Gerard Dockery says:
Rongbuk Monastery (Tibetan: རྫ་རོང་ཕུ་དགོན་, Wylie: rdza rong phu dgon; other spellings include Rongpu, Rongphu, Rongphuk and Rong sbug (simplified Chinese: 绒布寺; traditional Chinese: 絨布寺; pinyin: Róngbù Sì)), also known as Dzarongpu or Dzarong[citation needed], is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery of the Nyingma sect in Basum Township, Dingri County, in Shigatse Prefecture of Tibet.
Rongbuk Monastery lies near the base of the north side of Mount Everest at 5,009 metres (16,434 ft) above sea level, at the end of the Dzakar Chu valley. Rongbuk is claimed to be the highest-elevation monastery in the world. However, the true highest monastery in the world is Drirapuk Monastery in Ngari Prefecture, at an altitude of 5,072 metres (16,640 ft). For Sherpas living on the south slopes of Everest in the Khumbu region of Nepal, Rongbuk Monastery was an important pilgrimage site, accessed in a few days' travel across the Himalaya through the Nangpa La.The monastery was also regularly visited by the early expeditions to Mount Everest in the 1920s and 1930s after a five-week journey from Darjeeling in the Indian foothills of the Himalaya. Most past and current expeditions attempting to summit Mount Everest from the north, Tibetan, side establish their Base Camp near the tongue of Rongbuk Glacier about 8 km (5 mi) south of the Monastery. The 1922 black and white silent film "Climbing Mt. Everest" includes a lengthy sequence showing the Rongbuk Lama, the monastery buildings and ritual dancing (for around 20 minutes, starting 35 minutes into the film).
Today, the monastery is accessible by road after a two- to three-hour drive from the Friendship Highway from either Shelkar (New Tingri) or Old Tingri. From Rongbuk Monastery, there are dramatic views of the north face of Mount Everest, and one of the first British explorers to see it, John Noel, described it: "Some colossal architect, who built with peaks and valleys, seemed here to have wrought a dramatic prodigy—a hall of grandeur that led to the mountain."
Rongbuk Monastery was founded in 1902 by the Nyingmapa Lama Ngawang Tenzin Norbu in an area of meditation huts and caves that had been in use by communities of nuns since the 18th century. Hermitage meditation caves dot the cliff walls all around the monastery complex and up and down the valley. Mani stone walls, carved with sacred syllables and prayers, line the paths.
The founding Rongbuk Lama, also known as Zatul Rinpoche, was much respected by the Tibetans. Even though the Rongbuk Lama viewed the early climbers as "heretics," he gave them his protection and supplied them with meat and tea while also praying for their conversion. It was the Rongbuk Lama who gave Namgyal Wangdi the name Ngawang Tenzin Norbu, or Tenzing Norgay, as a young child.
In previous times, the Monastery became very active with Buddhist teachings at certain times of the year. It was, and is, the destination of special Buddhist pilgrimages where annual ceremonies are held for spectators coming from as far away as Nepal and Mongolia. These ceremonies were shared with satellite monasteries across the Himalaya also founded by the Rongbuk Lama. These ceremonies continue to this day, notably at the Sherpa Monastery at Tengboche.
Rongbuk Monastery was completely destroyed by the excesses of China's Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) by 1974, and was left in ruins for several years, as recorded by photo-journalist Galen Rowell in 1981.
The monastery's vast treasury of books and costumes, which had been taken for safekeeping to Tengboche, was lost in a 1989 fire.
Since 1983 renovation work has been carried out and some of the new murals are reportedly excellent. Adjacent to the monastery there is a basic guesthouse and small but cosy restaurant.
According to Michael Palin, it now houses thirty Buddhist monks and thirty nuns, but another source reports that locals say there are only about 20 nuns and 10 monks, although previously there were about 500 monks and nuns living here.In 2011, Rongbuk Monastery was ranked at the top of CNN's 'Great Places to be a Recluse'
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Gerard Dockery says:
The Assumption Monastery of the Caves (Russian: Успенский пещерный монастырь, Ukrainian: Успенський печерний монастир) is located in Crimea, near Bakhchysarai. It is a cave monastery carved out of a cliff.
The date of the monastery's foundation is disputed, although local monks assert that it originated as early as the 8th century but was abandoned when Byzantium lost its hold on the region. The current monastic establishment dates back to the 15th century.
In 1921 the monastery was closed by the Soviet government. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Ukrainian independence the monastery was reopened to the public in 1993.
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Gerard Dockery says:
Simonopetra Monastery (Greek: Σιμωνόπετρα, literally: "Simon's Rock"), also Monastery of Simonos Petra (Greek: Μονή Σίμωνος Πέτρας), is an Eastern Orthodox monastery in the monastic state of Mount Athos in Greece. It ranks 13th in the hierarchy of the Athonite monasteries.
It is on the southern coast of the Athos peninsula, between the Athonite port of Dafni and Osiou Grigoriou monastery. While the southern coast of Athos is generally quite rugged, the site upon which the monastery is built is exceptionally harsh. It is built on top of a single huge rock, practically hanging from a cliff 330 metres over the sea. It currently houses 54 monks. Its hegumen is Archimandrite Eliseus.
The monastery was founded in the 13th century by Simon the Athonite, who was later sanctified by the Eastern Orthodox Church as Saint Simon the Myrrh-bearer. Tradition holds that Simon, while dwelling in a nearby cave, had a vision where the Theotokos instructed him to build a monastery on top of the rock, promising she would protect and provide for him and the monastery. Simon called the original monastery "New Bethlehem" (Greek: Νέα Βηθλεέμ); to this day, it is dedicated to the Nativity of Jesus.
In 1364, the Serbian despot Jovan Uglješa funded the monastery's renovation and expansion, issuing a royal chrysobull for it in 1368.
Russian pilgrim Isaiah wrote that, by the end of the 15th century, the monastery was Bulgarian.
In 1567, the arsanas (port building) of Simonopetra was completed. Its construction was funded by a Wallachian noble.
In 1581, Simonopetra was destroyed by a fire, in which a large portion of the monks died. Evgenios, the monastery's abbot traveled to the Danubian Principalities hoping to raise funds to rebuild the monastery. The most important donor was Michael the Brave, Prince of Wallachia, who donated large portions of land as well as money to the monastery. The monastery was also burnt in 1626, and the last great fire happened in 1891, after which the monastery was rebuilt in its current form.
In recent centuries, the monks of the monastery were traditionally from Ionia in Asia Minor. However, during the mid-20th century, the brotherhood was greatly reduced by a reduction in the influx of new monks. The current brotherhood originates from the Holy Monastery of Great Meteoron in Meteora, when in 1973 Emilianos (Vafidis) [ru] (also known as Aimilianos of Simonopetra) and his monks moved into Simonopetra, hence repopulating the almost abandoned monastery. He served as Abbot of Simonopetra from 1974 until 2000.
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Gerard Dockery says:
The monastery consists of several multi-storeyed buildings, the main being in the place of the original structure, built by Simon. The main building has been described as the "most bold construction of the peninsula". The monks of Simonopetra traditionally count the floors from top to bottom, thus the top floor is the first floor and the bottom floor the last. The monastery is built on top of the underlying massive rock, and the rock runs through the lower floors.
The expansion and development of Simon's original structure almost always followed one of the monastery's great fires. Following the 1580 fire and with the funds gathered by abbot Evgenios, the western building was erected. The eastern building was built following the 1891 fire mostly with funds raised in Russia.
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Gerard Dockery says:
Qannoubine is a medieval monastery located within the Qannoubine region of the Kadisha Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site in Lebanon.
Qannoubine was home to Marina the Monk. The monastery was founded in the 14th century. It served Maronite Patriarchs from the 15th to the 19th centuries. The monastery was recognised by UNESCO in 1998.
Gerard Dockery says:
The Dryanovo Monastery (Bulgarian: Дряновски манастир, Dryanovski manastir, [ˈdrʲanofski mɐnɐsˈtir]) is a functioning Bulgarian Orthodox monastery situated in the Andaka River Valley, in Bulgarka Nature Park in the central part of Bulgaria five kilometers away from the town of Dryanovo. It was founded in the 12th century, during the Second Bulgarian Empire, and is dedicated to Archangel Michael. Twice burnt down and pillaged during the Ottoman rule of Bulgaria, the monastery was restored at it present place in 1845. It was the site of several battles during the April Uprising of 1876.
Gerard Dockery says:
The Holy Mountains Lavra of the Holy Dormition (Ukrainian: Свято-Успенська Святогірська Лавра, Sviatohirsk Lavra or the Sviatohirsk Cave Monastery) is a major Orthodox Christian monastery on the steep right bank of the Siverskyi Donets River. The name comes from the surrounding Holy Mountains; the Holy Dormition is another term for the death of the Virgin Mary.
The monastery is near the town of Sviatohirsk (so named for the monastery in 2003), in Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. The monastery also forms the centrepiece of the Holy Mountains National Nature Park (established 1997). The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) proclaimed it a lavra in 2004.
The first written mention of the monastery dates from 1627, although Sigismund von Herberstein had alluded to the "Holy Mountains" area as early as 1526. It is likely that the first monks settled the area in the 15th century. At the time it was a minor monastic establishment in the Wild Fields regularly ravaged by the Crimean Tatars.
In 1787, Catherine II had it shut down. The monastery's lands were secularized and donated to Prince Grigory Potemkin, the Viceroy of New Russia. One of his heirs, Alexandr Mikhailovich Potemkin, and his wife Tatiana, née Princess Galitzine, financed the monastery's restoration, starting in 1844.
Before the October Revolution, the Sviatohirsk Monastery owned a worker's shop, windmills, various kinds of repair shops, and trading buildings. The lavra's main Dormition Cathedral was designed by Alexey Gornostaev, who included a traditional Byzantine tower. From 1917 onward, the Bolsheviks plundered and desecrated the monastery on numerous occasions, beating and murdering many monks and in 1922, they shut the monastery down completely, setting up a Sanatorium for the Donbas workers on the grounds.
Before World War I, the monastery was inhabited by approximately 600 monks. During the 1930s, some of the churches were demolished by the Soviets, along with other numerous religious sites throughout the Soviet Union.
After the fall of the Soviet Union and the regaining of Ukrainian independence in 1991, the monastery was restored a year later. In 2004, the monastery was officially granted the status of a Ukrainian Orthodox Church lavra. Today, the monastery community consists of more than 100 monks, and is increasing each year.
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Gerard Dockery says:
Kuştul Monastery (Turkish: Kuştul Manastırı, Greek: Ιερά Μονή του Αγίου Γεωργίου Περιστερεώτα[a]) was a Greek Orthodox monastery, located near Şimşirli village, Maçka district, Trabzon Province, Turkey.
Founded in 752 CE at 30 km southeast of Trabzon, it underwent restoration after it was damaged in a fire in 1906. The monastery's Greek name is Saint George Peristereotas. The name was derived from the monk Peristereotis (peristeri meaning pigeon in Greek).
Legend has it that a flock of pigeons descended from the forests of Sourmena and guided three monks who were carrying the icon of Saint George to the place where the monastery was built. During its heyday the monastery consisted of 187 rooms/cells and a large library which housed over 7000 volumes of works. In 1203 and after 450 years of continuous use, the monastery was depopulated and for two centuries no monk lived within it. The monastery was abandoned after it was sacked by raiders.
In 1398 permission was granted by the Emperor of Trebizond, Manuel III for the monastery to reopen. Its abbots were then Theophanes of Lazia (1393-1426), Barnabas of Lazia (1426–49) and Methodios of Sourmaina (from 1449).[2] In 1462 the monastery was partly destroyed when robbers and looters stole many of its heirlooms. Many of its possessions were also lost in the fires of 1483. In 1501 the monastery was placed under the immediate jurisdiction (stauropegic) of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, and remained so until its abandonment.
The monastery closed on January 17, 1923, when the monks and other Greek residents were expelled to Greece.[3] A monastery with the same name was inaugurated on June 16, 1978, in Naousa, Imathia, which is where the monks of Kuştul Monastery are buried.
The monastery is abandoned and only the base of the church survives today.
Gerard Dockery says:
Mar Lishaa or St Elisha (دير مار ﺃليشع), mentioned first in the 14th century, is shared by two communities, a Maronite solitary order and the Barefoot Carmelite order. It consists of three or four small cells, a refectory, and some offices; the communal church includes four chapels cut into the rock-face.
Gerard Dockery says:
Lhuentse Dzong is a dzong and Buddhist monastery in Lhuentse District in eastern Bhutan. It lies on the eastern side of the Kuri Chhu and is perched on a spur at the end of a narrow valley.
The Dzong was initially known as Kurtoed in the then-isolated Lhuentse District. It is the ancestral home of the House of Wangchuck (Dasho Jigme Namgyal was born there in 1825).
While its geographic coordinates are in eastern Bhutan, its cultural roots are central Bhutanese. This was because before road traffic connected it to Mongar, the approach was through a trade route crossing Rodang Pass.
The Dzong is located in the Kuri Chhu valley, which is part of the Lhuentse district. The Kuri Chhu is the major river that has formed the scenic valley with high peaks and steep hills. Kuri Chhu is a tributary of the Manas River system, which is the largest river of Bhutan and a major tributary of the Brahmaputra River that drains most of Eastern Bhutan.
The road from Mongar to Lheuntse Dzong is a 3 hours drive over a distance of 74 kilometres (46 mi) and 63 kilometres (39 mi) from its junction at Gangola. The approach to this Dzong is over a flag-stone-paved path over the steep cliffs.
According to one legend, Khedrup Kuenga Wangpo, son of Tertön Pema Lingpa was assigned to find a ridge resembling the trunk of an elephant. He found one opposite Baeyul Khenpajong and mediated there. This location came to be known as Kurtoed Lhuentse Phodrang.
The monastery was originally established by Pema Lingpa's son Kuenga Wanpo in 1543, although it wasn't until 1654 that the Trongsa penlop (governor), Minjur Tenpa, built a formal dzong here after winning a battle and named it Lhuentse Rinchentse. The dzong was later restored in 1962 and again between 1972 and 1974. The historic importance of Lhuentse Dzongkhag is on account of its established link as the ancestral home of the Wangchuck Dynasty. Lhuentse town is the administrative capital of Lhuentse District, besides the Lhuentse Dzong.[8] At present 100 monks reside here.
The dzong contains five temples, three of which are in the central tower and are dedicated to Padmasambhava. The dzong also contains a Gonkhang, which is dedicated to Mahākāla, and a temple dedicated to Amitāyus, the Buddha of Infinite Life. The ground floor also has a temple dedicated to Avalokiteśvara. The Kunre, the assembly hall for the monks, is located on the upper floor.
The dzong has suffered serious damage during an earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter magnitude scale that hit eastern Bhutan on Monday, 21 September 2009. Many other monasteries in the region also suffered serious damage.
Khoma village, which is an hour walk from the main road to Lhuentse Dzong is famous for its intricate woven cloth made of silk called Kishuthara.
Other well known pilgrimage sites of Padmasambhava i Lhuentse Dzongkhag are Singye Dzong, the beyul Khenpajong (Wylie: mkhan pa ljongs) and Phunying Pass. Singye Dzong was founded by Yeshe Tsogyal and visited by Padmasambhava on his second visit to Bhutan, which is a three-day trek from Khoma.
Gerard Dockery says:
Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi (Syriac: ܕܝܪܐ ܪܡܪܝ ܡܘܫܐ ܟܘܫܝܐ deiro d-mor mūše kūšoyo; Arabic: دير مار موسى الحبشي, ALA-LC: dayr mār Mūsá al-Ḥabashī), literally, the Monastery of Saint Moses the Abyssinian, is a monastic community of the Syriac Catholic Church located near the town of Nabk, Syria, approximately 80 km (50 mi) north of Damascus, on the eastern slopes of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains. The main church of the monastic compound hosts precious frescoes dating to the 11th and 12th century.
An ancient building, stone circles, lines and tombs were recently discovered near the monastery in 2009 by archaeologist Robert Mason of the Royal Ontario Museum. Mason suggested that the ruins may date back 10,000 years and were likely constructed in the Neolithic period (such as the Heavy Neolithic Qaraoun culture of the Anti-Lebanon).
The lack of evidence for a farming community before the 6th century suggests that the original structures for what is now the monastery were either state impositions or monastic/ecclesiastical foundations. The two oldest extant structures on the site were likely Roman watchtowers built to oversee the road from Palmyra to Damascus. The earliest manuscript and coinage attestations indicate that the monastery was likely founded in the sixth century, supported by the network of lavra in nearby rock-faces which seem to date from this period. The site was largely rebuilt in both the 11th and 16th centuries. Its 11th-12th century frescoes, dating from between 1058 and 1208, represent ‘the only full program of mediaeval church decoration to have survived in greater Syria’ and provide important evidence of the growth of the medieval Syrian school of painting.
The larger ‘Roman’ tower seems to have been reconstructed in the 12th century, with well-dressed, well-lain stonework and vaulting on the ground floor, suggesting the involvement of professional engineers and masons, likely in response to a series of earthquakes in 1138 and again in 1157. The tower also yields pottery almost exclusively from the 14th century, including a piece of Yuan-dynasty Longquan celadon stoneware from China.
In 1838, the place, named Deir Mar Musa, was noted as having a Syriac population. The monastery was abandoned some time in the 19th century after intermittent activity from the 15th century onwards, but was refounded in 1992 when Paolo Dall'Oglio, with deacon Jacques Mourad (now Archbishop of Homs), “officially” founded under the authority of the Syriac Catholic Church a double monastic community (men and women, which is normally contrary to the XX canon of the Second Council of Nicaea), named "Al-Khalil Monastic Community of Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi", devoted to four tasks: prayer (in Arabic salat), work (amal), hospitality (dayafa) and dialogue (hiwar).
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Gerard Dockery says:
Trashigang Dzong (Dzongkha: བཀྲ་ཤིས་སྒང་རྫོང, literally "The Fortress of the Auspicious Hill") is one of the largest dzong fortresses in Bhutan, located in Trashigang in Trashigang District of Bhutan. The fortress was built in 1659 to defend against Tibetan invasions. The dzong hosted a monastic community besides acting as the central administrative center of the Trashigang District, before they were shifted due to the ongoing restoration.
The fortress was built in 1659 atop a ledge with steep cliffs on three sides, overlooking the Drangme Chhu and Gamri Chhu rivers. The construction of the dzong was prophesied by Ngawang Namgyal who ordered the Penlop (Governor) of Trongsa, Chhogyal Minjur Tempa to put down local chieftains and construct the dzong. According to legend, the sight of the Dzong scared the Tibetan army which retreated while remarking that the Dzong was a "Sky Dzong and was not on the ground". The dzong was further expanded by Gyalsey Tenzin Rabgye between 1680 and 1694 and by Dzongpon Dopola in 1936. The dzong was consecrated and named as Trashigang by Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje. After the 1962 Sino-Indian War, Bhutan allowed Indian soldiers returning home to pass through Eastern Bhutan. However they were required to deposit their rifles at the armoury in the Dzong, and proceed through Bhutan unarmed. The rifles lie in the Dzong to this day. The dzong celebrates the four day long Trashigang Tshechu festival every year, with around 1500 people attending the celebrations on each day.
The dzong developed wide cracks as a result of the 2009 Bhutan earthquake, whose epicenter was 10 miles (16 km) away from the dzong. A partnership between World Monuments Fund, Prince Claus Fund and the Bhutan Foundation was instrumental for assistance in emergency repairs at the dzong. In February 2014, the Government of India allotted Nu.190 million for renovating the dzong. The renovation works are expected to be completed by June 2018, while the costs have risen to Nu.227.5 million. A drasha (monk hostel) for 50 monks, besides a tshokhang (dining area) are built outside the dzong's premises for safety and health reasons. The government is also recruiting local unemployed youth to construct the dzong, and will be using locally sourced materials in the construction, including timber mostly from Bumthang and stones from Chazam. The Trashigang district administrative offices have been temporarily relocated to the Trashigang Middle Secondary School while the clergy were moved to a school in Samkhar Gewog, about 10 km away from the dzong.
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