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The Monastery of Jacob’s Well is located in Nablus, Palestine. It’s administered by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
According to Christian tradition, the Monastery of Jacob’s Well is the site of the meeting between Jesus and the Samaritan woman (John 4:7-15). Jesus rested there on his way to Jerusalem from Galilee. The well has existed since pre-Christian times and is associated with Jacob, a Patriarch of the Israelites.
History
The first church existed on the site around 384, but it was destroyed by the Samaritans in either 484 or 529. Byzantine Emperor Justinian I rebuilt the church, which stood until the 7th century. The Crusaders built another church in 1175, but it was destroyed shortly after Saladin defeated them in the Battle of Hattin in 1187. The well was still intact, and Christians continued to visit the site even without a church.
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem purchased the site in 1860. They founded the Monastery of Jacob’s Well and constructed the Church of St. Photini the Samaritan in 1893. The church was destroyed during an earthquake in 1927.
Church of St. Photini
The current Church of St. Photini was built in the 2010s by Father Ioustinos, a Greek Orthodox priest. He modeled it along the designs of the Crusader-era church. Father Ioustinos also did all of the mosaics and iconography in the church.
Jacob’s Well
Jacob’s Well is located in the crypt underneath the church. There are two staircases directly underneath the dome that lead down to the well.
St. Philoumenos
On November 29, 1979, the head of the Monastery of Jacob’s Well, Archimandrite Philoumenos (1913-1979), was murdered on the grounds. Asher Raby, a mentally ill and newly religious Jew from Tel Aviv, attacked the priest with an axe. He then threw a hand grenade that exploded and killed him. Philoumenos was canonized as a saint on September 11, 2009. A mosaic depicting St. Philoumenos sits on the church to the right of the doors.
A mosaic of Father Ioustinos, who replaced Archimandrite Philoumenos as the head of the Monastery of Jacob’s Well, is to the left of the doors.
