The Abbey of the Dormition is a Catholic abbey belonging to the Benedictine Order in Jerusalem. It is located on Mount Zion just outside the walls of the Old City, near the Zion Gate. The foundation stone was laid on October 7th 1900. Construction was completed in only ten years; the basilica was dedicated on April 10th 1910 by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. The Abbey was built in an ecclesiastical, neo-Romanesque style that had become the state style of the new Imperial Germany. The first monks were sent to Jerusalem in 1906 from Beuron Archabbey in Germany. In 1951, the abbey separated from the Beuron Congregation and was placed under the direct supervision of the Abbot-Primate of the Benedictines in Rome. The community elected its own abbot for the first time in 1979.
The Dormition Abbey on Mt. Zion, Jerusalem, has always been a venue for good music, offering a variety of concerts and organ recitals. Due to extensive renovations, it has been closed to the public for two years. This month, the Dormition Abbey will once again be opening its doors to the public with a festive concert performed by the prestigious Cologne Cathedral Boys’ Choir. The Kölner Domchor is Cologne’s only boys' choir and the oldest of the four choirs at Cologne Cathedral. Re-established in 1863, it continues the centuries-old tradition of choral singing at the Cologne Cathedral. Performing regularly in services there and in other major cathedrals, the choir’s repertoire includes music from the Renaissance and Baroque as well as modern music. It has enjoyed success at a variety of national- and international choral competitions and has toured in Europe, the United States, Mexico and Israel. The program to be performed on March 22nd will include works of Palestrina, Bruckner, Mendelssohn and more. Conductor: Eberhard Metternich.
