Qadisha, the Sacred Valley

Last Saturday we went and stayed at the Monastery of Saint Anthony of Qozhaya in the Qadisha Valley with our close friend Sharon.  What an adventure! Another one of those moments when you think......when would I EVER do that in my lifetime.  The Qadisha Valley is very narrow with high steep mountains/hills around it.  There is a well known hiking trail along the bottom and many churches and monasteries within the valley. Many of them were built into caves. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The view from where we stayed.

This old printing press was in the small museum at the monastery. All of the work was in Arabic. Very interesting to see.

Janna in the museum

Interesting how small walkways are in this area of the monastery.

We went walking below the monastery.

Along the valley floor.

We stayed in the building to the far left.

We saw this as we were walking.

Janna and Tim on an old bridge.

We then went back up and looked inside of this cave. In the past, people would bring their "possessed" or mentally ill loved ones here to be cured with prayer. They would chain them up and if the manacles unlocked after a night of prayer they were healed.

I was having fun with panoramic views on this one.

The entrance to the church. Yes, there were services on Sunday morning. This is built into a cave.

We then went to the Monastery of Our Lady of Hawqa. This was was built into a large cave.

This was inside of the building.

The view of the valley.

Inside

Inside the church.

Tim went wandering with Janna on this path.

They found a nice waterfall.

We then went and had some mezze. What a great meal.

Overall, what a wonderful day!! It was so nice to get away from the city and the noise.