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 reached its golden age between the fifth and seventh centuries, where it used to contain four churches, and the number of monks and nuns living inside the monastery was around 700 while the ones living in the rituals around the monastery were about 2,500 and they were filled with love, obedience, asceticism and high spirituality.
In addition to the church where the Divine Liturgy is held, there used to be a theology school with workshops, stables for animals and other facilities, but they did not last due to the Persians' attacks in 614 AD, and the slaughter of 5,000 monks and nuns. But the monastery returned to the prosperity of the twelfth century atheists, until the Crusaders period during the fifteenth century when the monastery was evacuated and became the haven of the tribe of "Ibn Obaid", hence the Arabic name.
In 1881 AD, the director of the Holy Cross School of Theology in Jerusalem bought the ruins of the monastery from the Bedouins, and in 1896 AD the Patriarch of Jerusalem at that time laid the foundation stone of the new monastery, until the current building was inaugurated in 1952 AD.
Saint Theodosius died in 520 AD, and his grave now lies in a cave inside the white walls of the monastery.
The opening hours of the monastery for believers and visitors is from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm.