Jerusalem - St Mark's Monastery

St Mark's Monastery's richly ornamented 12th century church in Jerusalem is traditionally believed to occupy the site of the house belonging to Mary, mother of Mark the Evangelist, where Peter took refuge after escaping from the prison in which he had been confined by Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12,12-17). Just inside the church, to the right, is an inscription in Aramaic, and in the nave are a silver- mounted font and above this an icon of the Virgin which the monks ascribe to Luke the Evangelist (who is believed in the Eastern church to have painted the earliest, and therefore the authentic, icon of the Mother of God). There is also a richly carved patriarchal throne.