The area around Latrun is rich in history. As early as the 12th century, Crusaders built a fortress here, the ruins of which are still visible today. Centuries later, in Ottoman Palestine, Trappist monks from France came to this region. In 1890, at the initiative of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, they established their first settlement here and acquired land as well as existing buildings in the area.
What the monks found was barren and scarcely developed. With patience and perseverance, they cultivated the hills. They planted olive trees and vineyards, built simple structures, and thus laid the foundation for what still defines Latrun today: a combination of spiritual life and hard physical labor. The monastery was dedicated to “Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows” – a name that, in retrospect, appears almost prophetic.
The First World War brought an abrupt rupture. Ottoman troops expelled the monks, looted the compound, and left destruction behind. When the community returned after the war, it began again – without many words, but with the same determination as before.
NEW BEGINNING
This new beginning ultimately...
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