The monastery is built on Mount Sarantarion (forty days), west of Jericho. It consists of the central Church, dedicated to the Annunciation, the Chapel-Shrine, a natural cave, a long narrow corridor with cells on the right and on the left. The mountain is full of caves in which earlier lived many hermits, one of which is located on the west corner of the mountain and whose entry differs from the entry of the other caves and it is said to be the sign of Temptation. According to tradition, here Christ fasted for forty days in the desert and then He was tempted by the devil. From this event the monastery derives its name. At the foot of the mountain we find the ruins of a small fort, which was built by Ptolemeos, the son-in-law of Simon the Makkabite and bears the name Doc. Here, Saint Hariton in 340AD built a Lavra which he named Lavra Doca, from the name of the peak. The monastery was destroyed by the Persians and was rebuilt in the 12th century.