St. George's Monastery, Al-Khader: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Eastern Orthodox Christian monastery and church in Palestine}}

| building_name = Church of Saint George in Al-Khader

| native_name = دير وكنيسة القديس جاورجيوس

| native_name_lang = ar

| image = Al Khader monastery 4.jpg

| caption = Church of St George in Al-Khader

| location = [[al-Khader]], [[West Bank]], [[State of Palestine|Palestine]]

| geo =

| coordinates = {{coord|31|42|13|N|35|09|41|E|region:PS|display=inline,title}}

| grid_position = 1654/1235

| grid_name = [[Palestine grid]]

| religious_affiliation = [[Eastern Christian monasticism]]

| province =

| district =

| country = {{flag|State of Palestine}}

| consecration_year =

| status =

| leadership =

| website =

| architect =

| architecture_type =

| architecture_style =

| facade_direction =

| year_completed =

| specifications = no

| capacity =

| length =

| width =

| width_nave =

| height_max =

| dome_quantity =

| dome_height_outer =

| dome_height_inner =

| dome_dia_outer =

| dome_dia_inner =

| materials =

The '''Monastery and Church of Saint George in Al-Khader''' ({{lang-ar|دير وكنيسة القديس جاورجيوس}})<ref>{{Cite web |title=St. George Monastery |url=https://enjoybethlehem.com/see/st-george-monastery |access-date=2022-04-02 |website=enjoybethlehem.com |language=en}}</ref> is an [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] [[Christianity|Christian]] religious site in the [[State of Palestine|Palestinian]] town of [[al-Khader]], near [[Beit Jala]] and [[Bethlehem]], in the central [[West Bank]] of the [[State of Palestine]]. The town of Al-Khader is named after [[Saint George]], who in [[Arab culture]] is known as "[[Khidr|al-Khadr]]"; the church is considered to be the most important sanctuary to al-Khadr in Palestine.<ref>Procházka-Eisl, Gisela, and Stephan Procházka. “Muslim Sanctuaries in and around Jerusalem Revisited.” Wiener Zeitschrift Für Die Kunde Des Morgenlandes, vol. 95, 2005, pp. 163–94. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23862773. "'[[Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi|Abd al-Gham an-Nabulusi]] passed it in 1690 and called it Maqam al-Khadir Abi l-'Abbäs. All earlier descriptions agreed that this is the most important al Khadir-sanctuary in the whole of Palestine. It is most famous for curing madness and possession by evil spirits."</ref>

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]]s that were said to hold healing power.<ref>{{cite book |first= Charles M. |last= Sennott |title= The Body and the Blood: The Holy Land's Christians at the Turn of a New Millennium: A Reporter's Journey |page= 397 |publisher= PublicAffairs |year= 2001 |isbn= 1-891620-95-9 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ZN1j1I69wqwC&pg=PA397 |access-date=8 April 2018}}{{dead|date=June 2020}}.</ref>

===Crusader/Ayyubid and Mamluk periods===

In the thirteenth century, an anonymous Greek text noted: ‘After [[Bait Jala]], there is to be seen the [[church (building)|church]] of the Great George; and in it is kept the chain that was laid on his back’.<ref>Pringle, 1993, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=BgQ6AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA296 296]</ref>

Around 1421/1422 the Church of St. George was mentioned by Western traveler John Poloner as situated on a hill near Bethlehem.<ref>Poloner, 1894, p. [https://archive.org/stream/cu31924028534398#page/n31/mode/1up 18]</ref><ref name="C&K26">Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp03conduoft#page/26/mode/1up 26]</ref>

In 1480 [[Felix Fabri]] noted: "At the side of this church there was once a great and fair monastery of [[Caloyers|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."<ref>Fabri, 1893, p. [https://archive.org/stream/libraryofpalesti09paleuoft#page/203/mode/1up 203]</ref>

===Ottoman period===

Around 1740, [[Richard Pococke]] still noted it as a Greek convent,<ref>Pococke, 1745, p. [https://archive.org/stream/gri_33125009339611#page/n73/mode/1up 44]</ref> but in 1838, when [[Edward Robinson (scholar)|Edward Robinson]] passed, the former church had become a mosque.<ref>Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 1, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearc01smitgoog#page/n353/mode/1up 321]</ref><ref>Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 2, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearc00smitgoog#page/n346/mode/1up 324]-5</ref>

In 1863, [[Victor Guérin]] noted "As for the convent or Deir el-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."<ref>Guérin, 1869, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongogr06gugoog#page/n323/mode/1up 310]-312</ref>

During the late 19th century, part of the convent were used for the mentally ill.<ref>Socin, 1879, p. [https://archive.org/stream/zeitschriftdesde01deut#page/149/mode/1up 149]</ref><ref>Baldensperger, 1906, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/quarterlystateme38pale#page/196/mode/1up 196]-197</ref>

The modern church was built in 1912 but the remains of the [[chapel]] date back to the 16th century. The edifice has an Eastern Orthodox interior, and the [[dome]] contains a portrait of [[Christ Pantocrator]].<ref>[http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=2202&ed=143&edid=143 El-Khader - Bethlehem] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724165317/http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=2202&ed=143&edid=143 |date=2011-07-24 }} This Week in Palestine</ref>

===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]]s. During the [[Feast of Saint George (Palestine)|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.<ref>[http://www.bethlehem.ps/religious_sites/sites/st_george.php St. George's Monastery]{{Dead link|date=July 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Centre for the Preservation of Culture and History.</ref>

* [[St George's Church (disambiguation)]]

* [[Feast of Saint George (Palestine)]]

* [[Saint George (disambiguation)]]

* [[Church of Saint George (Tulkarm)]]

* [[Dome of Al-Khidr]]

* [[Church of Saint George and Mosque of Al-Khadr]]

*{{cite journal | author = Baldensperger, Philip J. | title = The immovable east |journal= Quarterly Statement - Palestine Exploration Fund | volume = 38 | pages = 102 190 | url =https://archive.org/details/quarterlystateme38pale | year = 1906}}

*{{cite book|last1=Conder|first1=C.R.|author-link1=Claude Reignier Conder|last2=Kitchener|first2=H. H.|author-link2=Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|year=1883|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp03conduoft|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology|location=London|publisher=[[Palestine Exploration Fund|Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund]]|volume=3}}

*{{cite book|last=Fabri|first=F.|author-link=Felix Fabri|year=1893|url=https://archive.org/details/libraryofpalesti09paleuoft |title= Felix Fabri (circa 1480–1483 A.D.) vol II, part I| publisher= [[Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society]]}}

*{{cite book|last=Guérin|first=V.|author-link=Victor Guérin|title=Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine|url=https://archive.org/details/descriptiongogr06gugoog|volume=1: Judee, pt. 3|year=1869|publisher= L'Imprimerie Nationale|location=Paris|language=fr}}

*{{cite book|last=Pococke|first=R.|author-link=Richard Pococke|year=1745|url=https://archive.org/details/gri_33125009339611 |title=A description of the East, and some other countries|volume=2|location=London |publisher=Printed for the author, by W. Bowyer}}

*{{cite book|last=Poloner|first=John|year=1894|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028534398|title=John Poloner's description of the Holy Land (ca. A.D. 1421)|publisher=[[Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society]] }}

*{{cite book|title= The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: A-K (excluding Acre and Jerusalem)| volume =I |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BgQ6AAAAIAAJ|first =D.|last =Pringle|author-link=Denys Pringle|year=1993|isbn=0-521-39036-2 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]}}

*{{cite book|last1=Robinson|first1=E.|author-link1=Edward Robinson (scholar)|last2=Smith|first2=E.|author-link2=Eli Smith|year=1841|url=https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearc01smitgoog|title=Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838| location=Boston|publisher=[[Crocker & Brewster]]|volume=1}}

*{{cite book|last1=Robinson|first1=E.|author-link1=Edward Robinson (scholar)|last2=Smith|first2=E.|author-link2=Eli Smith|year=1841|url=https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearc00smitgoog |title=Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838| location=Boston|publisher=[[Crocker & Brewster]]|volume=2}}

*{{cite journal | last = Socin | first =A.| author-link = Albert Socin | title = Alphabetisches Verzeichniss von Ortschaften des Paschalik Jerusalem | journal = Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins | volume = 2 | pages = 135–163 | url = https://archive.org/details/zeitschriftdesde01deut | year = 1879}}

==External links==

* Survey of Western Palestine, Map 17: [http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8379 IAA], [[:File:Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.17.jpg|Wikimedia commons]]

{{Religious Sites in the Palestinian Authority|state=expanded}}

{{Bethlehem Governorate}}

[[Category:Greek Orthodox monasteries in the State of Palestine]]

[[Category:Religious buildings and structures completed in 1912]]