Tantour

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The hill Tantour (also Tantur, English Tantour Hill ) is located in the West Bank south of Jerusalem on the road to Bethlehem .

history

The hill, just over 800  m high, was bought by the Sovereign Order of Malta in 1869 . With the support and patronage of Pope Pius IX. and Emperor Franz-Joseph of Austria , a hospital was built and inaugurated on June 11, 1876, which the Order of Malta operated until 1939. In the following years the buildings were confiscated from different sides and used as a military hospital or barracks. The site was officially returned to the order in 1957. Several attempts to use the building again as a hospital or pilgrims' hostel failed. Therefore, the Pro Tantour Foundation was established in 1964 with the task of reviving the Tantour estate. Plans for a pilgrims' hostel had already been drawn up when the Holy See approached the Order of Malta with a request for the site to be handed over. Pope Paul VI had agreed at his historic meeting with the Orthodox Patriarch Athenagoras I in January 1964 to found an ecumenical institute for theological studies in the Holy Land. The hill Tantour was ideal because of its location near Jerusalem. After negotiations, a large part of the area including the old buildings was given to the Holy See. Between 1967 and 1970 the old hospital was demolished and the Ecumenical Institute Tantur was built under the direction of the University of Notre Dame (USA) and inaugurated in 1972.

The Sovereign Order of Maltese Knights still had an area of ​​around 2 hectares, on which the Pro Tantour Foundation built the Memorial Residence of the Knights of Malta as a pilgrimage home from 1977 to 1982 , using parts of the old hospital. Since 1997 the building has housed a branch of the Catholic Beatitudes Community .

"Philermos" project

In addition, the aim of the “Pro Tantour” foundation and the Order of Malta is to build a retirement and nursing home for the Christian population on the Tantour hill. In the final stage, it should offer space for 90 senior citizens and disabled people and create 40 jobs.

swell

Coordinates: 31 ° 44 '  N , 35 ° 12'  E