Work continues this morning on the new entry to the monastery. Here all but the topmost stone are in place.

There is a lot of fitting going on to make all of the joints tight and secure.

Pilgrims of the future will have no doubt they are entering a sacred and special space as they walk through this magnificent gate. Already it makes the monastery look to be 500 years old. More on this in the days ahead.

Here you can see the metal framework that is supporting the stones until the capstone is put in place.

The “American elephant” carries a stone into position.

Sideview shows stone slowly being positioned by forklift.

Close-up of the armature holding the stones in place during the fitting process. After the stones are perfectly fitted and the capstone is place, the armature is removed and the stones will hold themselves in place. The physics of this archway make it very strong. Only an earthquake or 3 elephants could knock it over.