It is located within the village of al-Ubeidiya, some 8 kilometres east of Bethlehem, on the road towards Mar Saba (St Sabbas) Monastery, in the West Bank, Palestine.

[1] Between 1113 and 1115 CE Abbot Daniel visited and noted: "Six versts from Jerusalem is the convent of St. Theodosius; it is located on a mountain; walls surround it.

In 1863, Victor Guérin visited the place, which he called Deir Dôsi, and noted:The remains of the monastery of St. Theodosius consist of vaults and sections of walls built with stones of different sizes, some of which appear to come from ancient buildings.

This crypt, if we are to believe a very ancient tradition, would have been originally a natural cave where the Magi supposedly took shelter, when, after having adored the infant Jesus in Bethlehem, they returned by another route to their country.

[9][1] In 1898 Conrad Schick noted that "the ruins are [..] those [..] of a former convent, and only in modern times used as a storehouse for grain by the wandering tribe Ubedieh.

[..] The monastery will be restored, and again become a station for pilgrims visiting Mar Saba..."[9] A cave on the monastery grounds is, according to tradition, the place where the three Magi took shelter during the first night after delivering their gifts to the newborn Baby Jesus, after an angel had appeared to them and ordered them to return home without reporting Jesus' location to King Herod.