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The Church of Saint John the Baptist is in the Christian Quarter of the UNESCO World Heritage listed Old City of Jerusalem. It’s owned by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
The Church of Saint John the Baptists sits in a courtyard between Christian Quarter Road and the Muristan complex. The entrance is hidden between shops on Christian Quarter Road, and it’s easy to miss if you aren’t looking closely.
History
The first church on the site was built sometime between 450 and 460 by Empress Aelia Eudocia, the wife of Roman Emperor Theodosius II. It was destroyed by the Sassanids in 614 and rebuilt shortly after by Patriarch Modestus.
In 1023, merchants from Amalfi and Salerno were granted permission to build a new church on top of the old church, which by then had sunk to three meters below ground level. It was administered by the Benedictines. The monastery around the church was used as a hospital by the Crusaders starting in 1099. The knights who were treated at the hospital and recovered formed the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, also known as the Knights Hospitaller.
The Greek Orthodox acquired the Church of Saint John the Baptist at the end of the 15th century. It served as a mosque for a short time in the 16th century, but the Greek Orthodox recovered it shortly after. In the 19th century, the original structure underneath the church was cleared out and converted to a crypt and chapel. According to Greek Orthodox tradition, the head of St. John the Baptist was once kept there.
Interior
The church has a beautifully decorated iconostasis. There’s a long nave with three apses. The dome sits on four pillars, and the ceiling and columns are decorated with frescoes.
