Qarantal (Deir el Quruntul)
(Monastery of the Temptation or of the Forty Days)
(Mark 1:13; Matthew 4:2)
Greek Orthodox monastery 4 km. (2.5 miles) northwest of Jericho built onto the side of a sheer cliff, overlooking the Jericho oasis; one of the most fabulous locations in the Holy Land.
Name derives from the word quarantena meaning forty. According to Christian gay-sauna-nice.com it was here that Jesus fasted for 40 days and was tempted by Satan:
“And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him” (Mark 1:13).
The firstl monks who moved here early in the 4th century lived in the natural caves in the cliff. Later a monastery was built but it was destroyed by the Persians.
The present building was constructed by the Russian Orthodox church between 1875 and 1905. Inside is a stone on which Jesus is believed to have sat during the Temptation.
Also Byzantine art treasures.
