_P180_Jerusalem_Ramparts_walk_Convent_of_Saint_Saviour.jpg)
TheMonastery (Convent)of Saint Saviour (Armenian:Սուրբ Փրկիչ վանք) is a monastery of theArmenian Church inJerusalem onMount Zion. Outside of theArmenian Quarter,Old City, it is south of theZion Gate.It includes two church buildings, the newer of which is unfinished.
The house ofCaiaphas, the Jewish high priest at the time of Jesus' death, is believed to be on the site.[1] However, some Christians conflated Caiaphas' house with the house ofAnnas[2] (Annas was Caiaphas' father-in-law and a former high priest).
It is also calledDair Habs al-Masih (دير حبس المسيحDayr Ḥabs al-Masīḥ,lit. 'monastery of theMasīḥ's prison') in Arabic,[3][4] since it is one of the supposed locations of the prison of Christ, where he was held after theSanhedrin trial.[5][6] Because thegospels themselves disagree whether Jesus was brought to Annas' or Caiaphas' house/court, the ArmenianChurch of the Holy Archangels ("house of Annas") also has a prison of Christ.
A stone relocated from the entrance of thetomb of Christ is also believed to be over or under the altar at the older church in the monastery.[1]
A church or chapel possibly existed on this site by the 1160s.[7]
There was an Armenian claim thatSaladin granted the Armenians the site after he took over the cityin 1187.[1] At the end of the 13th century, Karapet ofTosp, avardapet, purchased the property from local Muslims and got a restoration permit from theMamluk sultan.[1]
In 1517, SultanSelim I issuedfirmans that confirmed the church to both the Armenians and Greeks.[8]In the 17th century, whenFrancesco Quaresmi visited, Armenians were on the property.[8]
During the 18th century, the church's courtyard became a burial ground for someArmenian patriarchs of Jerusalem.[9]
After the1948 Arab–Israeli War, the church was abandoned and used by Israeli snipers.[8]
The Armenians regained the church after 1967 and repaired the church.[8] In the 1970s, construction for a new church began, next to the original one.[9][8] However, due to still-unresolved planning and zoning issues, construction halted, and the new church remains unfinished to this date.[9]
In January 2023, the monastery's walls were desecrated by Jewish extremists with vandalized messages of "Death to Armenians, Christians, Arabs, and Gentiles".[10]
An Armenian civil cemetery next to the church is still used for burial, but it is mostly abandoned due to the shrinking local Armenian community.[9]
The monastery is next to the BenedictineAbbey of the Dormition.
31°46′21″N35°13′46″E / 31.77260°N 35.22950°E /31.77260; 35.22950