The Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Ναός του Παναγίου Τάφου / Ecclesia Sancti Sepulchri / כנסיית הקבר / كنيسة القيامة) contains the two holiest sites in Christianity: Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified, and the empty tomb where he was buried and resurrected. It also contains the last five stations of the Via Dolorosa and is part of the UNESCO World Heritage listing for the Old City of Jerusalem. It’s located in the city’s Christian Quarter.
History
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was commissioned by Constantine the Great and built between 326 and 335. It sits on the site his mother Helen determined as the crucifixion and tomb of Christ. The church was destroyed by fire in May 614 during an invasion by the Sassanids. It was rebuilt in 630 by Byzantine Emperor Heraclius.
When the Muslims took control of Jerusalem in 637, Caliph Omar ibn al-Khattab promised protection of the city’s Christian sites and prohibited their destruction. On October 18, 1009, Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah ordered the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and other Christian sites in Palestine and Egypt, an event later used as motivation for the Crusades.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was rebuilt between 1028 and 1048 after negotiations between the Fatimids and the Byzantine Empire. It remained intact as Jerusalem changed hands between the Crusaders, Saladin, Latins, Khwarazmians, and the Ottomans. In 1555, the Franciscans carried out renovations. After that, control of the church bounced between the Orthodox and the Franciscans, depending on who could muster favor with the Ottoman government.
Status Quo
In 1757, Ottoman Sultan Osman III instituted the Status Quo, preserving the division of ownership and responsibilities of Christian holy sites as they were. The Status Quo was further strengthened in decrees issued by Sultan Abdülmecid I in 1852 and 1853, meaning no changes could be made without the consensus of all six Christian communities.
The majority of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is shared by the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Armenian Apostolic churches. In the 19th century, the Coptic Orthodox, Syriac Orthodox, and Ethiopian Orthodox churches were given smaller spaces and lesser responsibilities.
Visiting
The best time to visit is early in the morning before the crowds arrive or late in the afternoon. We were there by 8:30am and queues were forming by 9am.
The following entries describe the different sections of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre: