Cafe chairs in an unlikely place

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Start your morning here with  a cup of hot strong Greek coffee.
Listen to the birds sing in the several aviaries. 
Say Kalimera! -- good day! -- to the monk in black. 
Yes, believe it or not, it's a lovely little cafe in the courtyard of an ancient  Greek Orthodox Monastery.

Watch your head when you enter through the squat gate.
In fact, I think it might be the only entrance to the 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.

See more about it in my previous posts.

UPDATE: A nice article about the "not a cafe, but a holy place" is in the Jerusalem Post.  
and 
http://allaboutjerusalem.com/tour/monastery-cross  has a 2-minute guided tour on video.
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(A post for Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors.)

Baking in the monastery

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Down through the centuries a lot of bread has been baked in this oven.

The bricks of the oven's interior make a nice big dome.

Imagine how many loaves had to be baked every day to feed the many monks who sat at this refectory table.

See here and here for more views of the Monastery of the Cross in Jerusalem's Valley of the Cross.
The fortress-like monastery was built in Byzantine times, probably in the 7th century.
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The City Daily Photo group has "bakeries" for today's May 1 theme.
Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.
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This room can also be a mini-tour for Our World Tuesday.
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A vocal monastery watchdog

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A visiting friend and I walked from the Knesset down to the Valley of the Cross, to the Monastery of the Holy Cross.
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We bent low to get through the squat entrance, the only gate into the fortress-like 11th century monastery. (See a close-up of the opening here.)

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A ferociously barking German shepherd "welcomed" us.

Fortunately he was confined to the upper level.

Enlarge the picture and you can see a boxer dog next to him.

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The lower courtyard (next to a gift shop for Greek Orthodox religious items) was the realm of peaceful cats.

The cat on the right was looking up wistfully at little birds caged inside one of several aviaries.

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This strange collection of "monastery animals" is for Camera-Critters Sunday.

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A serious doorway

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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.