: Mar Saba Monastery
Seemingly lost in the sands and badlands of the Kidron Valley in the Judean Desert is an absolutely spectacular Mar Saba Monastery aka Saint Sabas Monastery, halfway between the biblical Bethlehem and the Dead Sea, in the West Bank. The monastery was founded in 483 AD, and is considered one of the oldest continuously inhabited monasteries in the world. The monastery’s buildings seemingly cling to the vertical walls of the canyon, and there are also many old monastic caves and hermit cells further along the valley, most over 1500 years old. The monastery is a Greek Orthodox institution and a very important important pilgrimage site for Christians.
