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115-865: The Church of the Holy Sepulchre , also known as the Church of the Resurrection , is a fourth-century church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem . The church is also the seat of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem . Some consider it the holiest site in Christianity and it has been an important pilgrimage site for Christians since the fourth century . According to traditions dating to

230-571: A chi - rho inside the loop of an ankh . Following the battle and the defeat and death of Maxentius , Constantine became the undisputed emperor in the West and performed an adventus , a ceremonial entrance to the city. Arriving inside Rome's walls he ignored the altars to the gods prepared on the Capitoline Hill and did not carry out the customary sacrifices to celebrate a general's victorious entry into Rome, instead heading directly to

345-465: A cross-shaped (either Τ or †) symbol, whereas Lactantius's description suggests a staurogram (⳨), although the crux ansata (☥) or the Egyptian ankh (𓋹) have been proposed as interpretations as well. All of these symbols were used by Christians in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Eusebius concurs with Lactantius that a new device was added to Constantine's soldiers' shields but does not connect this with

460-473: A cross. Up at the extreme top a wreath woven of precious stones and gold had been fastened. On it two letters, imitating by its first characters the name "Christ," formed the monogram of the Saviour's title, rho being intersected in the middle by chi ... From the transverse bar, which was bisected by the pole, hung suspended a cloth ... But the upright pole ... carried the golden head-and-shoulders portrait of

575-589: A dramatic series of events sometime between his father Constantius Chlorus 's death in 306 and the Battle of the Milvian Bridge on 28 October 312. The battle secured Constantine's claim to the title of augustus in the West, which he had assumed unilaterally when his father died. According to the Eusebius' Life of Constantine , Constantine saw a vision of "a cross-shaped trophy formed from light" above

690-722: A half centuries. Their refusal to participate in the imperial cult was considered an act of treason and was thus punishable by execution. The most widespread official persecution was carried out by Diocletian beginning in 303. During the Great Persecution , the emperor ordered Christian buildings and the homes of Christians torn down and their sacred books collected and burned. Christians were arrested, tortured, mutilated, burned, starved, and condemned to gladiatorial contests to amuse spectators. The Great Persecution officially ended in April 311, when Galerius , senior emperor of

805-547: A higher fourth-century wall built to support Constantine's basilica. After the excavations of the early 1970s, the Armenian authorities converted this archaeological space into the Chapel of Saint Vartan , and created an artificial walkway over the quarry on the north of the chapel, so that the new chapel could be accessed (by permission) from the Chapel of Saint Helena. After seven decades of being held together by steel girders,

920-410: A layer of debris was visible. This was cleared in the next day, and a partially broken marble slab with a Crusader-style cross carved was revealed. By the night of 28 October, the original limestone burial bed was shown to be intact. The tomb was resealed shortly thereafter. Mortar from just above the burial bed was later dated to the mid-fourth century. On 25 March 2020, Israeli health officials ordered

1035-757: A new gate in the Old City walls, in the area of the new development. The gate was called the New Gate . Many of the streets function as typical oriental bazaars or suqs, with the David Street and Christian Quarter Road most prominent among them. Though formally separate from the main bulk of the Christian Quarter, which houses mostly Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic sites, the Armenians consider their adjacent Armenian Quarter to be part of

1150-589: A precedent for the position of the Christian emperor in the Church. Emperors considered themselves responsible to the gods for the spiritual health of their subjects, and after Constantine they had a duty to help the Church define and maintain orthodoxy. The Church generally regarded the definition of doctrine as the responsibility of the bishops ; the emperor's role was to enforce doctrine, root out heresy , and uphold ecclesiastical unity. The emperor ensured that God

1265-760: A proper staircase. The Crusaders began to refurnish the church in Romanesque style and added a bell tower . These renovations unified the small chapels on the site and were completed during the reign of Queen Melisende in 1149, placing all the holy places under one roof for the first time. The church became the seat of the first Latin patriarchs and the site of the kingdom's scriptorium . Eight 11th- and 12th-century Crusader leaders ( Godfrey , Baldwin I , Baldwin II , Fulk , Baldwin III , Amalric , Baldwin IV and Baldwin V –

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1380-520: A protection against the attacks of the enemy. Writing his Church History shortly after 313, Eusebius makes no mention of this story in that work and does not recount it until composing his posthumous biography of Constantine decades afterwards. Life of Constantine was written by Eusebius after Constantine had died, and Eusebius admitted that he had heard the story from Constantine long after it had happened. Lactantius , writing 313–315 and around twenty years before Eusebius's Life , also does not mention

1495-459: A riot broke out, which was followed by reprisals. The basilica was burned again. The doors and roof were burnt, and Patriarch John VII was murdered. On 18 October 1009, Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah ordered the complete destruction of the church as part of a more general campaign against Christian places of worship in Palestine and Egypt. The damage was extensive, with few parts of

1610-465: A step further than the earlier Edict of Serdica by Galerius in 311, returning confiscated Church property. This edict made the empire officially neutral with regard to religious worship; it neither made the traditional religions illegal nor made Christianity the state religion , as occurred later with the Edict of Thessalonica of 380. The Edict of Milan did, however, raise the stock of Christianity within

1725-600: A vision in the sky. Instead, Lactantius mentions only that Constantine's dream took place on the eve of the climactic battle on the Ponte Milvio across the Tiber , with the crucial detail that the "sign" was marked on the Constantinian soldiers' shields. According to Lactantius: Constantine was advised in a dream to mark the heavenly sign of God on the shields of his soldiers and then engage in battle. He did as he

1840-556: Is detailed in Jacopo de Varazze's 13th-century Legenda Aurea, which not only recounts the myth surrounding the cross but also commends Helena as an exemplary Christian within the Catholic Church . According to the legend, while en route to Jerusalem, Helena encountered three crosses, one of which was believed to be the cross of Christ, accompanied by the purported nails. The narrative describes three ailing individuals approaching

1955-631: Is enclosed by a 19th-century shrine called the Aedicule . Within the church proper are the last four stations of the Cross of the Via Dolorosa , representing the final episodes of the Passion of Jesus . The church has been a major Christian pilgrimage destination since its creation in the fourth century, as the traditional site of the resurrection of Christ, thus its original Greek name, Church of

2070-522: Is possible that Constantine's mother, Helena , exposed him to Christianity. In any case, he only declared himself a Christian after issuing the Edict of Milan . Writing to Christians, Constantine made clear that he believed that he owed his successes to the protection of the High God alone. In 310 a panegyric , preserved in the Panegyrici Latini collection and delivered at Trier for

2185-753: Is revered as a saint and isapostolos in the Eastern Orthodox Church , Oriental Orthodox Church , and various Eastern Catholic Churches for his example as a Christian monarch. The first recorded official persecution of Christians on behalf of the Roman Empire was in AD ;64, when, as reported by the Roman historian Tacitus , Emperor Nero attempted to blame Christians for the Great Fire of Rome . According to Church tradition, it

2300-750: Is the seat of the Custody of the Holy Land . The west–east David Street and north–south Christian Quarter Road, or simply Christian Road, are the principal market streets. Several hotels, including the Casa Nova Hotel and the Greek Catholic hotel, were built by the churches as places for religious visitors and pilgrims to stay. The quarter also contains museums , including one about the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate. In

2415-680: The limes , east of the Euphrates , the Sasanian rulers, perennially at war with Rome , had usually tolerated Christianity . Constantine is said to have written to Shapur II in 324 and urged him to protect Christians under his rule. With the establishment of Catholicism as the state religion of the Roman Empire, Christians in Persia would be regarded as allies of Persia's ancient enemy. According to an anonymous Christian account, Shapur II wrote to his generals: You will arrest Simon, chief of

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2530-429: The 1841 British Royal Engineers map of Jerusalem , or at least Reverend George Williams ' subsequent labelling of it. The city had previously been divided into many more harat ( Arabic : حارَة , romanized :  Hārat : "quarters", "neighborhoods", "districts" or "areas", see wikt:حارة ). The table below shows the evolution of the area which was to become known as the Christian Quarter, from 1495 up until

2645-601: The 4th-century process of Constantine's integration of the imperial government with the Catholic Church that began with the First Council of Nicaea. The term was popularized by the Mennonite theologian John H. Yoder . The claim that there ever was a Constantinian shift has been disputed; Peter Leithart argues that there was a "brief, ambiguous 'Constantinian moment' in the fourth century," but that there

2760-580: The Aedicule by Komnenos had deteriorated badly and was detaching from the underlying structure; from 1947 until restoration work in 2016–17, it was held in place with an exterior scaffolding of iron girders installed by the British authorities . After the care of the British Empire , the Church of England had an important role in the appropriation of the Holy Sepulcher, such as funds for

2875-537: The Arian bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia in 337; the real reasons behind it remain unknown and are debated also. According to Hans Pohlsander, professor emeritus of history at the State University of New York at Albany , Constantine's conversion was a matter of realpolitik, meant to serve his political interest in keeping the empire united under his control: The prevailing spirit of Constantine's government

2990-743: The Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre and the Holy Sepulchre . Eastern Christians also call it the Church of the Resurrection and the Church of the Anastasis , Anastasis being Greek for Resurrection. After the siege of Jerusalem in AD 70 during the First Jewish–Roman War , Jerusalem had been reduced to ruins. In AD 130, the Roman emperor Hadrian began the building of a Roman colony,

3105-688: The Church of the Holy Apostles ; although Eusebius does not mention any Byzantine church by name, he reports that Christian sites were numerous inside the city and around it. Later tradition ascribed to Constantine the foundations in Constantinople of the Church of Saint Menas , the Church of Saint Agathonicus , the Church of Saint Michael at nearby Anaplous , and the Church of Hagios Dynamis ( Ancient Greek : Άγιος Δύναμις , romanized :  Hagíos Dynamis , lit.   'Holy Power'). The reign of Constantine established

3220-479: The Constantinian dynasty Christianity expanded throughout the empire, launching the era of the state church of the Roman Empire . Whether Constantine sincerely converted to Christianity or remained loyal to paganism is a matter of debate among historians. His formal conversion in 312 is almost universally acknowledged among historians, despite that it was claimed he was baptized only on his deathbed by

3335-531: The First Council of Nicaea , effectively the first ecumenical council (unless the Council of Jerusalem is so classified). The Council of Nicaea is the first major attempt by Christians to define orthodoxy for the whole state. Until Nicaea, all previous Church councils had been local or regional synods affecting only portions of the Church. Nicaea dealt primarily with the Arian controversy. Constantine

3450-595: The First Crusade , was the threat to Constantinople from the Seljuk invasion of Asia Minor in response to the appeal of Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos . Historians agree that the fate of Jerusalem and thereby the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was also of concern, if not the immediate goal of papal policy in 1095. The idea of taking Jerusalem gained more focus as the Crusade was underway. The rebuilt church site

3565-633: The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) declared the visibly deteriorating Aedicule structure unsafe. A restoration of the Aedicule was agreed upon and executed from May 2016 to March 2017. Much of the $ 4 million project was funded by the World Monuments Fund , as well as $ 1.3 million from Mica Ertegün and a significant sum from King Abdullah II of Jordan . The existence of the original limestone cave walls within

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3680-543: The Muristan . This narrow way of access to such a large structure has proven to be hazardous at times. For example, when a fire broke out in 1840, dozens of pilgrims were trampled to death. According to their own family lore, the Muslim Nuseibeh family has been responsible for opening the door as an impartial party to the church's denominations already since the seventh century. However, they themselves admit that

3795-512: The Peshitta and Codex Alexandrinus , these are the earliest extant Christian Bibles. According to Socrates Scholasticus , Constantine commissioned the construction of the first Church of Hagia Irene in Constantinople, on the site now occupied by the Justinian church of the same name. It commemorated the peace won by Constantine and Crispus 's victory over Licinius and Licinius II at

3910-588: The Roman Catholic , Greek Orthodox , Armenian Apostolic , Coptic , Syriac , and Ethiopian Orthodox churches. Directly adjacent to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the Church of the Redeemer , marking a Lutheran presence at the site. The church was named either for the Resurrection of Jesus , or for his tomb, which is at its focal point. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is also known as

4025-617: The Tetrarchy , issued an edict of toleration which granted Christians the right to practice their religion, although it did not restore any property to them. Constantine , caesar in the Western Empire, and Licinius , caesar in the East, also were signatories to the edict. It has been speculated that Galerius' reversal of his long-standing policy of Christian persecution has been attributable to one or both of these co-caesars. It

4140-420: The 1970–78 restoration works and excavations inside the building, and under the nearby Muristan bazaar, it was found that the area was originally a quarry, from which white meleke limestone was struck. East of the Chapel of Saint Helena, the excavators discovered a void containing a second-century drawing of a Roman pilgrim ship, two low walls supporting the platform of Hadrian's second-century temple, and

4255-553: The 19th century, European countries sought to expand their influence in Jerusalem and began constructing several structures in the Christian Quarter. The Ottoman authorities attempted to halt European influence and established rules for buying land in the area, but personal interventions from the heads of those countries, including Wilhelm II of Germany and Franz Joseph of Austria , led to construction of some buildings for those countries' religious and secular authorities. At

4370-517: The 4th century and destroyed by al-Hakim in 1009. Al-Hakim's son allowed Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos to reconstruct the church, which was completed in 1048. After it was captured by the Crusaders in 1099, it continued to undergo modifications, resulting in a significant departure from the original structure. Several renovations and restorations were made under the Ottomans. The tomb itself

4485-544: The Aedicule was confirmed, and a window was created to view this from the inside. The presence of moisture led to the discovery of an underground shaft resembling an escape tunnel carved into the bedrock, seeming to lead from the tomb. For the first time since at least 1555, on 26 October 2016, marble cladding that protects the supposed burial bed of Jesus was removed. Members of the National Technical University of Athens were present. Initially, only

4600-400: The Anastasis ('Resurrection'). The Status Quo , an understanding between religious communities dating to 1757, applies to the site. Control of the church itself is shared among several Christian denominations and secular entities in complicated arrangements essentially unchanged for over 160 years, and some for much longer. The main denominations sharing property over parts of the church are

4715-489: The Armenians , who, unlike the majority of Christians in Jerusalem, Israel and Palestine , are neither Arab nor Palestinian . Gates 1. Jaffa 2. Zion 3. Dung 4. Golden 5. Lions 6. Herod 7. Damascus 8. New ( Double, Single, Tanners ' ) Al-Mawazin 31°46′42.5″N 35°13′45.84″E  /  31.778472°N 35.2294000°E  / 31.778472; 35.2294000 Constantine

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4830-661: The Battle of Chrysopolis in 324; its name, the Church of the Holy Peace ( Ancient Greek : Ἁγία Εἰρήνη , romanized :  Hagía Eirḗnē , lit.   'Holy Peace') recalled the Altar of Peace ( Latin : ara pacis ) built by Augustus , the first deified Roman emperor. Two other large churches were dedicated to Saint Mocius and to Saint Acacius ; both worthies had supposedly been martyred in Byzantium during

4945-409: The Battle of the Milvian Bridge, saying only that the "sign of the saving trophy" was marked, but not specifying when. Sometime after 317, Eusebius was permitted by Constantine, probably either in 325 or in 335, to see a standard that was made according to the emperor's dreamt instructions during the civil war. He described it as: A tall pole plated with gold had a transverse bar forming the shape of

5060-479: The Byzantines, while releasing 5,000 Muslim prisoners, made demands for the restoration of other churches destroyed by al-Hakim and the reestablishment of a patriarch in Jerusalem. Contemporary sources credit the emperor with spending vast sums in an effort to restore the Church of the Holy Sepulchre after this agreement was made. Still, "a total replacement was far beyond available resources. The new construction

5175-436: The Christian Quarter. The three Christian patriarchates of Jerusalem – the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate , the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem , and the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem – as well as the government of Armenia , have all publicly expressed their opposition to any political division of the two quarters. The central reasons for the existence of a separate Armenian Quarter is the distinct language and culture of

5290-451: The Christians. You will keep him until he signs this document and consents to collect for us a double tax and double tribute from the Christians … for we Gods have all the trials of war and they have nothing but repose and pleasure. They inhabit our territory and agree with Caesar, our enemy. Constantinian shift is a term used by some theologians and historians of antiquity to describe the political and theological aspects and outcomes of

5405-437: The Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, reports on the rebuilding of the church in the mid-12th century. The Crusaders investigated the eastern ruins on the site, occasionally excavating through the rubble, and while attempting to reach the cistern, they discovered part of the original ground level of Hadrian's temple enclosure; they transformed this space into a chapel dedicated to Helena , widening their original excavation tunnel into

5520-408: The Diocletianic Persecution. The Church of St Mocius was supposed to have included parts of a former temple of Zeus or Hercules, though it is unlikely that such a temple existed on the site, which was without the walls of the Constantinian city as well as of erstwhile Severan Byzantium. According to Eusebius, Christian liturgies were also performed in Constantine's Mausoleum, the site of which became

5635-414: The French area. The Russians located themselves in the nearby Russian Compound . There was a natural desire for easy travel between the Christian Quarter and the new development, but at the time the Old City walls formed a barrier and travellers were forced to take an indirect path through either Jaffa Gate or Nablus Gate . In 1889, the Ottomans accepted the request of the European countries and breached

5750-447: The Godbeloved Emperor, and likewise of his sons. This later description of Eusebius's, written after 324, suggests a more elaborate symbol than does Lactantius's earlier text, involving the Greek letters rho (Ρ) and chi (Χ) ligature d as the c hi rho (☧), a monogram of Ancient Greek: χριστός , romanized:  khrīstós , lit.   'anointed', referring to Jesus . Possibly Eusebius's description refers to

5865-508: The Great Persecution of Diocletian, and endowed the church with land and other wealth. Between 324 and 330, Constantine built a new city, New Rome , at Byzantium on the Bosporos , which would be named Constantinople for him. Unlike "old" Rome, the city began to employ overtly Christian architecture, contained churches within the city walls, and had no pre-existing temples from other religions. In doing this, however, Constantine required those who had not converted to Christianity to pay for

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5980-565: The Great and Christianity During the reign of the Roman emperor Constantine the Great (306–337 AD), Christianity began to transition to the dominant religion of the Roman Empire . Historians remain uncertain about Constantine's reasons for favoring Christianity, and theologians and historians have often argued about which form of early Christianity he subscribed to. There is no consensus among scholars as to whether he adopted his mother Helena 's Christianity in his youth, or, as claimed by Eusebius of Caesarea , encouraged her to convert to

6095-472: The Old City, were made part of Jordan. In 1967, Israeli forces captured East Jerusalem in the Six Day War , and that area has remained under Israeli control ever since. Under Israeli rule, legal arrangements relating to the churches of East Jerusalem were maintained in coordination with the Jordanian government. The dome at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was restored again in 1994–97 as part of extensive modern renovations that have been ongoing since 1959. During

6210-428: The Peace of the Church or the Constantinian shift . In 313, Constantine and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan decriminalizing Christian worship. The emperor became a great patron of the Church and set a precedent for the position of the Christian emperor within the Church and raised the notions of orthodoxy , Christendom , ecumenical councils , and the state church of the Roman Empire declared by edict in 380 . He

6325-407: The architect Zenobius, was built as separate constructs over two holy sites: The Church of the Holy Sepulchre site has been recognized since early in the fourth century as the place where Jesus was crucified, buried, and rose from the dead. The church was consecrated on 13 September 335. In 327, Constantine and Helena separately commissioned the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem to commemorate

6440-428: The baptistery, and the north chapel the chamber in which the patriarch chrismated the newly baptized before leading them into the rotunda north of this complex. Now they are dedicated as (from south to north) The 12th-century Crusader bell tower is just south of the Rotunda, to the left of the entrance. Its upper level was lost in a 1545 collapse. In 1719, another two storeys were lost. The wooden doors that compose

6555-500: The birth of Jesus. The Constantinian sanctuary in Jerusalem was destroyed by a fire in May of 614 , when the Sassanid Empire , under Khosrau II , invaded Jerusalem and captured the True Cross. In 630, the Emperor Heraclius rebuilt the church after recapturing the city. After Jerusalem came under Islamic rule , it remained a Christian church, with the early Muslim rulers protecting the city's Christian sites, prohibiting their destruction or use as living quarters. A story reports that

6670-471: The caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab visited the church and stopped to pray on the balcony, but at the time of prayer, turned away from the church and prayed outside. He feared that future generations would misinterpret this gesture, taking it as a pretext to turn the church into a mosque. Eutychius of Alexandria adds that Umar wrote a decree saying that Muslims would not inhabit this location. The building suffered severe damage from an earthquake in 746. Early in

6785-402: The church. While there, she identified a site in Jerusalem as Calvary, where Jesus was crucified, and the cave where Jesus was laid to rest. As a bold statement for Christianity in this part of the city, she oversaw the construction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Over the centuries, additional religious institutions and churches were erected nearby, forming a community of Christians. In

6900-463: The church. By the Crusader period, a cistern under the former basilica was rumoured to have been where Helena had found the True Cross, and began to be venerated as such; the cistern later became the Chapel of the Invention of the Cross , but there is no evidence of the site's identification before the 11th century, and modern archaeological investigation has now dated the cistern to 11th-century repairs by Monomachos. William of Tyre , chronicler of

7015-415: The crosses, with the third person experiencing a miraculous healing upon touching the cross of Christ. The designated site of this discovery is said to be where the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher was subsequently erected. Helena is also credited with the establishment of the Church of the Nativity . The cross of Christ and other relics linked to this discovery became subjects of subsequent controversies within

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7130-433: The decoration was once inlaid with pieces of glass and fine marble; it indicates that the relic was the front of the church's high altar from the Crusader era (c. 1149), which was later used by the Greek Orthodox until being damaged in the 1808 fire. The courtyard facing the entrance to the church is known as the parvis . Two streets open into the parvis: St Helena Road (west) and Suq ed-Dabbagha (east). Around

7245-507: The documents held by various Christian denominations only mention their role since the 12th century, in the time of Saladin, which is the date more generally accepted. After retaking Jerusalem from the Crusaders in 1187 , Saladin entrusted the Joudeh family with the key to the church, which is made of iron and 30 centimetres (12 in) long; the Nuseibehs either became or remained its doorkeepers. Christian Quarter The Christian quarter contains about 40 Christian holy places and one of

7360-441: The dome of the rotunda to collapse and smashing the Aedicule's exterior decoration. The rotunda and the Aedicule's exterior were rebuilt in 1809–10 by architect Nikolaos Ch. Komnenos of Mytilene in the contemporary Ottoman Baroque style. The interior of the antechamber, now known as the Chapel of the Angel , was partly rebuilt to a square ground plan in place of the previously semicircular western end. Another decree in 1853 from

7475-431: The early church remaining, and the roof of the rock-cut tomb damaged; the original shrine was destroyed. Some partial repairs followed. Christian Europe reacted with shock: it was a spur to expulsions of Jews and, later on, the Crusades . In wide-ranging negotiations between the Fatimids and the Byzantine Empire in 1027–1028, an agreement was reached whereby the new Caliph Ali az-Zahir (al-Hakim's son) agreed to allow

7590-435: The emperor while practising incubation at the shrine of Apollo Grannus in Grand, Vosges . Eusebius was aware of this vision, or reports of it, and refers in his own Panegyric of Constantine of 336 to "tricennial crowns" bestowed by the hand of God in Christianity on Constantine, "augmenting the sway of his kingdom by long years". Eusebius of Caesarea and other Christian sources record that Constantine experienced

7705-401: The empire and reaffirmed the importance of religious worship to the welfare of the state. Most influential people in the empire, especially high military officials, had not been converted to Christianity and still participated in traditional Roman religion ; Constantine's rule exhibited at least a willingness to appease these factions. Coins minted up to eight years after the battle still bore

7820-444: The end of the 19th century, there was no further free land for development in the Christian Quarter. In the same period, the Suez Canal had opened and many Christians travelled to the Holy Land. This led to intensified competition between the European powers for influence in Jerusalem. France built hospitals , a monastery , and hostels for visitors outside the Old City adjacent to the Christian Quarter - an area which became known as

7935-432: The face of Constantine, does not have an image of Constantine sacrificing to Jupiter, although he is shown sacrificing to Apollo and to Hercules . In 313 Constantine and Licinius announced "that it was proper that the Christians and all others should have liberty to follow that mode of religion which to each of them appeared best," thereby granting tolerance to all religions, including Christianity. The Edict of Milan went

8050-412: The faith he had adopted. Constantine ruled the Roman Empire as sole emperor for much of his reign. Some scholars allege that his main objective was to gain unanimous approval and submission to his authority from all classes, and therefore he chose Christianity to conduct his political propaganda, believing that it was the most appropriate religion that could fit with the imperial cult . Regardless, under

8165-424: The first eight rulers of the Kingdom of Jerusalem ) were buried in the south transept and inside the Chapel of Adam . The royal tombs were looted during the Khwarizmian sack of Jerusalem in 1244 but probably remained mostly intact until 1808 when a fire damaged the church. The tombs may have been destroyed by the fire, or during renovations by the Greek Orthodox custodians of the church in 1809–1810. The remains of

8280-415: The fourth century, the church contains both the site where Jesus was crucified at Calvary , or Golgotha, and the location of Jesus's empty tomb , where he was buried and resurrected . Both locations are considered immensely holy sites by Christians. In earlier times, the site was used as a Jewish burial ground, upon which a pagan temple was built. The church and rotunda was built under Constantine in

8395-539: The holiest church in Christianity was laid under interdict . The church seems to have been largely in the hands of Greek Orthodox patriarch Athanasius II of Jerusalem (c. 1231–47) during the last period of Latin control over Jerusalem. Both city and church were captured by the Khwarezmians in 1244. There was certainly a recognisable Nestorian ( Church of the East ) presence at the Holy Sepulchre from

8510-569: The images of Roman gods. The monuments he first commissioned, such as the Arch of Constantine, contained no reference to Christianity. The accession of Constantine was a turning point for early Christianity. After his victory, Constantine took over the role of patron of the Christian faith. He supported the Church financially, had a number of basilicas built, granted privileges (e.g., exemption from certain taxes) to clergy, promoted Christians to high-ranking offices, returned property confiscated during

8625-617: The imperial court, the Eastern court and the major positions in the Eastern Church were held by Arians or Arian sympathizers. With the exception of a short period of eclipse, Eusebius enjoyed the complete confidence both of Constantine and Constantius II and was the tutor of Emperor Julian the Apostate . After Constantine's death, his son and successor Constantius II was an Arian, as was Emperor Valens . Constantine's position on

8740-522: The imperial palace. This is probably because the traditional Roman triumph , concluding with the sacrifice to Jupiter Optimus Maximus at his temple on the Capitoline, was traditionally celebrated after victory over Rome's enemies, rather than after the conquest of the city by a claimant in a civil war. The Arch of Constantine , for which numerous reliefs from earlier monuments depicting prior emperors sacrificing to various gods were re-carved with

8855-407: The joint occasion of the city's birthday and Constantine's quinquennalia , recounted a vision apparently seen by the emperor while journeying between Marseille and Trier. The panegyricist recounts that the god Apollo appeared to Constantine in company with Victoria and together presented him with three wreaths representing thirty years of power. This vision was perhaps in a dream experienced by

8970-475: The kings may still be in unmarked pits under the church's pavement. The church was lost to Saladin , along with the rest of the city, in 1187, although the treaty established after the Third Crusade allowed Christian pilgrims to visit the site. Emperor Frederick II (r. 1220–50) regained the city and the church by treaty in the 13th century while under a ban of excommunication, with the consequence that

9085-404: The main entrance are the original, highly carved arched doors. Today, only the left-hand entrance is currently accessible, as the right doorway has long since been bricked up. The entrance to the church leads to the south transept , through the crusader façade in the parvis of a larger courtyard. This is found past a group of streets winding through the outer Via Dolorosa by way of a souq in

9200-587: The maintenance of external infrastructures, and the abolition of territorial claims near the Temple of the Holy Sepulcher, the Protestant Church allowed to carry out the elimination of taxes from the Holy Sepulcher, currently the Anglican and Lutheran dioceses of Jerusalem are allowed to attend Armenian cults. In 1948, Jerusalem was divided between Israel and Jordan and where the church was located, in

9315-531: The miracle. The Greek words Ἐν Τούτῳ Νίκα 'in this sign, conquer' are often rendered in Latin as in hoc signo vinces 'in this sign, you will conquer'. According to Eusebius, Constantine also had a dream that same night. In the dream, the Christ of God appeared to him with the sign which had appeared in the sky, and urged him to make himself a copy of the sign which had appeared in the sky, and to use this as

9430-466: The modern system: During the 4th century, Emperor Constantine 's mother, Helena, journeyed to the Holy Land, aiming to engage in acts of charity and establish churches, particularly in locations associated with significant events in the life of Jesus Christ. During this period, a prominent narrative emerged about Helena's discovery of the cross. This legend, widely recognized in Late Antiquity,

9545-583: The most important communities of Christianity in Israel and holy places for Christians in the world . First among them is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre , Christianity's holiest place. Most of the residents of the Christian quarter remain Christians however their numbers have dwindled. The Christian Quarter was built around the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is the heart of the quarter, and Christian churches and institutions are spread across much of

9660-469: The new city of Aelia Capitolina , on the site. About AD 135, he ordered that a cave containing a rock-cut tomb be filled in to make a flat foundation for a temple dedicated to Jupiter or Venus . The temple remained until the early fourth century. After seeing a vision of a cross in the sky in 312, Constantine the Great began to favour Christianity and signed the Edict of Milan legalizing

9775-489: The new city. Christian chroniclers tell that it appeared necessary to Constantine "to teach his subjects to give up their rites ... and to accustom them to despise their temples and the images contained therein," This led to the closure of temples because of a lack of support, their wealth flowing to the imperial treasure; Constantine did not need to use force to implement this. It was the chronicler Theophanes who added centuries later that temples "were annihilated", but this

9890-409: The ninth century, another earthquake damaged the dome of the Anastasis. The damage was repaired in 810 by Patriarch Thomas I . In 841, the church suffered a fire. In 935, the Christians prevented the construction of a Muslim mosque adjacent to the Church. In 938, a new fire damaged the inside of the basilica and came close to the rotunda. In 966, due to a defeat of Muslim armies in the region of Syria,

10005-565: The original rock or taking small pieces as souvenirs. A marble slab was placed over the limestone burial bed where Jesus's body is believed to have lain. After the renovation of 1555, control of the church oscillated between the Franciscans and the Orthodox, depending on which community could obtain a favourable firman from the " Sublime Porte " at a particular time, often through outright bribery. Violent clashes were not uncommon. There

10120-411: The parvis are a few smaller structures. South of the parvis, opposite the church: On the eastern side of the parvis, south to north: North of the parvis, in front of the church façade or against it: A group of three chapels borders the parvis on its west side. They originally formed the baptistery complex of the Constantinian church. The southernmost chapel was the vestibule, the middle chapel

10235-412: The passion, such as the location of the prison of Christ and his flagellation, and presumably were so placed because of the difficulties of free movement among shrines in the city streets. The dedication of these chapels indicates the importance of the pilgrims' devotion to the suffering of Christ. They have been described as "a sort of Via Dolorosa in miniature" since little or no rebuilding took place on

10350-845: The quarter. Besides the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, there are the patriarchal seats of many Christian denominations, including the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem , which owns large tracts of the quarter, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem , the Greek Catholic Patriarchate of Jerusalem , the Coptic Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Ethiopian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, while the Franciscan Monastery of St Saviour (often called by its Italian name, San Salvatore)

10465-554: The rebuilding and redecoration of the church. The rebuilding was finally completed during the tenures of Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos and Patriarch Nicephorus of Jerusalem in 1048. As a concession, the mosque in Constantinople was reopened and the khutba sermons were to be pronounced in az-Zahir's name. Muslim sources say a by-product of the agreement was the renunciation of Islam by many Christians who had been forced to convert under al-Hakim's persecutions. In addition,

10580-538: The religion. The Bishop of Jerusalem Macarius asked Constantine for permission to dig for the tomb. With the help of Eusebius (a Bishop of Caesarea) and Macarius, three crosses were found near a tomb; one, which was said to have cured people of death , was presumed to be the True Cross , on which Jesus was crucified , leading the Romans to believe that they had found Calvary . About 326, Constantine ordered that

10695-454: The religions traditionally practiced in Rome evolved during his reign. In fact, his coinage and other official motifs, until 325, had affiliated him with the pagan cult of Sol Invictus. At first, Constantine encouraged the construction of new temples and tolerated traditional sacrifices ; by the end of his reign, he had begun to order the pillaging and tearing down of Roman temples . Beyond

10810-670: The scriptures were commissioned. The volumes were likely gospel books containing the Canonical Gospels of the Four Evangelists rather than complete Bibles with the entire Biblical canon , which were very rare in antiquity. Athanasius ( Apol. Const. 4 ) recorded around 340 Alexandrian scribes preparing Bibles for Constans . Little else is known. It has been speculated that this may have provided motivation for canon lists , and that Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus are examples of these Bibles. Together with

10925-583: The site closed to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic . According to the keeper of the keys, it was the first such closure since 1349, during the Black Death . Clerics continued regular prayers inside the building, and it reopened to visitors two months later, on 24 May. During church renovations in 2022, a stone slab covered in modern graffiti was moved from a wall, revealing Cosmatesque -style decoration on one face. According to an IAA archaeologist,

11040-727: The site of the great basilica. Western pilgrims to Jerusalem during the 11th century found much of the sacred site in ruins. Control of Jerusalem, and thereby the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, continued to change hands several times between the Fatimids and the Seljuk Turks (loyal to the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad ) until the Crusaders' arrival in 1099. Many historians maintain that the main concern of Pope Urban II , when calling for

11155-403: The southwestern part of the quarter there is a pool called Hezekiah's Pool or Patriarch's Pool that was traditionally used to store water for the area. The area originated as "Haret en-Nasara" (Nasara is cognate with "Nazarenes") in the middle of the area was later to become the "Christian Quarter". The convention of the boundaries of the Christian Quarter have originated in its current form in

11270-560: The sultan solidified the existing territorial division among the communities and solidified the Status Quo for arrangements to "remain in their present state", requiring consensus to make even minor changes. The dome was restored by Catholics, Greeks, and Turks in 1868, being made of iron ever since. By the time of the British Mandate for Palestine following the end of World War I , the cladding of red limestone applied to

11385-438: The sun at midday. About the time of the midday sun, when the day was just turning, he said he saw with his own eyes up in the sky and resting over the sun, a cross-shaped trophy formed from light, and a text attached to it which said, "By this conquer." ( τούτῳ νίκα ) Amazement at the spectacle seized both him and the whole company of soldiers which was then accompanying him on a campaign he was conducting somewhere, and witnessed

11500-405: The temple to Jupiter or Venus be replaced by a church. After the temple was torn down and its ruins removed, the soil was removed from the cave, revealing a rock-cut tomb that Macarius identified as the burial site of Jesus. A shrine was built on the site of the tomb Macarius had identified as that of Jesus, enclosing the rock tomb walls within its own. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, planned by

11615-454: The title "king" during his lifetime, and declared himself Advocatus Sancti Sepulchri ('Protector [or Defender] of the Holy Sepulchre'). According to the German priest and pilgrim Ludolf von Sudheim , the keys of the Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre were in hands of the "ancient Georgians ", and the food, alms, candles and oil for lamps were given to them by the pilgrims at the south door of

11730-438: The years 1348 through 1575, as contemporary Franciscan accounts indicate. The Franciscan friars renovated the church in 1555, as it had been neglected despite increased numbers of pilgrims. The Franciscans rebuilt the Aedicule , extending the structure to create an antechamber. A marble shrine commissioned by Friar Boniface of Ragusa was placed to envelop the remains of Christ's tomb, probably to prevent pilgrims from touching

11845-570: Was abolished for reasons of Christian piety but was replaced with hanging , to demonstrate the preservation of Roman supremacy. On March 7, 321, Sunday, which was sacred to Christians as the day of Christ's resurrection and to the Roman Sun God Sol Invictus , was declared an official day of rest. On that day markets were banned and public offices were closed, except for the purpose of freeing slaves. There were, however, no restrictions on performing farming work on Sundays, which

11960-417: Was commanded and by means of a letter X turned sideways, with the top of its head bent around ( transversa X littera , summo capite circumflexo ), he marked Christ on their shields ( Christum in scutis notat ). Armed with this sign, the army took up its weapons. It is unclear from these sources what Constantine saw and what was marked on his army's shields. Eusebius's description of the daytime vision suggests

12075-410: Was concentrated on the rotunda and its surrounding buildings: the great basilica remained in ruins." The rebuilt church site consisted of "a court open to the sky, with five small chapels attached to it." The chapels were east of the court of resurrection (when reconstructed, the location of the tomb was under open sky), where the western wall of the great basilica had been. They commemorated scenes from

12190-465: Was considered "not true" by contemporary historians. Constantine respected cultivated persons, and his court was composed of older, respected, and honored men. Men from leading Roman families who declined to convert to Christianity were denied positions of power yet still received appointments; even up to the end of his life, two-thirds of his top government were non-Christian. Constantine's laws enforced and reflected his Christian attitudes. Crucifixion

12305-472: Was during the reign of Nero that Peter and Paul were martyred in Rome. However, modern historians debate whether the Roman government distinguished between Christians and Jews prior to Nerva 's modification of the Fiscus Judaicus in 96, from which point practising Jews paid the tax and Christians did not. Christians suffered from sporadic and localized persecutions over a period of two and

12420-895: Was in less danger of polluting his soul with sin and not getting to heaven. He was baptized by his distant relative Arian Bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia or by Pope Sylvester I which is maintained by the Catholic Church , the Coptic Orthodox Church , the Antiochian Orthodox Church , the Greek Orthodox Church , the Russian Orthodox Church , the Serbian Orthodox Church , upon by many other Eastern Orthodox , Nestorian Orthodox , and Oriental Orthodox Churches. During Eusebius of Nicomedia's time in

12535-644: Was no agreement about this question, although it was discussed at the negotiations to the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699. During the Holy Week of 1757, Orthodox Christians reportedly took over some of the Franciscan-controlled church. This may have been the cause of the sultan's firman (decree) later developed into the Status Quo . A fire severely damaged the structure again in 1808, causing

12650-514: Was one of conservatism. His conversion to and support of Christianity produced fewer innovations than one might have expected; indeed they served an entirely conservative end, the preservation and continuation of the Empire. Constantine's decision to cease the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire was a turning point for early Christianity, sometimes referred to as the Triumph of the Church,

12765-716: Was properly worshiped in his empire; what proper worship (orthodoxy) and doctrines and dogma consisted of was for the Church to determine. Constantine had become a worshiper of the Christian God, but he found that there were many opinions on that worship and indeed on who and what that God was. In 316, Constantine was asked to adjudicate in a North African dispute of the Donatist sect (who began by refusing obedience to any bishops who had yielded in any way to persecution, later regarding all bishops but their own sect as utterly contaminated). More significantly, in 325 he summoned

12880-551: Was supposed to have made man in his image, but only on the feet. Publicly displayed gladiatorial games were ordered to be eliminated in 325. According to Eusebius, in 331 Constantine had commissioned him to deliver fifty volumes of scriptures for the churches of Constantinople, which were to be bound in leather and easily portable. Only three or four churches are known certainly to have existed in Constantine's reign, but others appear to have been planned or established, for which

12995-551: Was taken from the Fatimids (who had recently taken it from the Abbasids) by the knights of the First Crusade on 15 July 1099. The First Crusade was envisioned as an armed pilgrimage , and no crusader could consider his journey complete unless he had prayed as a pilgrim at the Holy Sepulchre. The classical theory is that Crusader leader Godfrey of Bouillon , who became the first Latin ruler of Jerusalem , decided not to use

13110-411: Was the work of the great majority of the population. Some laws made during his reign were even humane in the modern sense and supported tolerance, possibly inspired by his Christianity: a prisoner was no longer to be kept in total darkness but must be given the outdoors and daylight; a condemned man was allowed to die in the arena, but he could not be branded on his "heavenly beautified" face, since God

13225-591: Was torn between the Arian and Trinitarian camps. After the Nicene council, and against its conclusions, he eventually recalled Arius from exile and banished Athanasius of Alexandria to Trier . Just before his death in May 337, it is claimed that Constantine was baptised into Christianity. Up until this time he had been a catechumen for most of his adult life. He believed that if he waited to get baptized on his death bed he

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