The Monastery of Mor Gabriel

The Monastery of Mor Gabriel, historically near the village of Qartmin and presently located 22 kilometers S-E of city of Midyat (Mardin Prov.), is the seat of the bishop of Ṭūr ‘Abdīn. It is a large monastery with buildings dating to various periods. The foundation myth of the monastery, in the hagiographic text named “Qartmin […]

The Monastery of Mor Hananyo

The monastic complex of Mor Ḥananyo is located 5 kilometers East of the Turkish city of Mardin, capital of the homonymous province. It lies in a shallow basin half-way up the side of the mountain ridge. It’s ancient name of “Monastery of St Ananias” was due to a bishop of Mardin, who rebuilt the monastery […]

The Monastery of Mor Lo´ozor

Mor Lo’ozor Monastery is on the top of a hill, few kilometers from the village of Mercimekli (Syriac Habsenas) north of Midyat. The British historian Andrew Palmer claims that it was founded by Shem‘un, the son of Mundar of Habsenas, who died in 734 (Palmer, Andrew. ‘La Montagne Aux LXX Monastères. La Géographie Monastique Du […]

The Monastery of Mor Yakub at Salah

The Monastery of Mor Yakub lies in a valley West of the village of Ṣalaḥ. Its foundation dates back to the 5th or 6th century, based on comparisons with the plan of Mor Gabriel complex and to the tradition that it was founded on the site of the martyrdom of the Egyptian monk Mor Barshabo, […]

The Monastery of Saint Simeon Stylites The Younger

The Monastery of Saint Simeon Stylites the Younger (Turkish: Aziz Simon manastır) lies on a hill roughly 29 kilometers southwest of Antakya and 6 kilometers to the east of Samandağ, in the southernmost Turkish province of Hatay. This was said to stand on the «miraculous mountain», possibly because it was near Mt. Cassius which was […]

Tegernsee Abbey

The abbey in Tegernsee is a former Benedictine monastery that is located directly on Lake Tegernsee. The abbey, like the town that grew out of it, is named after the lake, whose name can be translated from the Old German, tegarin seo, meaning large lake. Founded in the 8th century, the abbey represented one of […]

Kornelimünster Abbey

The Kornelimünster Abbey was founded in 814 on the Inde River by Benedict of Aniane (750–821), at the suggestion of Louis the Pious, son and successor of Charlemagne. The cloister was originally called Redeemer Cloister on the Inde (Erlöserkloster an der Inde). In the middle of the 9th century, the cloister was given imperial immediacy […]

Premonstraten Monastery Schäftlarn

Schäftlarn Monastery, located on the Isar River, is one of the most original monasteries in Bavaria. Its status as the spiritual and cultural center of southern Munich is also due to the fact that it has been the only active monastery in the Munich district for over 1200 years. In 762 Waltrich, a Benedictine monk […]

Daphni Monastery

Monastery of Daphi, interior - Orígenes de Europa

The Daphni Monastery lies in Chaidari along the route of the ancient Hiera Odos to Eleusis. It stands on a site where in the antiquity was the sanctuary of Apollo Daphnaios; the latter was destroyed in 395 when the Goths invaded Attica. The only still visible remain in situ is an Ionic column in the […]

Nea Mone

Founders of the monastery of Nea Mone, dedicated to Virgin, are the emperor Constantine IX Monomachos and the empress Zoe. Its construction started in 1042 and finished in 1055, that is after the death of the Emperor. Due to lavish donations through imperial decrees, the monastery became one of the biggest landowners on the island […]