Al Khidr Monastery Story
Deir El Balah. A large mud village on flat ground, with wells and a small tower in the village. To the west is a grove of date – palms, hence the place is named.
The small mosque is built over a former chapel… this place is perhaps the medieval Darum (explained by Jaqyes de vitry to mean “Greek house” – Deir El Rum),which was fortified by King Amairic with four corner towers… it was taken by Richard Lion – Heart, and had them seventeen towers and a ditch. The place is now the See of a Greek Bishop resident in Jerusalem, and its former name is stated by the inhabitants to have Dier Mar Jirjius, “Monastery of Saint George”.
The mosque is now called El Khudr, or Saint of George. The gate of Gaza, on the road leading towards the village, was called Bab Ed Darun. The village has Christian inhabitants some thirty years ago.
The mosque in the village is called Jamia El Khudr, and stands traditionally, on the site of large monastery. The building was entered from a courtyard on the south. It proved to be a Christian chapel, 5 paces north and south by 11 paces east and west, on a line *112 west. On the north, and south wall is a buttress. On the east are the apses, the side ones being mere niches. One of the steps from the door in the south of the chapel is a slab, now broken. It appears to have been a tombstone, 6 feet long by 2 feet 6 inches high, having on it two Maltese crosses, each with the letters A and
In the wall of the court pillars – shafts of marble, and a bite of well – moulded cornice have been built in. There are also two Greek inscriptions, one in the floor od chapel near the east end, one on a slab now used on a well in the courtyard; this second has a hole cut through the slab, 10 inches diameter, obliterating part of inscription.
There is a modern masonry cenotaph, placed north and south in the middle of chapel, said to be the tomb of Mar Jirjius or Khudr both names for St.Gerorge. in the village there are pillar – shafts of a twisted form, like some of the medieval pillars in the Haram at Jerusalem.
To read historical documents about the Khidr Monastery.
The first file Click Here
The second file Click Here
