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The Convent was towards the head of the cleft
in the hills, near the top of the town. The nuns here look after orphans,
as well as being excellent guides. |
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I don't have much information on the Convent,
but will just present the pictures that hopefully will convey the beauty
of the site. |
| The story of St Takla is as
follows.
She was dying of thirst and prayed for water. Water
suddenly sprung from beneath her and she was shown a cave by the Virgin
Mary where she lived until 93 years old, drinking water that seeps through
the limestone roof and eating apricots from a tree that grew as a result
of the water. Below you can see the small courtyard complete with apricot
tree and the small chapel. |
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The shrine to St. Takla is in the small
cave on the right of this picture. The Nun in attendance allowed me to take this
picture of the shrine. |
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There is a small font like structure nearby
which has a small pool of water which, Ali informed me, never fills up and
never empties. That's thanks to one drop of water every minute of the day
and night, 24/7! |
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Shortly afterwards, we met this Iraqi
gentleman from Baghdad and I shook his hand.
Ordinary people of the world do not have a
problem with each other as I have found on countless occasions. |
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I just love the sheen from these copper
and brass doors in one of the outbuildings. |
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In the roof of a small church on the site is
evidence of the many countries that have passed through or settled here in
the past. |
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Ali guides me through a small corridor
through the cliffs which allegedly opened up in a Biblical style to allow
St Takla to escape from her tormentors. |
Aerosols have a lot to answer for. |
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At the top, one emerges to see this non
too subtle hotel with its splendid viewpoint. It hasn't made too much of
an attempt to blend in with the limestone cliffs, however. |
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There is a viewpoint nearby where one can see
a 'Panorama'. That just has to be an excuse to put a link in to my panoramic
pics |
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Another, clearly very old door,
through which we had to stoop to enter a small church, St Sergius that has been
standing for over 2000 years. Carbon 14 dating has established that beyond
doubt.
It also has a huge square Pagan font carved out of Italian
marble dating back to AD 200 as well as some priceless icons. |
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