The Saint George's Monastery in Al-Khader or Church of Saint George in Al-Khader ( ar, دير القديس جاورجيوس) is an

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

in the

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

town of

al-Khader Al-Khader ( ar, الخضر) is a Palestinian town in the Bethlehem Governorate of the State of Palestine, in the south-central West Bank. It is located west of Bethlehem. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a ...

, near

Beit Jala Beit Jala ( ar, ) is a Palestinian Christian town in the Bethlehem Governorate of the West Bank. Beit Jala is located 10 km south of Jerusalem, on the western side of the Hebron road, opposite Bethlehem, at altitude. In 2017, Beit Jala had ...

and

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

in the central

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

. The town of Al-Khader is named after

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

, who in

Arab culture Arab culture is the culture of the Arabs, from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the east, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the Horn of Africa and the Indian Ocean in the southeast. The various religions the Arab ...

is known as " al-Khadr"; the church is considered the most important sanctuary to Khadr in Palestine. According to local tradition, Saint George was imprisoned in the town of al-Khader where the current church stands. The chains holding him were

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

s that were said to hold healing power.

History

Crusader/Ayyubid and Mamluk periods

In the thirteenth century, an anonymous Greek text noted: ‘After Bait Jala, there is to be seen the

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

of the Great George; and in it is kept the chain that was laid on his back’. Around 1421/1422 the Church of St. George was mentioned by Western traveler John Poloner as situated on a hill near Bethlehem.Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p
26
/ref> In 1480

Felix Fabri Felix Fabri (also spelt Faber; 1441 – 1502) was a Swiss Dominican theologian. He left vivid and detailed descriptions of his pilgrimages to Palestine and also in 1489 authored a book on the history of Swabia, entitled ''Historia Suevorum''. H ...

noted: "At the side of this church there was once a great and fair monastery of Greek monks, but now it has been laid in ruins, and their remains only a little hovel, leaning against the church, wherein two Greek monks dwell."

Ottoman period

Around 1740,

Richard Pococke Richard Pococke (19 November 1704 – 25 September 1765)''Notes and Queries'', p. 129. was an English-born churchman, inveterate traveller and travel writer. He was the Bishop of Ossory (1756–65) and Meath (1765), both dioceses of the Church ...

still noted it as a Greek convent, but in 1838, when Edward Robinson passed, the former church had become a mosque. In 1863,

Victor Guérin Victor Guérin (15 September 1821 – 21 Septembe 1890) was a French intellectual, explorer and amateur archaeologist. He published books describing the geography, archeology and history of the areas he explored, which included Greece, Asia Mino ...

noted "As for the convent or Deir ei-Khadher, it is not very considerable and does not seem so old. It is administered by a single religious Greek, assisted by two brothers and a few servants. A small number of narrow cells are reserved for foreigners. A solid, iron-clad door gives access to the interior of the cloister." During the late 19th century, part of the convent were used for the mentally ill. The modern church was built in 1912 but the remains of the

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

date back to the 16th century. The edifice has an Eastern Orthodox interior, and the

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

contains a portrait of

Christ Pantocrator In Christian iconography, Christ Pantocrator ( grc-gre, Χριστὸς Παντοκράτωρ) is a specific depiction of Christ. ''Pantocrator'' or ''Pantokrator'', literally ''ruler of all'', but usually translated as "Almighty" or "all-po ...

Modern era

Since the priest in al-Khader was the only Christian inhabitant of the town, Saint George's Monastery attracted al-Khader's

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

s. During the Feast of Saint George in early June, the bridle of Saint George's horse would pass over the bodies of visitors to prevent or cure any mental illness, for which Saint George was renowned.St. George's Monastery
Centre for the Preservation of Culture and History.

Gallery

File:Khadir`s St.George church outlook1.jpg File:Khadir`s St.George church outlook2.jpg File:Khadir`s St.George church interior1.jpg File:Khadir`s St.George church interior2.jpg File:Khadir`s St.George church interior3.jpg File:Khadir`s St.George church interior4.jpg File:Khadir`s St.George church interior5.jpg File:Khadir`s St.George church interior6.jpg File:Khadir`s St.George church interior7.jpg File:Khadir`s St.George church interior8.jpg File:Khadir`s St.George church interior9.jpg File:Khadir`s St.George church interior10.jpg File:Khadir`s St.George church interior11.jpg File:Khadir`s St.George church interior12.jpg File:Khadir`s St.George church interior13.jpg File:Khadir`s St.George church interior14.jpg File:Khadir`s St.George church interior15.jpg File:Khadir`s St.George church interior16.jpg File:Khadir`s St.George church interior17.jpg File:Khadir`s St.George church interior18.jpg File:Khadir`s St.George church interior19.jpg File:Khadir`s St.George church interior20.jpg File:Khadir`s St.George church interior21.jpg File:Khadir`s St.George church interior22.jpg File:Khadir`s St.George church courtyard.jpg

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * *

External links

* Survey of Western Palestine, Map 17
IAA

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint George's Monastery, al-Khader Eastern Orthodoxy in the State of Palestine Religious buildings and structures completed in 1912 Christian monasteries in the West Bank Al-Khader Christian monasteries established in the 16th century 1912 establishments in the Ottoman Empire