Grellingen - Chaltbrunnental - Meltingen - Beinwil (Basel - Bern part 2b)

This Trail is part of the Via Surprise (https://www.schweizmobil.ch/de/wanderland/routen/route-032.html)
followed in the other direction. This is also the second part of the path Camino Basel-Geneva via Bern (https://hiiker.app/trails/switzerland/basel/camino-basel-geneva-via-bern)
The second path connects Aesch with Beinwil and, as we already made the first part from Aesch to Grellingen (https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/aesch-grellingen-46342230), this path will be little shorter.
After a short walk along the the Birs river we will turn left into the Chaltbrunnental Gorge along the Ibach river. A very humid enchanting flora and stunning towering cliffs, caves and spectacular waterfalls are really fascinating (https://www.top10-baselland.ch/en/natuerliche-denkmaeler-und-parks/chaltbrunnental).
After this the trail will bring you through the Meltingen village and then steep up to the hill from where a slow descending path will bring you to the Abbey of Beinwil (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beinwil_Abbey).

The Benedictine monastery of Beinwil moved in 1648 to Mariastein monastery, located a little further away. Some monks remained in the monastery, however, but since 1874 Beinwil had to do without monks as a result of the ‘Kulturkampf‘. The inhabitants of Solothurn had thus decided in a referendum.
The monastery complex has been housing a Byzantine Orthodox monastery since 2019: Holy Orthodox Monastery Johannes Kapodistria (Heilige Orthodoxe Kloster Johannes Kapodistria), headed by the abbot Archimandrit Dionysios. The monastery falls under the Patriarchate of Antioch.
In 1084, the year of the Great Schism, it was unthinkable for a Catholic monastery to be replaced by an Orthodox monastery. It symbolises the vitality of the Orthodox religion and their monasteries in parts of Europe. They fill the gap of the (almost) empty Catholic monasteries. The abbey has four monks and enjoys growing interest.

https://www.kirche-heute.ch/blog/geschlossene-gewaender-offener-geist/

https://orthodoxtimes.com/russian-backtracking-in-relation-to-aspropyrgos-metochion-in-attica/

https://jakobsweg.ch/de/eu/ch/weg/basel-jura-dreiseen/wegstrecke-basel-laufen-abkuerzung/beinwil-so/kloster/

https://docplayer.org/110508913-In-beinwil-soll-sich-orthodoxes-klosterleben-entfalten.html

https://www.swiss-spectator.ch/katholicisme-orthodoxie-en-landbouw-in-schwarzbubenland/