Abbey of Saint Mary of the Valley of Jehosaphat

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Abbey of Saint Mary of the Valley of Jehosaphat was a Benedictine monastery east of Jerusalem's Old City. It was founded by Godfrey of Bouillon on the site believed to be the tomb of the Virgin Mary and stood beside a Byzantine church that housed the shrine of Mary’s Assumption. The first monks came from Godfrey’s circle and cared for the Church of Saint Mary, the Grotto of the Agony, and the Church of Gethsemane near the Mount of Olives.

Arnulf of Chocques renovated the church in 1112. Queen Morphia was buried there, starting a practice of burying Jerusalem’s queens separately from their husbands, who were buried in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In 1120 King Baldwin II appointed his cousin Gilduin of Le Puiset as abbot. Queen Melisende was also buried there. Early travelers described the church and grotto in their writings, including John of Würzburg’s Description of the Holy Land and Theoderich’s Libellus de Locis Sanctis. The abbey remains a historic religious site in Israel.