The sacred and honoured spot in which the Lord was baptized by
John is always covered by the waters of the river Jordan; and, as Arculf
relates, who reached the actual spot and swam to and fro across the
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stream, in this sacred spot a tall wooden cross is implanted. Beside it the
water comes up as far as the neck of a very tall man standing, or, at
other times of great drought, to his breast. When a greater flood comes,
however, the whole of the cross is covered by the increased waters. The
site of the cross then, where, as has been said above, the Lord was
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baptized, is on the near side of the river bed. It is possible for a strong
man to cast a stone with a sling from there to the other bank on the
Arabian side. And a stone bridge supported on arches stretches from
the site of the cross mentioned above as far as the dry land. People
approaching the cross by means of it come down a slope and climb up
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again to the shore. At the brink of the river there is a small square church,
founded, according to tradition, in the place where the Lord's clothes
were kept at the hour in which he was baptized. Supported on 4 stone
piles this stands at a habitable level above the water, because the waters
slide in under it from either side. It is covered with a tiled roof, but
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underneath, as has been said, it is supported on arches and piles. That
is the kind of church then which stands in the lower part of the valley
through which the Jordan flows, but on the higher ground there is a
great monastery of monks. It is built exactly above, on the brow of the
hill, and overlooks the church already described. There is a church in
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honour of John the Baptist too in the same place. It is built with square
stones and is embraced in the circuit of the monastery wall.