1000-year old churches in Aabeidat

The lush valley between Aabeidat  & Saqiyat el Khayt is rich with very old and abandoned churches

On our hike downwards, we passed through interesting rock formations, a nice introduction to the old cave churches.

Towards the bottom of the valley, we found a small hole that barely fits a human.

This hole leads to Mar Antonios, a 500 year old church

What seemed tiny from the outside turned out to be a multi-room and 2-level structure.

Going from one room to the other required careful attention for each step

I wonder what it was like for visitors to spend time in this church, nested inside a beautiful valley.

We then continued further down to reach a dry riverbed.

The very bottom led to a panoramic view, with the church secretly reigning.

There's actually several other churches, which are dated 1000 years old. They're supposedly easier to find than Mar Antonios, but we never managed to find them.

The hike back up was quite hard, especially since we eventually wandered off trail and had to find an alternative way to reach the top.

By then it was getting late in the day, and the plants started showing off their golden colors.

I took my shirt off to ease the sweat away, and in the meantime Jad took this shot which I love.