The Monastery of St. Nicodemus is a monastery and church of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, dedicated to Nicodemus. It is in Jerusalem's Muslim Quarter, south of Herod's Gate and 90 metres north of the Via Dolorosa.[1]
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| Monastery information | |
|---|---|
| Other names | (formerly) St. Elias |
| Denomination | Greek Orthodox (formerly: Syriac Orthodox) |
| Site | |
| Location | Old City, Jerusalem |
| Coordinates | 31°46′51″N 35°14′04″E / 31.780939°N 35.234405°E |
According to an Orthodox belief, Saint Peter's prison was in its basement, where he was jailed by Herod Agrippa and then freed by an angel.[2]
Names
editIts common name in Arabic, Dair al-ʿAdas (Dayr al-ʿAdas, دير العدس "Monastery of Lentils"), dates to the 16th century or earlier.[1] An Orthodox tradition says it is because lentils were cooked there, using the Cauldron of Saint Helen, to feed to the builders of the Church of the Resurrection (Church of the Holy Sepulchre)[2] or that St. Helen fed crowds lentils there during a famine.[3]
A pseudo-etymological interpretation is that Dayr al-ʿAdas is a phonetic distortion of Herod Antipas, and a 19th-century assumption was that Herod Antipas's house was there.[1] However, the church's belief is that it was Simon the Pharisee's house and that Christ spoke with Nicodemus there.[2]
It was known as St. Elias Monastery before renamed Nicodemus.[1] Its formal name in Arabic is Dayr al-Qiddīs Nīqūdhīmūs (دير القديس نيقوذيموس, "Monastery of St. Nicodemus").[4] In Greek, it is called Hierá Monḗ Ágiou Nīkodḗmou (Ἱερά Μονή Ἁγίου Νικοδήμου, "Holy Monastery of St. Nicodemus").[5]
History
editThe Syriac Orthodox Church (Syriac Jacobites) bought the building from its Muslim owner in 1527 or 1532.[1] (The Syriacs still worship at the Chapel of St. Nicodemus in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.)[6] Around 1865, the Greeks bought the property, and in 1908, they restored the building and dedicated it to St. Nicodemus.[1]
As of 2022[update], its supervisor is Archimandrite Makarios.[7]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f Pringle, Denys (1993). The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. Vol. 3. Cambridge University Press. pp. 161–163. ISBN 978-0-521-39038-5.
...that the name Dair al-ʿAdas was derived from Herod Antipas and that in the Middle Ages the building was identified as the house of Herod
- ^ a b c "Holy Shrines in Jerusalem". Jerusalem Patriarchate.
- ^ Secretariat-General (29 January 2015). "The Feast of the Veneration of the Chains of the Apostle Peter". Jerusalem Patriarchate.
- ^ "الكنائس والأديرة داخل المدينة المقدسة". Jerusalem Patriarchate (in Arabic).
- ^ "Ἱεραί Μοναί καί Ναοί ἐν Ἱερουσαλήμ". Jerusalem Patriarchate (in Greek).
- ^ Haarmann, Viola (2000). Cultural Encounters with the Environment: Enduring and Evolving Geographic Themes. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 266. ISBN 978-0-7425-0106-5.
Control of the Chapel of St. Nicodemus to the west of the edicule is disputed between the Syrian Orthodox (who worship there each Sunday) and the Armenians.
- ^ "Holy Monasteries and Churches in Jerusalem". Jerusalem Patriarchate.