The Sumela Monastery is one of the oldest and most historic monasteries in the Christian world. There are no exact records about when it was built or by who, but it is estimated that its history...
While you search intently for something, you may chance upon another rare discovery, one which deserves just as much attention. This is what has happened to an archaeologist and her team looking for...
Star Wars is many things to many people: nostalgia-tinted staple of childhood memory, space opera extraordinaire, modern day merchandising behemoth. For every starry-eyed fan there is probably a...
It is a mistake to think there wasn’t international travel during Jesus’ time. As this map of ancient merchant routes shows, the known world was linked by land and sea. Perhaps with some helpful...
Founded during the 8th century, the Abbey of St. Gall has served both the Church and scholars over the years. Its library has a particular draw because it is one of the oldest and most important...
The lost history of a sacred Scottish “healing island” has revealed its holy secrets in the skeletal dna of sick children, archaeologists in Edinburgh have announced. This string of majestical...
Kim Haines-Eitzen / The Conversation In today’s world, loneliness seems to have reached epidemic proportions. Countless studies have highlighted the serious and negative impact that loneliness has on...
Located on the Solovetsky Islands of Russia’s White Sea, the Solovetsky Monastery is a fortified monastic complex that dates back to the 15 th century. Initially, the monastery was home to a small...
Arguably the world’s most famous medieval manuscript, the wonderfully illustrated Book of Kells , was “created in 2 parts over 50 years,” Dr Bernard Meehan of Trinity College, Dublin, told reporters...
St. Daniel was completely devoted in his quest to contemplate spiritual and religious issues through a life of solitary contemplation. He really did not want to be disturbed in this endeavour and...
The Codex Amiatinus dates to the end of the 7th century AD; making it the oldest known surviving complete Catholic Bible written in the Latin Vulgate. It has been estimated that over 1500 calves were...
Vikings struck terror into the hearts of many in Europeans—and their reputation still lingers today when you ask a person to describe them. The answers given are that they were violent, hairy brutes...
Michael Foley / The Conversation Each year the holidays bring with them an increase in both the consumption of alcohol and concern about drinking’s harmful effects. Alcohol abuse is no laughing...
Himmerod Abbey, a Cistercian monastery that's existed for almost 900 years in what is now western Germany is closing down for good, due to running expenses and also a shortage of monks. Notably, the...
Scientists have found languages not used since the “Dark Ages” among ancient manuscripts revealed at the St. Catherine’s monastery in Egypt. It is the latest findings to be released from the 1,500-...
Historians in Georgia made a surprise discovery during restoration work, when they happened upon the location of the tomb of a renowned king from the 11 th century. Workers uncovered the gravestone...
The Phugtal Monastery is a Buddhist monastery located in the Ladakh region of the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. This monastery was constructed inside a natural cave, and is considered...
The library at St. Catherine's Monastery is considered one of the most important for ancient texts. New research examining a manuscript from the 6th century shows that it is not just the visible...
Ethiopia is a land full of ancient relics. For example, the fossil remains of the earliest hominins were found in Ethiopia. The oldest stone tools known to have been intelligently manufactured by...
The Katskhi Pillar is the name given to a natural limestone column located in Georgia. On the top of this monolith is a monastery, which was built during the 1990s. Today, a solitary monk by the name...
The city of Roses (Greek: Rhode) in Catalonia, Spain, founded most probably in 776 BC, became the basis for some remarkable stories that last from ancient times until now. In accordance with its...
It has been claimed that the Red Monastery, more specifically, its principal church, is one of three surviving examples of Byzantine architecture from the early period of that empire’s history, the...
Today, the predominant religion in the Middle East is Islam. Christianity, however, has also played an important role in the history of the Middle East and at one point was the largest religion in...
More than 100 sets of ancient human remains have been excavated from four cemeteries near the ruins of a medieval Christian monastery in Sudan. Researchers were surprised to find that many of the...