Iconomania

Iconomania

Above the monastery of Saint Paul hovers a second monastery built into the mountain and still under construction.   We were told by the gatekeeper below that pilgrims generally lend a hand and haul a bag of cement up there.   I don’t know if he expected us to oblige but we didn’t and probably wouldn’t have made it up had we tried –at least not me.  The place seems to be being built without any master plan, according to some organic brand of engineering perhaps only understood by a holy few.  Staircases run up and down the mountain with Babylonian busyness linking corridors, patios, chapels – seven in all – refectories, monks’ cells and stables.  Though water has to be carried up the hill, the monks have not neglected their potted gardens, growing vines over trellises to filter out the desert sun.  Many of the gardens sprout plaster statuettes of Jesus and Mary and near the entrance, preposterous paper mache figures of giant, jolly saints, Santas and  jungle beasts greet guests.   If you have a penchant for kitsch, particularly religious kitsch, you should consider visiting one day.

Here’s a saint who got his eye put out by a Bedouin, I think.  Can’t remember his name though.

I like the underwater effect on this one of Jesus and The Baptist

Here the camels caught my eye

Sam and John in the garden of kitsch

Polka-dotted Jesus

Saint Paul’s supposed tomb.  This is actually in a cave and part of the chapel.  Being in the saint’s presence cleanses you of evil they say.  I stayed in there for a few minutes, needing the bath.

And a few more random folk icons

Oh, and I forgot to include a photo of Ayman’s alligator.  Here it is: