אל על | אטמוספירה

See the Sights I Eat, Travel, Enjoy

Not far from the Israel Museum lies the Valley of the Cross, a beautiful green lung in the heart of the city, full of olive and carob trees. The valley takes its name from the Christian tradition by which the cross on which Jesus was crucified was made from the wood of a tree that grew here. From inside the valley gardens, the views of the olive groves and ancient agricultural terraces are truly breathtaking, as is the adjacent Monastery of the Holy Cross, where Georgian monks used to live in the Middle Ages. The most famous of them was a man called Shota Rustaveli, the national poet of Georgia, who lived here around 1185. It was here that he wrote his most famous text, “The Knight in the Panther’s Skin”. The church that stands here today was built during the Crusader period (12 th century). From the large prayer hall, decorated with depictions of Christian saints, an entrance leads to the most sacred part of the church, the place where the tree of the cross grew. A series of ancient paintings tell the story of the tree, upon which the holiness of the monastery is based. Winter hours for visiting the church: Mon-Sat, 10am-4pm ˆ Nature in the heart of the city A walk through the Valley of the Cross / By Yaakov Shkolnik

Photos: Yaakov Shkolnik

22 ATMOSPHERE DECEMBER 2025