Sarah Sands explored 10 magical monasteries from Italy to Bulgaria for her book The Interior Silence

Many in isolation are desperate for travel. I, meanwhile, have been travelling in order to find isolation. Inspired by a 13th-century Cistercian wall at the bottom of my garden in Norfolk, a couple of years ago I began visiting some of the great religious houses of Britain and then traced the route of monasticism from … Read more

From Italy to Egypt, Sarah Sands reveals what she found visiting 10 monasteries across the globe

Many in isolation are desperate for travel. I, meanwhile, have been travelling in order to find isolation. Inspired by a 13th-century Cistercian wall at the bottom of my garden in Norfolk, a couple of years ago I began visiting some of the great religious houses of Britain and then traced the route of monasticism from … Read more

Temples of swoon: The stunning cliffside monasteries that look like sets from Indiana Jones movies

Temples of swoon: The stunning gravity-defying cliffside monasteries that look like sets from Indiana Jones movies St George’s Monastery juts out of a cliff in a desert gorge around 35 minutes by car from Jerusalem   Highlights of the monastery include the gorge views, two churches, a cave chapel and the relics of monks  The monastery … Read more

Meet the monk living at one of Mongolia’s oldest monasteries with just 10 others

Monthly head shaves and daily two-hour chants: Meet the monk living at a monastery in Mongolia that survived Stalinist repression to become one of the country’s oldest The Shankh Monastery, founded in 1647,  is located 224 miles from Ulaanbaatar  It closed in 1937 during Stalinist repression – many of the monks were executed After the revolution in … Read more