St. Michael Monasteryدير مار ميخائيلΙερά Μονή Αρχαγγέλων

Inside the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, not far from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the Monastery of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel. The Monastery is dedicated to the Archangels, particularly the Archangel Michael, who resisted the rebellion of Lucifer against God. The Monastery was originally a Serbian monastery, but today it is under the administration of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate. The foundations of the Monastery of the Holy Archangels date back to the 4th century and the Byzantine period, when an earlier monastery stood on the site, but was later destroyed. The monastery that stands today was built in 1312 by the Serbian King Milutin. King Milutin built the Monastery along with guesthouses, lodgings and a small hospital in order to serve the Serbian and Slavic community in the Holy Land. After the collapse of the medieval Serbian state, the monastery was supported by the Russians before being sold to the Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophanes in 1623, after over 300 years of Serbian control. Many of the Serbian-Slavic manuscripts that were originally a part of the monastery can be found today in the library of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem. The Monastery of the Holy Archangels is found on Saint Francis Street in the Christian Quarter of the Old City. Within a quiet courtyard the domed roof of the building housing the monastery id visible alongside the monastery’s bell hanging within the courtyard. The doorway to the monastery features a small pitched awning, under which a beautiful painting can be seen marking the monastery’s entrance. Inside the monastery, the small chapel features polished stone floors and intricately carved wooden furniture. The grand iconostasis, which separates the alter from the prayer area, features vivid painted icons of biblical figures. The Monastery is not generally open to the public, with the exception of the feast of the Synaxis of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel by the Greek Orthodox Church in the month of November, but visits can be arranged through the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate.