The Hilarion Monastery in Gaza is a new World Heritage Site

What was once the largest monastery in the Middle East, the Hilarion Monastery in the south of the Gaza Strip, is now considered an endangered World Heritage Site. The simultaneous inclusion on the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger is intended to recognise "both the value of the site and the need to protect it from danger", explained the committee of the UN cultural organisation Unesco in New Delhi on Friday. The decision at its annual meeting was taken as a matter of urgency in view of the threat posed by the ongoing war in Gaza.

The 195 signatory states agreed to contribute to the protection of the site and to refrain from taking any steps that could directly or indirectly harm it, as Unesco announced. The remains of the Hilarion Monastery, also known as "Tell Umm-el-Amr", were discovered in 1997 during construction work south of Gaza City. The remains of three successive churches were found, which were built around the tomb of St Hilarion of Gaza over a period of more than 400 years. The crypt is unrivalled in size and decoration in the Levant. The finds include mosaic and marble floors as well as four baptisteries.

Complex from the 4th to 9th century

The complex from the 4th to 9th centuries covers an area of 14,500 square metres. It is divided into an ecclesiastical part in the south, which was reserved for religious celebrations, and a pilgrimage area in the north, which includes a pilgrim hotel and a once heated bath of 1,000 square metres.

In January, the specialists entrusted with the excavations on behalf of the "EBAF", the Dominican-founded "French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem", warned of damage to the site in Gaza. The results of 28 years of research work are in danger. The background to this was, among other things, a later deleted video by the director of the Israeli Antiquities Authority, Eli Escusido, on Platform X. It showed Israeli soldiers in the warehouse where the French archaeologists had archived and stored their finds.

According to a report in the French-language Franciscan magazine "La Terre Sainte", the deleted version ended with a photo and the comment "A small display case was set up in the Knesset", which was later denied. The confiscation of artefacts would be prohibited under the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. The Hilarion Monastery was located at an important crossroads of the most important trade routes in the 5th and 6th centuries. According to Rene Elter, the French archaeologist responsible for the site, its layout and expansion indicate a sharp increase in baptisms and Christian pilgrimage tourism.

With the Arab invasion in the 7th century, the routes became unsafe and the site lost its importance. On top of this, an earthquake partially destroyed the site. According to Elter, coin finds from the Islamic period indicate that parts of the complex were used by Muslims. Grave finds also indicate that Christians and Muslims must have lived together for a certain period of time. Later inhabitants of the area continued to utilise the stones from the monastery complex as building material.

Founder of hermit monasticism in Syria and Palestine

The monastery's namesake, Hilarion of Gaza, is considered the founder of hermit monasticism in Syria and Palestine. According to the tradition of St Jerome, who wrote the life story of Hilarion in 392, he was born in Tabatha near Gaza in 291. He studied in Alexandria, was baptised and lived first in Egypt and then as a hermit in the desert near the present-day port of Gaza. A settlement of monks was already established there during his lifetime.

In 360, Hilarion fled persecution under Emperor Julian Apostata. He travelled via Egypt, Sicily and Dalmatia to Cyprus, where he died in 371. A disciple brought the body back to the monks' settlement in Gaza. In the course of the Crusades, his remains are said to have been brought to the southern French community of Duravel. There, Hilarion was honoured as a man of God and a miracle worker. After his death, this reputation quickly spread to other Christian areas.