The biblical Mount of Temptation is among several features that make Jericho a popular tourist destination in the Jordan River valley.
Nearly a million tourists from all over the world visit Jericho, the lowest lying point on earth, some 400 meters (1,300 feet) below sea level.
Now, the Palestinian authorities are pushing for the next stage of the process in getting the ancient city listed as a World Heritage Site.
That process began in 2012, and Jericho is already on a tentative list of sites suitable for inscription on the World Heritage list.
Palestinian officials say the monastery and Mount of Temptation will be among the main selling points in their nomination.
“In the near future, the procedures of registering Jericho in the World Heritage list will begin, and this Monastery will be one of the main sites and one of the essential fundamentals in registering this city on the World Heritage list,” tourism official Iyad Hamdan said.
Christians believe it was at the Mount of Temptation that Jesus was tempted by the devil after fasting for 40 days.
As part of efforts to boost the number of tourists at the site, a cable car was introduced in 1998 to take visitors to the top of the mount.
Marwan Sinokrot, the head of Sultan Telepherique and Tourist Centre, which operates the cable car, said the monastery is an important site for Christian tourists who come from all over the world.
The monastery is carved into the rock face of the mountain. Nearly 70,000 people visit the site every year.
REUTERS
For more details, watch the full report in the video above