(1898) Route 15 page 160

Mâr Sâbâ. — Accommodation will be found "by gentlemen in the monastery itself; ladies must pass the night in a tower outside the monastery walls. Visitors must knock loudly at the small barred door for the purpose of presenting their letter of introduction and obtaining admission. No one is admitted after sunset, even when duly provided, with letters. — In the interior we descend by about 50 steps to a second door, whence a second staircase leads to a paved court, from which lastly a third leads to the guest-chamber. The divans here are generally infested with vermin. The accommodation is rather poor, but bread and wine are to be had, and there are kitchens for the use of travellers who bring their dragoman and cook. For a night's lodging 3 fr. each is paid, besides 9 to 12 pi. to the servant, and 3-6 pi. to the porter. — The best place for pitching tents is opposite the monastery.

History.

In the 5th cent, a Laura, or settlement of monks, was founded here by St. Euthymius. His favourite pupil Sabas was born in Cappadocia about 439, and when hardly eight years of age entered a monastery. Ten years later he went to Jerusalem , and then settled in this wilderness with Euthymius, who soon afterwards withdrew to a Laura on mount Mert. As the reputation of Sabas for sanctity became known, he was joined by a number of anchorites, with whom he lived according to the rule of St. Basilius. In 484 he was ordained priest by Sallustius, the Bishop of Jerusalem, and raised to the rank of abbot of the order of Sabaites named after him. He died in 531 or 532, after having greatly distinguished himself in theological controversies against the monophysites. In 614 the monastery was plundered by the Persian hordes of Chosroes, and in subsequent centuries its wealth repeatedly attracted marauders (796 and 842), in consequence of which it became necessary to fortify it. It was again pillaged in 1832 and 1834. In 1840 it was enlarged and restored by the Russians. The monastery is now used as a kind of penal settlement for Greek priests.

Those who happen to pass a moonlight night in the monastery will carry away the most distinct idea of its singularly desolate situation. On such a night the visitor should take a walk on the terrace and look down into the valley. The rock falls away so perpendicularly that huge buttresses have had to be constructed in order to afford the very moderate space occupied by the monastery. The barren heights beyond the valley contain a number of old hermitages now occupied by jackals. The bottom of the ravine lies about 590 ft. below the monastery, and at about the same level as the Mediterranean.

The monastery consists of a number of terraces adjoining and above one another. Every available spot has been converted by the monks into a miniature garden. Figs ripen here much earlier than at Jerusalem, as the sun beats powerfully on the rocks. In the centre of the paved court stands a dome-covered structure, decorated in the interior with greater richness than taste, containing the empty tomb of St. Sabas. This sanctuary is the chief attraction for pilgrims, although the remains of the saint have been removed to Venice. To the N. W. of this detached chapel is the church of St. Nicholas, consisting chiefly of a grotto in the rock, which was perhaps once a hermitage. Behind a grating here are shown the skulls of the martyrs slain by the troops of Chosroes. The monastery church, of basilica form, on the E. side, is uninteresting. The tomb of Johannes Damascenus is also shown here. He wrote in the 8th cent., and though not a man of pre-eminent talent , is regarded as one of the last distinguished theologians of the early Greek church. — Behind the church lie the chambers of the pilgrims and the cells of the monks. The latter, in accordance with the rule of their order, lead an ascetic life, eating little else than vegetables, and fasting frequently. Their principal occupation is feeding wild birds of the country (pigeons, Columba Schimpri, and pretty little black birds, Amydrua Tristrami). The monastery is supported by donations and by the rents of a few landed estates. There are now about 50 monks here, and they have the care of a few lunatics. One of the little gardens contains a palm tree which is said to have been planted by St. Sabas. Its dates have no stones (it is a special variety). — The chief memorial of the saint is his grotto, on the S. side of the monastery. A passage in the rock leads to a cavern, adjoining which is a smaller chamber called the lion's grotto. One day, as the legend runs, the saint on entering his cave found it occupied by a lion, whereupon he began fearlessly to repeat his prayers and then fell asleep. The lion dragged him out of the cave twice, but the saint assigned him a corner of the cavern, after which they lived peaceably together.