During a recent visit of Putin to Jordan, Amman gave Russia a piece of land near the site of the baptism of Jesus. The Russian-Orthodox Church plans to build a small hotel there and to send some monks.

Moscow (AsiaNews/Agencies) –The Moscow Patriarchate plans to promote pilgrimages to the river Jordan after Amman gave Russia a land plot near the official site of the baptism of Jesus.

‘We are going to make use of the hospitable gesture of Jordan and to promote pilgrimages particularly to this region,’ said Bishop Mark of Egorievsk, the deputy president of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate.

 During a recent visit of the Russian President Vladimir Putin to Amman, the Jordanian government gave the Russian Federation “perpetual and free use” of a land plot near the Jordan River. According to Bishop Mark, “a small hotel will be built there so pilgrims could stay for some time”. There are plans to have one or two Orthodox monks “who will live and pray near this biblical site”. The details of the project are currently being discussed.

The bishop said that at the moment “only a few people” visit the site of the baptism of Jesus. This is because the site is in a frontier zone and getting there from Israel is difficult because the place is open to believers only twice a year, on the Epiphany (6 January) and on the Tuesday of Holy Week before Easter. However from the side of Jordan, pilgrims can visit the site without restrictions.

President Putin visited Jordan on 13 February accompanied by the Archimandrite Tikhon, head of the Russian-Orthodox mission in Jerusalem (see photo).

• russia
• jordan
• christians
• orthodox
• pilgrimages