Old town - Beit Sahour

The Well: built by the Prophet Jacob, son of Isaac son of Abraham, when he lived for a while in Beit Sahour, behind the tower of the flock, after the death of his wife Rachel and burial in Bethlehem, where the two where on the way to Efrata (Genesis 36: 19-20) (Efrata means the fertile and indicates the Bethlehem area).

When the flight of the Virgin Mary with St. Joseph to Egypt with the baby Jesus, for fear of Herod the king, the well was so deep with no bucket to draw water. Mary asked one of the women who was filling her bucket from the well filling for a little water to drink, but the woman refused. Then Mary addressed the well, saying: "O well rise and rise … so that I drink from you and leave", the miracle occurred and the water began to rise, and Virgin Mary drank, then the water went down to the bottom again.

The traditions says that since that day until today there is always water in the well at the same level, which does not diminish or increase, although the believers drink from it almost every day. Many miracles have occurred in the well from apparitions to healing patients.

The Well today is rectangular in shape with an area of about 27 X 4 meters with a height of approximately 9 meters. It is mostly carved into the rock except for the top-north section built with stones, and it can hold 972 cubic meters of water that is received from the streets of the town's market in one hand and a water spring from inside it.

The Church building dates back to a miracle that occurred to a Greek woman in 1969 A.D. The woman was believed to have recovered from a serious illness upon drinking water from the well, as she was told to do so by the Virgin Mary in a dream.

Traces of an ancient church under a house next to the well were found, but no exploration was carried out in the region until today, although there is archaeological evidence. During the building of the church, a door leading to the well and a square hole located on the right side of it were found. Traces of human feet and seats carved in the rock next to the well were also found but have been removed during the restoration.

This is the spot where the "Shepherds kept watch" (Luke 2: 8). On the night that Christ was born, Archangel Gabriel spoke to them and they heard the angelic proclamation "Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth and good will toward men" (Luke 2: 14). The site is also well known for its ancient Olive Trees that date back to the time before Jesus’s birth; tradition holds that two of these trees mark the location where Kind David wrote many of his Psalms.

Pious traditions also associated the Shepherds' Fields with the place where Jacob pastured his flock and built the "Tower of Gader" (tower of the flock) referred to in Genesis 35: 21, after the death of his wife Rachel on the way to Efrata (means the fertile and indicates the Bethlehem area) while giving birth to their son Benjamin (Genesis 35: 16).

This cave was one of many churches built by Saint Helena in the year 325 A.D. when she came to the Holy Land to find the True Cross of our Lord, and converted the natural cave into a church, which still operates today. It has an arched roof and a mosaic floor. It is one of the very few Churches that contain the original building by Saint Helena.

The underground church is dedicated to the Synaxis of the Mother of God, to Joseph the Betrothed and the shepherds. Tradition states that three of the shepherds to whom the angel announced the birth of Christ were buried in the west side of the Cave Church and their tomb and bones are still visible to this day. Today, only the crypt of the church remains. This dark subterranean chapel contains an altar facing eastward with a number of icons and a small apse behind it.

The traditions also indicate that Saint Paula constructed a Church in the sport in the 5th century, but was destroyed by the Samaritans in the year 530 AD. Then the Emperor Justinian re-constructed the Church until it was destroyed by the Persians in the year 614 AD who killed all the monks that were there. Then the Emperor Hercules re-constructed it in the year 632 AD, but it was later destroyed again.

During the Islamic ruling of the region (638 – 1099 AD), the monastery was rebuilt surrounded with high walls, to provide asylum and protection to the desert monks, and had a monastic brotherhood until the 11th century when the monastery was completely destroyed by the Crusaders, after which it was abandoned by the monks.

The monastery was deserted and only the cave Church remained, under the care of the Fathers Forefathers Orthodox Church’ congregation and priests at that time as a devotional area for Christians residents of the area and those pilgrims who visited the holy land, until the year 1971, when the Patriarch of Jerusalem at that time, at the initiative and instigation of the late Elder Seraphim the Sabbaitis (the first, after many years, Abbot and founder of the current Monastery of the Shepherds), decided to build a new large Church at the traditional site, adjacent to the cave, and finished in the year 1989 AD.

The new Church was named "Glory to God in the Highest," and has three holy altars which are dedicated as follows: the main altar to the Mother of God, the altar on the right to the great martyr and healer – Saint Panteleimon, and the altar on the left side to the archangels Michael and Gabriel and all the heavily hosts.

Over the centuries the Monastery of the shepherds has also been known as the "Tower of Gader", "Property of Boaz", "Property of King David", "The land of Jacob and Rachael", "Property of Joachim and Anne", and "The fields of Virgin Mary".

The Monastery of St. Theodosius, also known in Arabic as "Deir Dosi" and "Ibn Obeid", stands, according to tradition, on the site where the three wise men rested on their way back from visiting the infant Jesus in Bethlehem, about 10 km east of Beit Sahour, the entrance to the desert of Judah, built on the ruins of the monastery was founded by St. Theodosius in the year 465 AD. The cave where the wise men rested appears today as one of the main sections of the monastery.

The monastery is located on the southern part of the Jerusalem desert, built in an amazing archeological structure, with parts above each other, on the top of a hill that is part of a series of hills and mountains. It was built during the year 484 AD by 5000 monks who were there at that time lead by the famous monk of St. Sava.