The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is one of the greatest shrines of the Christian world. Tradition says that it was on this place that the Saviour was crucified and buried, and here His Resurrection took place.
The place of Jesus' execution and burial was revered by the first generations of Christians. In 135 years Romans have erected here a pagan temple. The first Christian emperor Constantine I in 325 replaced it with a huge church. During the construction Constantine's mother Helena conducted excavations, during which the Holy Sepulchre, three crosses and several nails from the place of execution were discovered.
The complex erected by Constantine was magnificent. Under the dome of the temple-mausoleum Anastasis (Greek for "Resurrection") rested the Holy Sepulchre. Nearby stood a basilica under a hexagonal dome, its crypt marking the place where the Cross was found. The interiors were richly decorated with mosaics, precious castings, marble.
Only a part of the complex has survived to our days. In 614, under the Persian Shah Khosrow II, the buildings were badly damaged. Khosrow's Christian wife Maria convinced her husband to rebuild the shrine. However, in 1009, Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amrullah ordered the basilica to be completely destroyed. Byzantine Emperor Constantine VIII bargained the right to restore it, but the former lustre of the temple was lost. The rumour of the destruction of the Holy Sepulchre became one of the reasons for the Crusades. Crusaders rebuilt the temple in Romanesque style, adding a bell tower (after the earthquake of 1545 only a part of it remained). In 1808, the wooden dome over Anastasis burned down. In the second half of the 20th century the building was restored.
Today the complex includes an ancient rotunda, which houses the Kuvukliya (chapel with the Holy Sepulchre), Golgotha with the place of the Crucifixion, the cathedral church Kafolikon, the underground church of the Finding of the Life-Giving Cross, many chapels, and several monasteries. The temple is divided between six churches: Greek Orthodox, Catholic, Armenian, Coptic, Syrian and Ethiopian. Each has its own side chapel, its own hours for services and prayers.
Over the centuries, the closely neighbouring faiths have clashed with each other. In the XVIII century, Sultan Abdul Hamid established a division of property ("status quo"), which is still observed today: no denomination has the right to change anything in the temple without the consent of the others. The symbol of the status quo is a wooden mason's ladder, which has stood in the same place since 1757. Those entering the courtyard of the temple see it at the right arched window. Since the time of Saladin and Richard the Lionheart, the keys to the temple have been kept in a Muslim family - this avoids disputes around the church gates.
Upon entering the temple, the first thing a tourist notices is the Anointing Stone - legend says that Jesus' body was laid on it after being taken down from the Cross. To the right are the steps leading up to Golgotha. To the left is the entrance to the rotunda where the Holy Sepulchre stands. From the centre hole of the huge dome a beam of light falls into the semi-darkness. A queue of pilgrims always stretches to the Kuvukliya, wishing to touch the shrine. It is here that the Orthodox wait for the appearance of the Easter Holy Fire.
On a side note
- Location: 1 Helena Str., Old City, Jerusalem
- Opening hours: daily, April-September from 05.00 to 20.00, October-March from 05.00 to 19.00.
- Tickets: admission is free.
