Монастырь Святого Саввы в Палестине

Monastery in Palestine
the monastery in Palestine

The Holy Lavra of Saint Sabbas, known in Arabic and Syriac as Mar Saba (, دير مار سابا; ; Ἱερὰ Λαύρα τοῦ Ὁσίου Σάββα τοῦ Ἡγιασμένου) 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 is considered to be one of the oldest (almost) continuously inhabited monasteries in the world, and it maintains many of its ancient traditions. One in particular is the restriction on women entering the main compound. The only building that women can enter is the Women's Tower, near the main entrance.

The monastery was founded by Sabbas the Sanctified in 483, on the eastern side of the Kidron Valley, where according to the monastery's own website the first seventy hermits gathered around the hermitage of St Sabbas. Later on, the laura relocated to the opposite, western side of the gorge, where the Church of Theoktistos was built in 486 and consecrated in 491 Between the late eight to the tenth century, the monastery was a major translation center for Greek works into Arabic. For instance, Yannah ibn Istifan al Fakhuri (fl. 910) translated works of Leontius of Damascus and Barsanuphius of Gaza. Mar Saba was the home of the famous Georgian monk and scribe Ioane Zosime, who moved before 973 to Saint Catherine's Monastery taking several parchment manuscripts with him. The community seems to have also suffered under the persecutions of caliph al Hakim in 1009 as well as Turkmen raids in the 11th century but experienced occasional phases of peace as can be seen by the continued scribal and artistic activities.

The monastery kept its importance during the existence of the Catholic Kingdom of Jerusalem established by Crusaders in 1099.

In the late medieval period, the monastery experienced like the other Palestinian monasteries a period of decline as a result of Mamluk persecutions, the Black Death, demographic and economic degradation and the expansion of nomadic tribes. Whereas the Russian monk Zosimus estimated in 1420 the number of inhabitants at 30, the German traveler Felix Fabri recorded in the early 1480s only 6 who were living together with a group of nomadic Arabs. Thereafter, the monastery was abandoned and the remaining monks seem to have moved to St Catherine's monastery. In 1504, the Serbian monastic community of Palestine, based out of the fourteenth century monastery of St. Michael the Archangel, purchased Mar Saba The Serbs controlled the monastery until the late 1630s, and the significant financial support the monastery received from the Tsar of Russia allowed them to run the monastery semi independently from the Patriarch of Jerusalem, the monastery's nominal overseer (much to the vexation of the patriarchate). and was for several centuries home to the Archimedes Palimpsest.

Women are only allowed to come to the main entrance, but without entering the walled compound. The monastery is closed for visitors on Wednesdays and Fridays (the fasting days of the week).

There are gaps in this list. Prior to the 18th century, dates are years when the abbot (or hegumen) is known to have held office and not the start and end dates. From the 18th century on, the dates indicate the start of an abbot's term, which usually lasted two years at first, longer later on. The official list goes back to 1704, but still has gaps.