A 5th century AD monastery, the largest in the Judean desert. The complex is built on the southern cliffs of the Kidron creek, and is protected inside a walled area with dozens of structures. It was established by Saint Sabas (Arabic: Mar Saba, Syriac: Lord Saba), and named after him. The monastery started as a place of seclusion of few monks in the caves, led by Sabas. Over the years it was built, expanded, and fortified. During the peak times it housed about 500 monks.
   The site is located 10KM east of Bethlehem, near the desert road to Jerusalem. It is 250M above sea level, hanging over a steep cliff above the Kidron creek. The Kidron starts from the valley between the temple mount and Mount of olives in Jerusalem, and flows eastwards to the Dead sea.
https://www.biblewalks.com/marsaba

Reconstructed from 4K drone footage only. Raw scan to showcase drone footage original quality/shortcomings. 
Could be much improved with a 30minutes Blender. 2x16K texures. 95M tris.

https://pavelmatousek.cz/3d/

Mar Saba monastery

The Holy Lavra of Saint Sabbas the Sanctified, known in Arabic as Mar Saba  is an Eastern Orthodox Christian monastery overlooking the Kidron Valley at a point halfway between the Old City of Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, within the Bethlehem Governorate of the West Bank.
The traditional date for the founding of the monastery by Sabbas the Sanctified of Mutalaska, Cappadocia is the year 483. Today, the complex houses around 20 monks. It is considered to be one of the oldest inhabited monasteries in the world, and still maintains many of its ancient traditions. One in particular is the restriction on women entering the main compound. The only building that women can enter is the Women's Tower, near the main entrance.
Wikipedia

coordinates: 31.704764, 35.331398

photogrammetry from youtube video

Mar Saba Monastery  -RAWscan

Rincón de claustro gótico. [Simón de Colonia](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sim%C3%B3n_de_Colonia), ca. 1503-1508. [San Salvador de Oña, Burgos.](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monasterio_de_San_Salvador_de_O%C3%B1a)
_____________________

Corner of gothic cloister. [Simón de Colonia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sim%C3%B3n_de_Colonia), ca. 1503-1508. [San Salvador de Oña, Burgos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monastery_of_San_Salvador_de_O%C3%B1a)

Gothic cloister corner

The archaeological ensemble of Melque is one of the most important historical sites of the High Middle Ages in Spain. It is located in the municipality of San Martín de Montalbán, just 30 kilometers from the city of Toledo. It consists of a very well preserved church, a monastery, several dams and a fence or wall. However, there is no consensus among experts about the date of its foundation. Some authors date it in the seventh century, in Visigothic times, while others consider that it was founded in the eighth century by Mozarabs, that is to say by Christians but under Muslim domination. The place was inhabited for centuries which has allowed the preservation of the church in an excellent state to this day.

Documented by Global Digital Heritage in September of 2018 using 1110 drone images, 112 terrestrial laser scans, and 1702 terrestrial photogrammetry images. These data were processed in Reality Capture.

Santa María de Melque (Toledo, Spain)

Ellora is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, India. It is one of the largest rock-cut monastery-temple cave complexes in the world, featuring Hindu, Buddhist and Jain monuments, and artwork, dating from the 600–1000 CE period.Cave 16, in particular, features the largest single monolithic rock excavation in the world, the Kailasha temple, a chariot shaped monument dedicated to Lord Shiva. The Kailasha temple excavation also features sculptures depicting the gods, goddesses and mythologies found in Vaishnavism, Shaktism as well as relief panels summarizing the two major Hindu Epics.

There are over 100 caves at the site, all excavated from the basalt cliffs in the Charanandri HillsAll of the Ellora monuments were built during Hindu dynasties such as the Rashtrakuta dynasty, which constructed part of the Hindu and Buddhist caves, and the Yadava dynasty, which constructed a number of the Jain caves.

Ellora Caves | India

Monastery of Batalha in Portugal or [Santa Maria da Vitória na Batalha](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batalha,_Portugal) was created to honor Virgin Mary for the victory of the Portuguese over the Castillian crown. 

After the death of Ferdinand I (1383), there was a succession war between Ferdinand's daughter Beatrice, queen of Castile and Ferdinand's half brother, John I. The battle of Aljubarrota was the decisive moment which marked the victory of John, the founding of the Aviz dynasty (1385-1580) and the beginning of military alliance between England and Portugal. This alliance is still active today (800 years old) and was used during the second world war.

The battle was also an important mark in the 100 years war. It was one of the many losses the French suffered. A trend that was changed later by Jeanne d'Arc. 

![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Batalha_monastery.jpg)

Monastery of Batalha

GO INSIDE FROM BOTTOM OF THE MODEL
![ Wanfaguiyi Hall](https://www.orientalarchitecture.com/gallery/china/chengde/putuo-zongcheng-monastery/photos/putuo-zongcheng42.jpg)"The Golden Temple" ([1935.50.4633](http://kulturarvsdata.se/SMVK-EM/objekt/html/2656068)). That is what the Swedish explorer Sven Hedin called [Wan fa Gui yi Hall in the Putuo Zongcheng Temple, Chengde](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putuo_Zongcheng_Temple). In 1929, Hedin travelled to China with the mission to procure a Lamaistic temple to the World Exhibition in Chicago in 1933. An exact model was manufactured at the architect W. H. Liang's workshops in 1932 in Beijing. Two smaller models in scale 1:10 were also made. One of them was sent to Chicago as well. The other was taken to the Ethnographic Museum in Stockholm. It is this model that you can see here as a 3D model.![](https://collections.smvk.se/carlotta-em/web/image/zoom/2536118/Buddhistiska%20glimtar)

Model of the Golden Temple, Wan fa Gui yi Hall

[UPDATE: I uploaded a [new version of the model](https://skfb.ly/6wtqM) with better textures]

This is a nod to one of Caspar David Friedrich's paintings with a squad of monks making their way to an old monastery ruin.

In A Monastery Garden - Voxel

ca. 1500, Kraków, Poland, Hungary

An exceptionally valuable monument of sacred goldsmiths from the treasury of the Miechów monastery (Poland), which has survived to our times, is the richly decorated late-gothic silver chalice with a six-leaf foot. It is assumed that it was created around 1500, perhaps in a workshop in Hungary or in the capital city of Krakow. There are precious stones on the base of the chalice: sapphire, amethyst, ruby and emerald. In the upper part of the foot, figures of the Virgin Mary and an unknown saint are visible.

**For more images and further information, visit:** 
https://muzea.malopolska.pl/en/objects-list/2979

Inventory number:  MZM/D/S/63

The Museum of Ziemia Miechowska in Miechów

**Regional Digitalisation Lab, MIK, Visiting Museums of Małopolska project** 

Project Visualization (3D model + textures): Wojciech Szczekan

Gothic chalice

This remaining piece was part of the Great Cloister, which was part of the Carthusian monastery that was founded outside the city of London by Sir Walter Manny. Manny also funded the plague burial site which is now Charterhouse Square. The Norfolk Cloister is a 'rare survival of a great Elizabethan garden gallery'. The roof was used for guests to promenade including by Queen Elizabeth I during her visit to the Charterhouse.

During the period of Sutton's Hospital the cloister was used by the schoolboys for football, its narrow dimensions leading to the invention of the offside rule.

Date: 1417 (the Great Cloister) & 1571 (roof and inner wall)

Visit the Charterhouse by booking an excellent tour here: https://thecharterhouse.digitickets.co.uk/tickets

Access and historical information for this model were very kindly supplied by Kayden Rodger, Visitor Host at the Charterhouse.

http://www.thecharterhouse.org/

1622 photos taken in June 2019 with a Sony a6000 and processed in Agisoft Metashape.

The Charterhouse Norfolk Cloister

The night variation of Batalha. This model was created using LUTs. 
Monastery of Batalha in Portugal or Santa Maria da Vitória na Batalha was created to honor Virgin Mary for the victory of the Portuguese over the Castillian crown.

After the death of Ferdinand I (1383), there was a succession war between Ferdinand’s daughter Beatrice, queen of Castile and Ferdinand’s half brother, John I. The battle of Aljubarrota was the decisive moment which marked the victory of John, the founding of the Aviz dynasty (1385-1580) and the beginning of military alliance between England and Portugal. This alliance is still active today (800 years old) and was used during the second world war.

The battle was also an important mark in the 100 years war. It was one of the many losses the French suffered. A trend that was changed later by Jeanne d’Arc.

![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Batalha_monastery.jpg)

Monastery of Batalha - Night

[MME 1995:003](http://collections.smvk.se/carlotta-mhm/web/object/3011341)
Manuscript written in Coptic and Arabic.
St Makorios Monastery, Wadi Natrun
LeatherLeather; Paper
Tvåspråkig bok med hymner, bland annat till Jungfru Maria, nedskrivna 1778 e Kr i Makariosklostret i Wadi Natrun.

Coptic prayer book

Hore Abbey is a ruined Cistercian monastery near the Rock of Cashel, County Tipperary, Ireland. It was founded by the Benedictine order in 1266. This model includes both the exterior and interior spaces, generated using a combination of aerial and ground photography (1500 images total). 

Most of the abbey was built in the thirteenth century, however many changes were made to the buildings in the fifteenth century including the addition of the tower in the centre of the transept. The cruciform church comprised, in addition to the chancel, a nave with aisles and two chapels to the east of each transept. The nave is exceptionally plain and the overall design is a perfect example of the conservative approach of the Cistercians. Hore was the only Cistercian monastery in Ireland where the cloister was positioned to the north of the abbey.  The ruins are now surrounded by fields of sheep and cattle and can be accessed by the public.

Ruins of Hore Abbey

This is one of the most stunning places in the Paris catacombs. Built in the early XIX century, this fountain is located under the Luxembourg garden (at the place where once stood the great *Chartreuse* of Paris - a large monastery of the Carthusian religious order).

Louis Héricart-de-Thury (then the General Inspector of the Paris' underground quarries) built the fountain to drain underground water and better monitor the water tables. The water has a blue-green color thanks to some minerals. It's one of the best places to have a break during a night of underground exploration.

Check out some pictures [here](https://tinyurl.com/55bu2ddr)

![](https://arrets-sur-images.fr/wp-content/uploads/Fontaine-des-Chartreux-I.jpg)

Scanned with the iPhone12 Pro and Scaniverse. Please feel free to follow my collections of daily scans ([link](https://skfb.ly/6YuwK)) as well as my scans in San Francisco, Paris, or in the catacombs: [link](https://sketchfab.com/edemaistre/collections)

Paris catacombs: Fontaine Des Chartreux (1)

Custom low-poly asset made with Blender and Gimp for the Cities: Skylines video game. Available on the Steam Workshop here: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2057131986

The foundation of this convent dates back to the 12th century, and its gothic church was built in the 16th century. The rest of the complex ranges from the 17th to the 18th century. In 1815, the monastery served as a hospital for French soldiers after the Battle of Waterloo. It became a school around 1845, then was restored in the 60s to become a parish church to replace another church destroyed during WWII, becoming the Église Saints-Jean-et-Nicolas (Saints-John-and-Nicholas Church).

Couvent des Récollets, Nivelles [Belgium]

94 pictures extracted from our Mavic pro video.
![](http://imageshack.com/a/img922/4104/DvcpTj.jpg)
Wikipedia : The Hanging Temple, also Hanging Monastery or Xuankong Temple (simplified Chinese: 悬空寺; traditional Chinese: 懸空寺; pinyin: Xuánkōng Sì) is a temple built into a cliff (75 m or 246 ft above the ground) near Mount Heng in Hunyuan County, Datong City, Shanxi province, China.
Built more than 1,500 years ago, this temple is notable not only for its location on a sheer precipice but also because it is the only existing temple with the combination of three Chinese traditional religions: Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.

Hanging Temple (Xuankong si) China

Jvari monastery is the first place the toursits are encouraged to visit in Georgia. And this is my last scanned model from the country of Georgia. I spent beautiful time there and the country will always have a place in my heart. 

[From wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jvari_Monastery) Jvari Monastery stands on the rocky mountaintop at the confluence of the Mtkvari and Aragvi rivers, overlooking the town of Mtskheta, which was formerly the capital of the Kingdom of Iberia.

According to traditional accounts, on this location in the early 4th century Saint Nino, a female evangelist credited with converting King Mirian III of Iberia to Christianity, erected a large wooden (or vine) cross on the site of a pagan temple.

Jvari Monastery

[Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manasija) <br>
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Monastery_Manasija_-_Serbia.JPG)

Manasija Castle, Serbia

Tian Tan Buddha is a large bronze statue of Buddha Shakyamuni, completed in 1993, and located at Ngong Ping, Lantau Island, in Hong Kong. The statue is sited near Po Lin Monastery and symbolises the harmonious relationship between man and nature, people and faith. It is a major centre of Buddhism in Hong Kong, and is also a tourist attraction

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tian_Tan_Buddha

Tian Tan Buddha videogrammetry scan

**CAT** El claustre del Reial Monestir de Santes Creus va ser construït per encàrrec de Jaume II i es va començar a construir cap al 1313. Destaquen els seus capitells de gran qualitat i va ser el primer d'estil gòtic de la Corona d'Aragó.

**ES** El claustro del Real Monasterio de Santes Creus fue construido por encargo de Jaume II y se empezó a construir hacia el 1313. Destacan sus capiteles de gran calidad y fue el primero de estilo gótico de la Corona de Aragón.

**EN** The cloister of the Royal Monastery of Santes Creus was built by order of James II and construction began around 1313. Its high-quality capitals are particularly notable, and it was also the first in the Gothic style in the Crown of Aragon.

[Web del monestir](http://http://patrimoni.gencat.cat/ca/monuments/monuments/reial-monestir-de-santes-creus)

Escanejat per Lluís González amb Leica RTC360, fotogrametria de Jaime Salgero i Aleix Barberà i processat per Laia Tubio. Màster de 2.4B de tris, decimat fins a 1M per a difusió. Textos: ACdPC.

Reial Monestir de Santes Creus. Claustre.

Zaryadye Park, Moscow, Russia

ChurchoftheGreatMartyrBarbara
OldEnglishCourt
ChurchofSt.MaximtheBlessed
Building1
ZnamenskyMonastery
ChurchofSt.GeorgiyonPskovHill
ChurchoftheConceptionofSt.Anne

Zaryadye Park Churches

One of the three wooden domes (*zaojing* 藻井, lit. "water-weed wells") originally from the Longfusi (Monastery of Grand Blessings, dated 1452, now lost) in Beijing. The dome features miniature bracket sets and interlaced squares, diamonds, and octagons. It is now exhibited in the Museum of Ancient Architecture (古代建築博物館) at the Temple of Agriculture (Xiannongtan 先農壇) in Beijing.

Wooden dome from Longfusi

Though there are inscriptions dating to the 1160s, the main church was built in 1215 under the auspices of the brothers Zakare and Ivane (of the Zakarid-Mkhargrzeli family), the generals of Queen Tamar of Georgia, who took back most of Armenia from the Turks. The southern facade of the Katoghike has a portal with fine carvings. The tympanum is decorated with a representation of trees with pomegranates hanging from their branches, and of leaves intertwining with grapes. The pictures of doves are placed between the arch and the outside frame; the doves’ heads are turned to the axis of the portal. Above the portal is carved a lion attacking an ox, symbolizing the prince's power. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geghard

Images captured with a Sony A7rii and reconstructed with RealityCapture. Model is scaled 1:1.

Geghard Monastery - Portal of Katoghike Church

The beautiful arched walkway of the Monastery of Lerins on one of Cannes' islands in France.

Captured with a Sony A7rii and processed with RealityCapture. 1:1 scaled model.

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