Monastery of Our Lady of Kaftoun

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• Anonymous

  30 January 2018

  The Kaftoun monastery superbly established within the red limestone hollow cliff is in obvious contradiction with the majority of monasteries and convents in the Levant which are usually perched on top of hills or mountains. The monastery, dedicated to the mother of God, is managed by a group of about fifteen Greek-orthodox nuns, of the order of Our-Lady of Kaftoun (IX century). The monastery houses a priceless and unique double-faced Byzantine icon (1.11 meters in height and 80 centimeters in width) of hieratic style and dating from XI century. It contains inscriptions in the three languages: Arabic, Greek and Syriac. The front side has a representation of the Mother of Hodigitria God with the infant Jesus and the reverse side depicts the baptism of Jesus. The two angels in medallions in the right and left upper corners on the front face of the icon are in the same style as the reverse side depicting the baptism of Jesus in a style pertaining to XIII and XIV centuries. This leads curators to conclude that they were added on the principal face two centuries later. The course of this Kaftoun icon is rather fuzzy. Although on the one hand, some historians indicate that emperors had a habit of offering gifts with their ambassadors, on the other hand, such icons were sometimes painted locally. The biography of this icon remains anonymous, yet it bares curious similarities to finds in the churches of Turkey dating from the same era. Bilateral icons, such as this one, were sometimes carried in procession, but most of the time had their place in the inner sanctum of the church. A face turned towards the faithful to see and another turned inward and visible only from within the interior sanctuary.

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• Anonymous

  26 January 2018

  Wonderful monestry next to el jawz river wonderful place to visit

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• Anonymous

  06 September 2017

  Peaceful place

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• Anonymous

  10 November 2016

  دير للراهبات الأرثوذكسية
  وهو في مكان بعيد عن المساكن في قرية كفتون

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