Monastery of the Temptation

The Monastery of the Temptation (Greek: Μοναστήρι του Πειρασμού, Arabic: دير القرنطل‎‎ Deir al-Quruntal) is an Orthodox Christian monastery located in the West Bank, along a cliff overlooking the city of Jericho and the Jordan Valley. It is built on the slopes of the Mount of Temptation, rising 350 meters above sea level.

It currently serves as a tourist attraction and its land is under the full jurisdiction of the Palestinian National Authority, although the monastery is owned and managed by the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem.

The earliest monastery was constructed by the Byzantines in the 6th century CE above the cave traditionally said to be that where Jesus spent forty days and forty nights fasting and meditating during the temptation of Satan, about three kilometers northwest of Jericho. The monastery receives its name from the mountain which the early Christians referred to as the "Mount of the Temptation". The Monastery of the Temptation was identified by Augusta Helena of Constantinople as one of the "holy sites" in her pilgrimage in 326 CE.

Palestine, including Jericho, was conquered by the Arabs under the Islamic Caliphate of Umar ibn al-Khattab in the 630s. When the Crusaders invaded the area in 1099, they built two churches on the site: one in a cave half way up the cliff and a second on the summit. They referred to the site as "Mons Quarantana" (from Quaranta meaning forty in Italian, the number of days in the Gospel account of Jesus's fast).

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