The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is located in the well-known city of Jerusalem, which is one of the oldest cities in the world. This city was originally inhabited by the Jebusites and later by Hebrew tribes.
Jerusalem is known for being the sacred city, since it is home to Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
It was declared a UNESCO heritage city in 1981.
Thanks to the Gospels we know that the place that today occupies the church of the Holy Sepulchre was previously a tomb, that of Joseph of Arimathea.
This tomb is located a few meters from Mount Golgotha, the supposed place where Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected.
The basilica was built by the emperor Constantine in AD 326, in the place described by the Gospels about where Jesus
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This Empress was the one who promoted the idea of protecting and venerating the elements of the passion of Christ, also intervening in the idea of building the Basilica.
The original basilica was demolished in 1009 by Sultan al-Hakim. Later it was in the year 1048 when thanks to the Byzantine emperor Constantino Monomaco. Centuries later, in the year 1833, he suffered an earthquake.
In the fourteenth century, the Franciscans were authorized to reside and officiate the liturgy in the sanctuary.
Currently, the basilica we see was restored thanks to the union of Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox and Latin Roman Catholics. Only half of the original building and the roundabout are preserved, which is similar to the one that was preserved in the 15th century.
MAUSOLEUM BUILDING
We can see a reddish slab that symbolizes where the apostles performed the cares to the body of Christ when they came down to Jesus from the cross, before being buried, as the Jewish traditions indicate.
This tomb, where Jesus was buried, was sealed with a circular rock and was excavated in
Jerusalem or Zion, is where the church of Jesus Christ got their stard. But in apostolic time a different city came to overshadow Jerusalem in some respects. The city of Antioch, capital of the Roman province of Syria.
The first church in the series is the Magna Ecclesia which was first built by Constantius II and later inaugurated into the church by Arian bishop Eudoxius of Antinoch. The Hagia Sophia was next to the Imperial Palace. After the death of the ruler, the Patriarch in Constantinople had an argument with the empress, Aelia Eudoxia, who was exiled because of it. During the riots the first church was burned to the ground. The second church was ordered to be built by Theodosius II. The Hagia Sophia was then accepted by the church in October of 415. The Basilica, which had a wooden roof, was created by the architect Rufinus. Several slabs of marble from the original church have survived to present day. These historic slabs of marble reside in a pit next to the museum’s entrance after being discovered in 1935 beneath the courtyard. Later excavation of the Hagia Sophia was banned for reasons of unstable foundations. This second church burned down during the Niak Revolt in January 532. Just a few weeks after the second church was destroyed Justinian I ordered the construction of the third church that would be larger and covered with art. The architects were Isdore of Miletus, a physicist, and Anthemius of Tralles, a mathematician. Anthemius died during the first year of construction. Justinian I ordered art from across the empire including such magnificent additions as columns from the temple of Artemis
Christ was crucified at but it is also believed that it was where he was buried and then resurrected. Because of this belief, the church has become the foremost pilgrimage site for the Christian religion. The church that stands today is a reconstruction of the original church because the church was damaged throughout the years by fire, invasion, and earthquakes. The original church was rebuilt during the middle ages when an agreement was reached between the Fatimids and the Byzantine Empire. The tomb itself is empty of course but millions come to the church to pay their respects to the religious figurehead.
One of the goals of Justinian emperor was to make sure he made a church that was bigger than all the others ever built. To achieve the goal, Justinian emperor hired the services of Isidore of Miletus who was a physicist and Anthemius of Tralles, who was a mathematician. The basilica was later used as a Roman Catholic cathedral (Mainstone 162).
The Garden Tomb also called Skull Hill and Gordon’s calvary is the rock cut tomb located adjeacent to the Church of Holy Sepulchre. It was unearthed in 1867 and ever since then and has been associated as being the burial of Jesus. Since 1894 the tomb and surrounding tomb’s gardens have been a staple in the Christian faith. Even more, there is a Christian non – denomination charitable trust fund named The Garden Tomb Jerusalem Association.
In the world today, gothic architecture has become an influential design for numerous churches, universities, and various types of buildings. Originating in 12th-century France, Gothic structural materials tended to consist of various types of stone, typically limestone or red sandstone, and would often have an exterior consisting of a rib vault, flying buttresses, and large stain glass windows. In the late 1740’s, the Gothic Revival would emerge in England as an architectural movement, inspired by the Anglo-Catholicism religious style and the ideology that medievalism represented a golden age, during the time of industrialism. One architect inspired by the gothic appearance was William Butterfield who, from 1849-1859, constructed one of the
The first evidence for Jesus’ resurrection: the stone was rolled away and the tomb was empty. .John (20:1) reports that Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb “and saw the stone taken away from the tomb.” This was a large, round stone placed in a groove in front of the tomb to secure it from grave robbers. It would have taken several strong men to
A rose stained-glass window sits over the main entrance. Similarly to basilicas, the building consists of three spacious richly decorated aisles, two balconies and, unusually, an organ. Its ark contains various torah scrolls taken from other synagogues destroyed during the
The construction was complete between 792-805AD. It was commission by Charlemagne and designed by Odo of Metz who brings the model of Justinian's Church of San Vitale from Byzantium period. Based on an octagonal ground plan, the interior was splendid by octagonal core structure visually. Upwards, it was surrounded by an aisle, tribunes and dome roof. The construction material was imported from Ravenna some material was directly taken from San Vitale.
The site of the existing structure has been a meeting place for Christians since late Roman times. It is said to be the location where Christians FIRST assembled in Cologne. The structure before the current Cathedral was the Carolingian Church, built in 800 AD. Often referred to as “The Old Church,” it was intentionally destroyed in 1248 to make way for the new. The
It has changed throughout time. Its ability to persevere throughout time even if it meant to be rebuilt with the ruins of previous torn down sacred buildings that were once standing where the Church is today. The changing histories and traditions and the physical change of the Holy Sepulchre has allowed people to connect to older sacred buildings as well as the ability to change its histories and to accept what is happening at the moment. With so many different communities that occupy the site, it allows for a historical growth of the building. The transformations of these sites allows people to connect to the religion as space.
It was heavily damaged in 529 AD, when the Samaritans revolted, so the Emperor sent an architect to deconstruct and build another church as similar as possible to the old one. Another restoration project occurred from 1165 to 1169 between the time of the Byzantine Empire and the Frankish Kingdom where lots more marbled mosaics and other upgrades were added. The Church of the Nativity, located in Bethlehem around 6 miles to the south of Jerusalem, is commonly known by Christian believers as the birthplace of Jesus and the most Holy of all places since
Jerusalem is holy to Christians, Jews, and Muslims. For anyone curious about, or connected to, these three monotheistic faiths, then a trip to Jerusalem is obligatory. Visit the Temple Mount complex, home to two monumental Islamic sites, The Dome of The Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque, in addition to the Western Wall which is holy to Judaism. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, underneath which lies the tomb of Jesus, is one of the many sites holy to Christians in Jerusalem. Old City Bazaar
On the other hand, the service I attended at St. Sophia Cathedral was a bilingual service. Even though attending a bilingual service was interesting, it made me a little confused; like I did not know what I was attending or listening to. This reminds me of one of the discussion in our class, when back then, the people did not understand the language yet they still came to the service. It made me feel foreign in some sort of way, also there were no other Asians in the church, mostly caucasians. It did not bother me because most of the people attending the church must have a Greek descent or knowledge of the Greek language.
Each of the independent sources mentioned earlier attest to the tomb being empty. The Markan account does not end with Christ’s burial. Instead, he continues his account with the women discovering the empty tomb. Mark 16 says that Jesus had risen “on the first day of the week.” This would be understood by those who kept the Hebrew calendar. The statement is a time indicator for when the tomb was discovered empty. This statement proves an early admission by Mark and that the empty tomb story is not some late-developing legend.