Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem

The Greatest Shrine in Christendom

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is the greatest shrine of the Christian world, the custodians of which are six confessions at once, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is the main purpose of visiting the Holy Land for many thousands of pilgrims and tourists from all over the world. Under one roof, this grandiose spiritual and architectural complex unites the places where the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ took place, as well as the subsequent Finding of the Life-giving Cross, on which He was crucified to atone for human sins.

Golgotha with the place of the Crucifixion, the Stone of Chrismation, the rotunda with the Kuvuklia located under it, where the myrrh-bearing wives met the angel who informed them about the Resurrection of the Son of God put there on the eve, the chapel of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Queen Helena - these are just the most important places to visit in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, apart from several chapels and operating monasteries located on the territory of the complex. The last five stops of Via Dolorosa, the mournful path followed by the Savior, led to execution, are also located under the roof of the Church of the Sepulcher.

In the form in which the temple exists now, the temple was built at the beginning of the 19th century - or rather, rebuilt after a devastating fire. Since the time of the Byzantine queen Helena, who laid the foundation for the temple, and until 1810, the building was repeatedly destroyed - and each time, being restored anew, it contained the remaining part of the previous temple.

Here it is necessary to make a small digression and explain why the location of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where it is, is beyond doubt. The memory of the death and resurrection of the Savior and the places associated with these events has never been lost. It was carefully passed on by the first Christians of the Holy Land - from apostolic times to the reign of the Byzantine emperor Constantine the Great, who made Christianity the state religion. That is why his mother, Queen Helen, did not have to search for a long time where exactly the Church of the Holy Sepulcher should be, which was laid down for her together with the Jerusalem Bishop Macarius in 325 AD.

Church of the Holy Sepulcher today

Today, the entire territory of the complex is meticulously divided into the possessions of six different Christian denominations: Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Syrian, Coptic, Armenian and Ethiopian. According to the 'Status Quo of the Holy Land', adopted in 1852, not the slightest change in the church itself and in the established order of worship cannot be undertaken without the solidarity of all six churches, without exception. The material expression of such the order of things is the so-called 'immovable staircase'. Leaning on a cornice belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church, its upper end reaches a window belonging to the aisle of the Armenian Apostolic Church - once forgotten by the workers, the staircase remains there for many years, symbolizing the observance of the agreement between confessions.

A dissected column with traces of the Holy Fire, one of the entrances to the temple, laid by order of Saladin in the era of Muslim rule, crosses carved in stone by pilgrims-crusaders and the graves of several of them who ended their lives in Jerusalem - in addition to Christian pilgrims, many tourists visit these places every year from all over the world, people of various languages and confessions. It is interesting to note one tradition that has been going on since the Middle Ages. Although the Jerusalem Patriarchate holds the basic rights of ownership and use of the complex, in order to avoid disputes between Christians and Muslims, the right to keep the keys and the right to open and close the temple belongs to two Arab families who practice Islam. This order has been strictly observed for centuries, and the posts of guardian and gatekeeper in these families are passed from father to son.

And a few more interesting facts about the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The Stone of Confirmation, on which the body of the Cross of the Savior was anointed with fragrant oils before burial, is the only place in the world where any Christian can independently, without resorting to the help of the clergy, consecrate a cross or other religious items. The stone, now covered with a marble slab, miraculously exudes myrrh. To his left on the floor is a marble circle - on this place, according to legend, the Virgin Mary stood during the anointing of the body of the Son of God.

The center of the entire temple is the Kuvuklia or the Chapel of the Holy Sepulcher - the place of Christ's Resurrection. It was here that the Savior was buried and resurrected on the third day. Every year, on Great Saturday, preceding Orthodox Easter, the Holy Fire mysteriously descends into Kuvuklia, from which the Jerusalem Patriarch praying here at these hours lights bunches of candles and passes them through two windows outside to those in the church. From here, the Holy Fire, carefully preserved in special lamps, is transported all over the world. There are always a lot of people in Kuvuklia, both on holidays and on weekdays, so the Greek monks carrying obedience here do not allow anyone to be at the Holy Sepulcher for more than a minute. Although exceptions were made - for example, for the restorers who worked here. Recently, a particularly large-scale restoration was undertaken in Kuvuklia. works in which, for the first time in almost half a millennium, the slab was removed from the Holy Sepulcher. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Kuvuklia, first erected under Constantine the Great, is the most damaged part of the temple. It was destroyed by Muslims, suffered from fires and earthquakes - but was rebuilt each time. The last reconstruction was completed here in 2020.

Directly at the place where the Savior was crucified, the Church of Calvary is located. It has two chapels - Catholic and Orthodox. Today, separated from each other by pillars in an arch, in the Byzantine era they formed a single temple. There is a hole under the Altar of the Crucifixion, which belongs to the Greek Orthodox Church. If, kneeling down, stick your hand into it, you can touch the rock on which the Cross of Christ stood.

In the underground part of the complex there is a temple of Queen Helena, the mother of the Byzantine emperor Constantine, which belongs to the Armenian Church. Here she found an entrance to a cave with three crosses, on one of which the Savior was crucified. The place where the queen sat during the excavations is in a special niche with a stone seat, and below is a quarry where the cross was found. Rather, three crosses: to establish exactly the one that belonged to Jesus Christ, and not crucified on either side of him robbers, all three of them in turn applied to the deceased. When the true Cross of Christ touched the dead body, the deceased came to life. This is what tradition tells.

All this, we repeat, is only the most famous of the large number of shrines located inside the multi-level complex of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. It is simply impossible to tell about all of them. And, by and large, there is not much sense in such a story. It is not without reason that it is believed that every Christian at least once in his life should make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. And the path to the temple, as you know, begins with the first step. You can take this step today by taking a 3D virtual tour of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher - the greatest shrine in Christendom right now, on the Jerusalem Candle website. To do this, you just need to follow the link