Hill of Elijah

The Hill of Elijah is one of the most important sites on the Baptism Site; it is the place where Elijah ascended to heaven in the 9th century BC. On the western side of Elijah’s Hill, there is a cave where John lived and where Jesus was known to visit him. This is considered a very holy site, and therefore a church was built around the cave at the time the monastery was built in the 5th century. It was the first monastery east of the Jordan River on the early Christian pilgrimage route between Jerusalem and Bethlehem to the west and Mount Nebo to the east. Visually, the site is very similar to how it would have looked in the time of Jesus and John.