- monastery
- (14)
-
The Byzantine monastery of Virgin Mary Chozoviotissa is one of the top attractions of Amorgos island.
It was built in 1088 on a rock 100ft over the sea, and is a typical monument of Byzantine architecture.
Located near to Chora.
www.in2greece.com/english/places/summer/islands/amorgos.htm
The Monastery of Panormitis is well known to all islanders of the Dodecanese. It is a good idea for a day trip there if you stay in Symi town or from Rhodes with excursion boat. The monastery is one of the many places of interest that the small beautiful island of Symi has, like ancient ruins, the castles of the Byzantines the Knights of St John.
This is the centrepiece of Yaroslavl, a 16th century monastery which as well as an impressive cathedral and bell-tower also now houses a museum of local history. They also give impressive bell ringing demonstrations, the bells are hung from a free standing frame and worked by an impossible looking set of strings.
25, Bogoyavlenskaya square
2 kms down river at Meelick lock is where the 3 provinces of the Republic meet: Leinster, Munster and Connaught.
14 kms away are Birr town with its famed telescope (formerly the largest in the world) and castle gardens.
10 kms away are the ancient and the well-preserved ruins of Clonmacnoise monastery (founded by St. Ciarain in 6th century) and its excellent museum, surrounded on one side by the river Shannon and callowlands and on the other side by boglands - Mongan Bog (post-glacially unharvested, 10 thousand years old - a rarity in Europe) can be seen by climbing the local eskers. Pope John Paul II said mass here in 1979.
Driving from Dublin go off main road at Kilbeggan (after stopping off at the whiskey museum) to Tullamore town. Go right through the town and stay on main road to Birr - Banagher is 12kms on the road adjacent to the entrance of the huge Birr castle grounds.
www.geocities.com/bbanagher/
Monserrate Palace and Park, one of the most romantic sights in Portugal, a beautiful Victorian mansion rising out of vast botanical gardens.
Great meandering paths take you through the woods, rich in a variety of magnificent trees, past waterfalls, stepping stones and the chapel ruins coming out on to a vast hill of grass leading up to the palace.
A magnificent building recently restored, with a mix of Moorish and Italian decoration. There is a fantastic walk from here to the Capuchos Monastery, also known as Santa Cruz or the Cork Monastery, a quiet and tranquil place - a small monastery built in the rock. The tiny rooms lined with cork are a telling example of the humble and austere existance of the Franciscan friars who lived here.
Well worth a visit.
This is the first of many monastries which Saint Teresa founded. It contains well preserved relics and personal memorabilia pertaining to her life. The most macabre attraction is the coffin which she slept in.
C/Duque de Alba
Entry fee is 1 euro.
Opening hours: Daily 10am-1pm & 4-7pm (summer), 10am-1pm & 3-6pm (winter)
This Benedictine Monk retreat makes for an amazing break from the bustle of Barcelona. You can get a combined ticket from the station which includes the cable car.
The views from the top are stunning. Inside you can visit the Holy Grotto and listen to the world renowned Montserrat Boys Choir. Time your visit so you are there before 13:00 when the choir sing.
www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/montserrat-spain.html
www.pbase.com/ralf/montserrat
www.funimag.com/funimag14/montserrat01.htm
A monastery where you can avoid the usual hustle and hippies of McLeod, cheap clean accommodation, monks chanting- it's a working monastery. Really friendly and quiet- until the morning Puja kicks off at 6AM. I stayed for 6 months, so it must be good.
388 steps down from McLeod, past OM hotel. You can get a taxi from the bus stand, if you're lazy.
Excellent beer (first brewed at the monastery in 1455) and traditional Bavarian food in magnificent surroundings. You can even roam around the local countryside (including the nearby Amersee lake) to work off the extra calories.
www.andechs.de/index.asp?lng=en
www.andechs.de/englisch/service/anfahrt/index.html
A short trip on the S5 train south from Munich to Herrsching and then a walk (or bus/taxi) up to the monastery.
The rubbish district has to be seen to be believed. It lies at the foot of the Muqqatam hill behind the Islamic city and is home to Cairo's rag pickers who are mostly Christians originally from Middle Egypt. They have built an amazing monastery with an amphitheatre dug into the rock of the Muqqatam. The contrast between the order of the monastery and the filth of the rubbish is something.
Get an ordinary taxi rather than one of the fancy hotel ones to get to the place as the car's suspension gets tested by the narrow alleys in the district.
It's one of the few places in Cairo you'll see pigs.
Between the Islamic city and the Muqqatam hill.
The uncrowded beach is shaded by tamarisk trees and there is a taverna and a restaurant a short distance from the water's edge.
The monastery, which can be reached on foot by way of an ancient pilgrim's way, is a functioning spiritual centre of the Greek Orthodox church. Its collection of treasures, well worth seeing.
In the Dodecanese islands by boat from Kos, Leros or the north.
The 11th-century Byzantine Monastery of the Theotokos Eleusa, set above the village of Veljusa, is a sublime retreat amidst gardens and sloping lawns, decorated with centuries-old frescoes.
Follow the road leading up through Veljusa village, only a few minutes by car from Strumica.
There are three fantastic sights in this area - Torre de Belem, Monument to the Discoveries and for me the best was Mosteiro dos Jeronimos.
Get the 15 tram from Praca de Figueira and get off after Mosteiro dos Jeronimos. You need to walk up aways and take the footbridge over the road to get to the Torre de Belem, and the Monument to the Discoveries.
Bucovina is well known throughout the world for its painted monasteries. The churches were founded, in most cases, as family burial places of princes and high nobles. Each painter, although following the canonical iconographic program, interpreted the scenes in a slightly different way. The scenes were first painted on the interior walls, and then extended to the exterior ones. The reasons for such vast scenes were both religious and didactic: to promote Orthodoxy and to educate the illiterate.
The most interesting monasteries and churches in the Bucovina area are: Probota, St. John the New, St. Demetrius and St. Elijah in Suceava, Dragomirna, Patrauti, Parhauti, Slatina, Rasca, Baia, Dolhestii Mari, Sucevita, Arbore, Putna, Balinesti, Humor, Voronet and Moldovita.
Most of these churches have frescoes covering both their facades and their interior walls, and several of them have been included on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
See pictures, maps and detailed information about each monastery: www.romanianmonasteries.org/allchurches.html
Send your feedback or queries to been.there@guardian.co.uk
Search Been there
