Monastery of St. Theodosius, Byzantine monastery in al-Ubeidiya, Palestine

The Monastery of St. Theodosius, called Deir Dosi or Deir Ibn Ubeid in Arabic, stands in al-Ubeidiya about 8 km east of Bethlehem on the road to Mar Saba. Its walled compound on a hill holds a Greek Orthodox church rebuilt in the 20th century and, in the courtyard, the Cave of the Magi, a large natural cavern that also served as a Byzantine cemetery.

Saint Theodosius the Cenobiarch founded the monastery around 476, and it became the first coenobitic (communal) monastery in Palestine, housing over 700 monks at its height in the 6th and early 7th centuries. Sources record an Arab attack in 789, not a Persian one in 614. Rebuilt in the Crusader period, it was ruined by 1400 and later used by Bedouin to stall cattle. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate bought the site in 1898 and rebuilt it between 1914 and 1952.

The monastery is a Greek Orthodox women's convent under the Jerusalem Patriarchate. Its Arabic name, Deir Dosi, is used locally, and the Cave of the Magi, called Metopa in Greek, is shown to visitors. The cave holds the tombs of Saint Theodosius, John Moschus, Saint Sophia (mother of Saint Sabbas) and Saint Theodota.

The monastery stands in al-Ubeidiya, about 8 km east of Bethlehem on the road toward Mar Saba, and is reached by road from Bethlehem. The rebuilt compound of 1898–1952 combines modern church buildings with the older cave, whose rock floor and steps are uneven. The Greek Orthodox nuns who live there today keep the site as a working convent, so visitors should dress modestly.

The single cave on the grounds is identified by tradition as the Cave of the Magi, called Metopa in Greek, where the three Magi sheltered on the first night after leaving Bethlehem. During the Byzantine period it served as a cemetery; John Moschus was buried here by Sophronius of Jerusalem, along with Saint Sophia, mother of Saint Sabbas, and Saint Theodota, mother of Cosmas and Damian.