Hundreds of thousands of Christian pilgrims visit the Holy Land every year and make the journey to the Qasr al-Yahud baptism site on the Jordan River. They will soon have a fascinating new religious attraction to add to their itineraries. The seven nearby monasteries, which were shut down and abandoned for five decades, will be opening their doors to the general public and become lively visitor centers. Over the past two years, Israel's Ministry of Defense worked together with civilian companies to clear thousands of landmines from a 1,000-dunam (approximately 250-acre) expanse, commonly known as “the Land of the Monasteries.”

Up until the 1967 Six-Day War, this stretch of land was under Jordanian control. At the time, it was home to seven very active and lively monasteries, including the Monastery of John the Baptist, which dates back to the end of the fifth century. In the 1967 Six Day War, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) occupied this area. Since then, the place has been controlled by Israeli authorities and managed specifically by the Israeli Civil Administration. A short while after the war, in 1968, the compound was closed and access was denied due to security considerations and the concern that terrorists might infiltrate the area. In order to protect this new eastern frontier from an armored invasion, the IDF concealed anti-tank mines throughout the regions. The monasteries were mined as well so that terrorists would not be able to hole up in them and fire at Israel.

In 1994, Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty. Subsequently, the Jordanians enabled Christian pilgrims to perform ritual immersions at the baptism site on the eastern bank of the river, the Jordanian side. But it was only in 2011 that Israel opened the Qasr al-Yahud site on its side for free entry. Until then, entrance was possible only after submitting special requests. Because of its location near the border, and despite the 1994 peace treaty, the compound was considered by Israeli authorities a closed military zone. In fact, the Jordan River (whose width does not exceed 10 meters) served and still constitutes the physical borderline between the two countries.

Qasr al-Yahud is a very important site to Jews and Christians alike. According to Jewish tradition, this is where the Children of Israel crossed the Jordan River to enter the Land of Canaan, and where Elijah parted from his disciple Elisha and ascended to Heaven in a chariot of fire. According to Christian tradition, Jesus was baptized across the Jordan River, on its eastern — Jordanian — bank. Still, many pilgrims practice the ritual immersion on the western bank of the river — the Israeli side. The baptism site is considered the third holiest site to much of Christendom, after the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Over the centuries, additional monasteries, churches and guest houses for pilgrims were built on the western bank of the Jordan River as well, which is how the region got its romantic name — the Land of the Monasteries.