Israel's Tourism Ministry has reopened access to the Saint George Monastery lookout in the Judean Desert, ending three y...

Israel's Tourism Ministry has reopened access to the Saint George Monastery lookout in the Judean Desert, ending three years of blocked entry that began after the October 7 massacre. The fifth-century Greek Orthodox monastery is carved directly into the steep cliffs above Wadi Kelt, roughly four kilometers from Jericho, and once ranked among the most visited religious sites in the region. Tour guides described it as a guaranteed "wow" moment for pilgrims and tourists traveling between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, the kind of stop that left first-time visitors speechless. The road to the lookout had been shut since October 2023, sealed off by a network of electronic arm barriers and access codes installed by both the nearby Mitzpe Yeriho settlement and the IDF. What had been a standard detour for tour buses became effectively unreachable overnight. Under the new procedure, travelers stop at the guard post at the entrance to Mitzpe Yeriho, present identification, and receive access codes for two electronic gates along a newly paved perimeter road that bypasses the settlement's residential areas entirely. A third gate, controlled by the IDF and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, requires pressing an intercom for entry. From there, it is a four-kilometer drive to the lookout, where visitors can descend a steep paved path to the monastery grounds. The Greek Orthodox complex was originally established in the fifth century and has been home to a small community of monks for well over 1,500 years. The monastery was destroyed by Persian invaders in 614 CE and sat in ruin for over a thousand years before a Greek monk undertook its restoration in 1878, with the work completed in 1901. The churches inside hold religious paintings, icons, and mosaics, and the monastery is widely considered one of the most remarkable religious sites in the entire Middle East. #SaintGeorgeMonastery #GreekOrthodox #JudeanDesert