To get to the cache you must enter the monastery and follow the pedestrian path SE towards the cave.
The monastery is usually CLOSED on Wednesdays and a DRESS CODE is required to enter the premises (refer to the dress code picture in the gallery).
The cache is placed in a rock crevice behind big tree roots. When walking the path, it is located to your left at about 2 meters above the path level.
The cache is a micro container. It contains only a logbook, so please bring your own pen.
Happy Geocaching!
About:
Holy Dormition of the Theotokos Monastery - Hamatoura
In the Syriac language, Hamatoura means 'protectress of the mountain', for there is a popular tradition that the Virgin Mary protects all inhabitants of the Qadisha (Sacred) valley, and the monastery itself is dedicated to the Virgin. Among the peaceful refuges of the valley, Hamatoura is one of the largest and most impressive. In this remote site, far from the dangers and temptations of the world, generations of Christian monks and hermits have lived in solitude, meditation and prayer.
The tranquil history of Hamatoura was broken by an entire century of abandonment from 1890 to 1990. But the monastery is now reviving, thanks largely to the enthusiasm and goodwill of its Abbot, Father Panthalemon Farah. In the last decade, monks from Lebanon, Syria and Jordan have come to settle at Hamatoura.
Hamatoura's origins are ancient. Father Panthalemon Farah places the foundation of the monastery church in the tenth century, and popular tradition dates it to the eighth century at least, and even to the fourth or fifth centuries. The Church altar is thought to have come from a Roman temple that may have originally occupied the site. Such early dates cannot be confirmed, but there are several clear witnesses to the monastery in the Crusader period.