The new House of Studies is within easy walking distance of the Old City of Jerusalem which contains the Christian “holy places” and is just three minutes away from one of the main shopping districts.  The “Ratisbonne Monastery” which the Salesians, at the request of the Vatican, have taken over from the Fathers of Sion is a substantial stone building which dates from the middle of the 19th century and is designated as “listed” building with its own blue plaque.  It presently provides accommodation for a community of more than forty staff and students from different parts of the world.  Nearly half the rooms are “en suite”.  There are several lecture and seminar rooms and excellent library facilities.  At present most of the books in the library are in Italian and one of the tasks over the next few years will be to build up a good library of English theological books.

The building contains a modern kitchen and a well appointed dining room.  There is also a beautiful church attached to the main building which the community were using for the daily celebration of the Eucharist and the other practices of piety until the lack of adequate heating in the church obliged them to turn the largest lecture room as a temporary chapel.  [Temperatures in Jerusalem in winter can fall below freezing.]  Another larger room in the building is being used as a TV room and cable television provides access to the major European TV channels.   The house has its own intranet system and most of the students would have their own personal computers. The only drawback at the new location would seem to the lack of space for games like basketball and football, but there are a couple of municipal parks nearby and the students are able to make use of the facilities they provide.