The Monastery of the Cross is an ancient monastery in Valley of the Cross ( emek hamyzlava) in Jerusalem. The monastery resembles a fortress and is surrounded by a high wall made of hewn stone. From within the monastery it shows from a far a bell tower and a stone dome which has a crucifix on top of it. This is in fact the church dome which lies in the hart of the monastery and is considered the ancient and most sacred part of the monastery. According to Christian tradition the wooden cross of Jesus was made from an olive tree that grows on location.
The original monastery was destroyed in 614 AD during the Persian invasion .but was reformed by Georgian Christians in the 11th century .during that time the monastery flourished and among other things it was considered the biggest school in the world for theology (the theory of religion). During the Mameluke period (1250-1516 AD) in the days under the sultan baybars (1260 -1277 AD) the monastery was held by the Muslims and a musk was built on location. In 1305 it was returned to the Georgians.
During the independence war in Israel in the year 1948 a single monk who lived in the monastery escaped and the monastery became a "Gadna" base (youth battalions). Which guarded the structure during the war. At the end of the war the monastery was returned to Greek patriarchy which holds ownership up until this day.