Information AboutAin Karim |
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HISTORY Early history A spring that provides water to the village of Ain Karim stimulated settlement there from an early time. Pottery has been found near Ain Karim dating to the Middle among the cities of the Tribe Of Judah . Traditional Connection to John the Baptist According to the and Elizabeth . Theodosius ( 530 ) says that the distance from Jerusalem to the place where Elizabeth, the mother of John The Baptist , lived is five miles. The Jerusalem Calendar (dated before 638 ) mentions the village by name as the place of a festival in memory of Elizabeth celebrated on the twenty-eighth of August: "In the village of Enquarium, in the church of just Elizabet, her memory." There were other traditions: among the Christian sanctuaries of the Arab period (7th-10th centuries), there are two churches of St. John the Baptist of Jerusalem, one on the summit of the Mount Of Olives , the other at the foot of the Mount. Modern history In the 14th Century , an Arab village was founded near the village fresh-water spring. The villagers preserved the multiple churches, monastaries and sanctuaries of the different Christian Denomination s. This village was captured by the Israel Defense Forces during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and was annexed into the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem. Vacated Arab houses were housed by new Jewish immigrants. Over the years, the village population changed to artisans and craftsmen. In 1961 , Hadassah founded its medical center on a nearby hilltop, including the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital , Hebrew University Of Jerusalem medical school, dentistry school, nursing school and pharmacology school. With the growth of the city of Jerusalem, Ain Karim is now only minutes away from the city center, and offers turists and Jerusalemites alike a picturesque rural haven, with multiple restaurants and accommodation. SITES Church of St. John the Baptist There are actually two churches by this name in Ain-Karim. The Catholic church is the best known. It was built in the second half of the 19th Century on the remnants of earlier Byzantine and Crusader churches. It includes an ancient Mosaic floor and a cave were John the Baptist was traditionally born. In the ''Book of the Demonstration'', attributed to bears witness to the visit of Mary to her kinswoman Elizabeth" (312). Daniel ( 1106 ) writes of the place: "on entering it church there is, to the left, beneath the low altar, a small cavern, in which John the Forerunner was born." Jack Finegan describes the archaeology of the site: "The church has been in the hand of the Franciscan s since 1674 . In 1941-1942 they conducted excavations in the area immediately west of the church and the adjoining monastery. In the area were uncovered several rock-cut chambers and graves as well as wine presses with mosaic floors and small chapels with Mosaic pavements. The southern rock-cut chamber contained pottery of a type which has been found elsewhere around Jerusalem in association with coins of the Herod ian dynasty and belongs therefore to the period from the first century B.C., and it is evidence for a community not only during Roman but also Byzantine and early Arab times. As for St. John's church itself, the present structure may be mainly from the eleventh century (Abel, ''Geographie'' II, pp. 295f.) but lower portions of the walls probably still remain from the Byzantine period (fourth-seventh centuries). At the front end of the left aisle is a grotto which must correspond with the small cavern mentioned by Daniel." (''The Archaeology of the New Testament'' University Press: Princeton, 1992 , page 4). The second church by this name is Eastern Orthodox , and was built in 1894 , also on the remnants of an ancient church. Sanctuary of the Visitation Another ancient church at Ain Karim is located across the village to the southwest from St. John's. The ancient sanctuary there was built against a rock declivity. It is venerated as the ''pietra del nascondimento'', the "stone in which John was concealed," in reference to the Protevangelium of James. The site is also attributed to John the Baptist's parental summer house, where Mary visited them. The modern church was built in 1955 , also on top of ancient church remnants. It was designed by Antonio Barluzzi , an Italian architect, who designed many other chrches in the Holy Land during the 20th century. Marble Statue of Aphrodite from Ain Karim During the excavations at Ain Karim, a marble statue of Aphrodite (or Venus ) was found in two broken pieces. Presumably, it stood at Ain Karim during the Roman period, but it was overthrown during the Byzantine period. Les Soeurs de Notre-Dame de Sion Monastary This monastary was founded by the Jewish convert brothers Theodore and Alfonse Retisbon of France, as an Orphanage . Alfonse himself lived in the monastary and is buried in its garden. 13 nuns from the order of Les Soeurs de Notre-Dame de Sion (Sisters of Our Lady of Zion) now occupy the site. "Moscovia" Monastary Built by the Russian Orthodox Church at the end of the 19th century, this church (originally "Gorny Monastary") was nicknamed "Moskovia" (Arabic for Moscow ) by the local Arab villagers, because of its Tented Roof similarity to other Russian churches. The monastary has two churches enclosed within a compound wall. St. Vincent St. Vincent-Ein Kerem is a home for physically or mentally handicapped children. Founded in 1954 , St. Vincent-Ein Kerem is a non-profit enterprise under leadership of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent De Paul . Mary's Spring The village fresh-water spring is the traditional location where Mary and Elizabeth met. The spring waters are considered holy by the Christian pilgrims who visit the site and fill bottles with its waters. Hadassah Medical Center (see '' Modern History '' section above) PICTURES GALLERY OF EIN CAREM |
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