The Holy Lavra of Saint Sabbas, known in Arabic and Syriac as Mar Saba and historically as the Great Laura of Saint Sabas, is a Greek Orthodox monastery overlooking the Kidron Valley in the Bethlehem Governorate of Palestine, in the West Bank, at a point halfway between Bethlehem and the Dead Sea. The monks of Mar Saba and those of subsidiary houses are known as Sabaites.
Mar Saba seen from the air
Tomb of Saint Sabbas
Mar Saba Monastery, 2011
The Women's Tower at Mar Saba Monastery is the only building on the grounds that women are allowed to enter.
Kidron Valley is the modern name of the valley originating slightly northeast of the Old City of Jerusalem, which then separates the Temple Mount from the Mount of Olives, and ending at the Dead Sea. Beyond Jerusalem it continues in a general south-easterly direction through the Judean desert in the West Bank, reaching the Dead Sea near the settlement of Ovnat, and descending 4,000 feet (1,200 m) along its 20-mile (32 km) course.
Kidron Valley viewed from the Old City of Jerusalem, with the Stepped Stone Structure (bottom right)
Dry plate photograph of Jews gathering at Absalom's Tomb in the Kidron Valley, early 20th century. View towards the south-west from the Jewish cemetery, with the south-eastern corner of Temple Mount in the upper background.
Jan van Cootwijk, folio from the Itinerary of Jerusalem and Syria: Kidron Valley with Jesus' footprints near the bridge, Absalom's pillar (right), and the Tomb of the Virgin in the background. Antwerp, 1619.
Benei Hazir Tomb (left) and Tomb of Zechariah (right)
