Saint George

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Monastery of Saints John and George of Choziba
Wadi Qelt
West Bank, May 1990

“The Monastery of Saints John and George of Choziba, best known as Saint George Monastery in Wadi Qelt (Arabic: دير القديس جورج) or simply the Monastery of Choziba, is a monastery located in Wadi Qelt, in the eastern West Bank, in Area C. Its Arabic name is Mar Jaras. The cliff-hanging complex, which emerged from a lavra established in the 420s and reorganised as a monastery around AD 500, with its ancient chapel and irrigated gardens, is active and inhabited by Greek Orthodox monks. It is reached by a pedestrian bridge across Wadi Qelt, which many believe to be Psalm 23's ‘valley of the shadow of death’. The valley parallels the old Roman road to Jericho, the backdrop for the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29–37). The monastery is open to pilgrims and visitors. Established during the Byzantine period, it was destroyed by the Persians in AD 614, rebuilt in the 12th century during the Crusader period, abandoned after their defeat, and rebuilt again by Greek monks starting at the end of the 19th century. The site is associated with the lives of Elijah and that of the parents of the Virgin Mary, and holds the relics of three Eastern Orthodox saints, making it a site of intense pilgrimage.” (Monastery of Saints John and George of Choziba, Wikipedia)