Grandson Dean (when he was three years younger) inspecting the entrance to the 1500-year-old Greek Orthodox Monastery of the Holy Cross.
Today the fascinating place is well within Jerusalem but when it was first built, its location--the Valley of the Cross--was far from civilization and in dangerous territory; hence the thick walls and fortress-like construction.
Today's City Daily Photo theme day is about DOORWAYS.
Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.
Lovely photo, and what history!
ReplyDeleteWow! Those are really thick walls. What an interesting place for Dean to investigate.
ReplyDeleteMy goodness, the size of those rocks. A beautiful image and perfect with your grandson in the shot. Great choice for today, Dina.
ReplyDeleteOh the history that you have! Wonderful shot for today.
ReplyDeleteLove the composition of this photo, and the story. The cross in the backbround (above grandson's head), reveals Christianity. Otherwise, the place could be any mighty fortress. Breathtaking!
ReplyDeleteHi Dean! Great OLD doorway - the oldest doorway in our CDP theme day! That's solid - tornado proof!
ReplyDeleteCalling the wall thick is an understatement. Incredible that something built so long ago is still around. And is not roped off. One can walk right up and touch something that was built 1500 years ago by who knows who.
ReplyDeletegreat composition. I love what you see through the doorway and imposing thick walls and then there is the sweet child, the doorway to the future
ReplyDeleteSo what did he think? Solid enough for his liking? Hope his own grandsons will be able to touch it too!
ReplyDeleteShalom friends. I do love to hear your reactions!
ReplyDeleteWhat did Dean think, you ask? Actually, he was creeped out by the monastery. Such a little boy and such high walls all around. The rooms (e.g. the kitchen and refectory) were almost dark inside. There was not a soul to be seen except the monk at the coffee shop who took a high entrance fee. Maybe sensitive Dean felt the vibes of long-past massacres that occurred within this monastery.
I will blog more about the place someday soon.
That was the first thing I thought of too — a fortress. Fascinating. And the stones are so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely photo. I love the architecture, but mainly love your Dean's expression.
ReplyDeleteAnother fascinating post, Dina. More stone, more stone!
ReplyDeleteThose walls are very thick. I can't imagine living in that time period.
ReplyDeleteThere are a couple of estates not far from where we live. Mac-o-chee and Mac-o-cheek I think are the proper names. They are called castles but are more like big houses. Taxes were great on homes with glass windows and to avoid that there are mirrors of the windows on opposite walls.
But these are also in Indian country and Native Americans were there to kill you if you stepped outside. So it was and is an interesting tour. They look like lavish houses for the time. Walls are stone but picked up stone as I recall.