The first official bilateral meeting between Romanian and Israeli experts on restoring the Romanian Skete at the River Jordan took place on Wednesday at the monastic establishment.
Archimandrite Ioan Meiu, Representative of the Romanian Patriarchate in the Holy Land, announced it in a social media post.
Architect Bogdan Teodorescu and conservator-restorer Cătălin Palamariu attended the meeting; His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel appointed them to represent the Romanian side in discussions with Israeli specialists.
The project aims to restore the church of the Romanian Skete at the River Jordan and recover its paintings, which have been damaged by the destruction the monument has suffered over the decades.
Hope for the resumption of liturgical life
The Romanian Patriarchate’s Representative in the Holy Land expressed hope that the initiatives now underway would make it possible to bring the monastic establishment back to life.
“With God’s help, we hope to rekindle the flame of the Romanian people’s vigil lamp in this church too, a church that has suffered greatly from destruction and the passage of time, where regular services have not been held for almost 60 years.”
“May this beginning bear fruit, and may prayer resound once again within the walls of the Romanian Skete at the River Jordan!” Archimandrite Ioan Meiu said.
The church of the Romanian Skete at the River Jordan was built in 1935 to designs by architect Dumitru Ionescu-Berechet and was severely damaged during the armed conflict of 1967.
The area remained mined for several decades, with demining completed in 2020.
In September 2026, after the church was cleaned, the site celebrated its first Lesser Blessing of Water service in decades.
