The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also known as the Church of the Resurrection, is a historic Christian church located within the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. It is believed by many Christians to stand on the site of Jesus’ crucifixion and burial. The Church is sacred to both the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic branches of Christianity, as well as to the Oriental Orthodox, the Assyrian Church of the East, and the Ancient Church of the East. Various Christian denominations share governance of the site via arrangements known as the “status quo”.
According to the New Testament, Jesus was crucified at a place outside the city wall of Jerusalem called Golgotha, which means “place of the skull”. After his death, his body was taken down from the cross and buried in a nearby tomb hewn out of rock. On the third day after his crucifixion, Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to his disciples and followers. Early Christians began gathering in the area and worshiping at the site believed to be associated with Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Emperor Constantine the Great, while still a pagan, commissioned the building of a majestic church on the site around 325 CE. The complex destroyed by in 1009 and was completely rebuilt as the Church currently standing. It has undergone several renovations and reconstructions over its long history, with custody of the structure and its grounds as well as administration of church affairs within shared among various Christian denominations through agreements called the “status quo”.
The complex contains two of Christianity’s holiest sites – the place of Jesus’ crucifixion known as Calvary, and Jesus’ empty tomb where he is said to have been buried and resurrected. Calvary is situated atop a rocky outcropping enclosed within the church. A series of chapels, known as the stations of the Cross, trace the path Jesus took while carrying his cross along the Via Dolorosa to Golgotha. The Edicule, a small shrine located within the rotunda of the church, contains the site of Jesus’ tomb. Christian pilgrims visit these sites to offer prayers and veneration.
Today, the sprawling complex occupies approximately 12,000 square meters and comprises a vast array of architectural elements reflecting its complex history. It includes a forecourt facing a courtyard surrounded by chapels belonging to different denominations. The Church’s iconic domes crown the roof while bell towers loom overhead. The interior contains numerous chapels, chambers and shrines devoted to key events related to Jesus’ Passion. The sombre interior reflects how the original Church would have looked when it was built in medieval times.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre has great significance seeing as it stands on the original sites of Christ’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection. Its origins trace back to the 4th century, when Constantine first built a majestic basilica over the site. Although the Church has undergone damage and destruction numerous times throughout its long history, it has been faithfully restored and rebuilt. Today, it continues its original purpose – a place of pilgrimage and worship for Christians, where they can walk in Jesus’ footsteps along the path that led to his death and resurrection.
The Gospels tell us that after Jesus was crucified, his lifeless body was taken down from the cross and hastily placed in a tomb cut out of rock at a nearby garden. This was on a Friday afternoon, just before sundown. As Saturday was the Jewish Sabbath (a day of rest on which no work could be done), plans for a more proper burial would have to wait. On Sunday morning, some of Jesus’ female followers arrived at the tomb to anoint his body properly. But they found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty – Jesus’ body was gone. Angelic beings proclaimed that he had risen, as he had foretold (Matthew 28:6, Mark 16:6, Luke 24:6). John 20:1-9 describes how when the disciples Peter and John heard the news, they ran to the tomb and found it just as the women had said.
This unexpected event became the catalyst for the rise of the Christian faith. Jesus’ resurrection affirmed him as the long-awaited Messiah and formed the bedrock of Christian doctrine and hope. It confirmed his identity as the incarnate Son of God, and the truth of his teachings. Based on accounts in the book of Acts, the disciples went forth to preach repentance and baptism in Jesus’ name, believing that he had conquered death and could grant forgiveness and eternal life.
The site where these momentous events happened naturally became a place of great meaning for early Christians. They referred to it as the Anastasis – the Greek word for resurrection. Emperor Hadrian filled in the burial site around 135 A.D. and covered it with pagan shrines and statues. However, when Christianity gained political power and became Rome’s state religion under Constantine the Great’s reign, uncovering the Tomb of Christ became a priority.
The famous church historian Eusebius, who lived during Constantine’s time, writes that the Emperor “gave orders that the location be uncovered and the ground about it dug up”. According to tradition, Constantine’s mother Saint Helena traveled to Jerusalem and identified relics believed to be from Calvary and the True Cross. Constantine then commissioned an enormous house of worship to be constructed over the Holy Sepulchre of Christ. He had the pagan buildings destroyed, and even had earth from the site transported for use in churches built elsewhere.
Constantine’s splendid basilica was consecrated around 336 A.D. The structure was built in the Roman architectural style – an open atrium led into a basilica framed by colonnades and timber rafters. A garden marked Golgotha’s location outside the main church. The rock-cut tomb where Jesus’ body had been placed was encased within a monumental shrine covered by a dome. According to Eusebius, this “New Jerusalem” was lavishly adorned with golden roof fittings, jeweled furnishings, elaborate mosaics and liturgical ornaments.
For over three hundred years, Constantine’s church remained intact and attracted growing numbers of pilgrims to the sacred site. However, in 614 A.D., Persian invaders plundered Jerusalem and destroyed the church by fire. In 630, the Byzantine Emperor Modestus rebuilt and expanded the church, but this second version also did not survive long. Jerusalem was conquered by Arab Muslim armies between 634-638, yet Christianity’s holiest site was left unharmed at first. But in 1009, the unstable Egyptian ruler al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah ordered the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to be demolished completely. For the next decade, the religious complex remained in ruins.
It was only in 1042, under Byzantine rule, that the Greek Patriarch of Jerusalem was permitted to rebuild the Church. Financial support came from Byzantine Emperors and the Eastern Orthodox rulers of Russia. Reconstruction took place according to 6th century plans, but what emerged this time was a smaller, simpler version with fewer columns. Over the next few centuries, several disasters struck the complex – but after each one the church was rebuilt. Differences between Western and Eastern Christians also led to tensions regarding control of the site.
In 1187, Jerusalem fell to the Kurdish Muslim commander Saladin. Remarkably, Saladin did not seize or sack the church. Instead, he allowed both Eastern Christians and visiting Western pilgrims to continue worshiping there. The benevolent act led medieval myths to portray Saladin as a great knight and gentleman. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre also received patronage from various European Crusaders who embarked on campaigns to take Jerusalem back from Muslims. Many kings and nobles financed chapels, church decorations, or renovations as pious acts.
A disastrous fire in 1808 led to a major restoration project between 1809-1810. The Ottoman Sultan who ruled Jerusalem at that time permitted the Church’s rotten timber roof to be replaced with a sturdy new one made of iron and lead. He also allowed repairs to the heavily damaged Edicule shrine around the Tomb of Christ. In 1852, tensions erupted between Catholics and Orthodox Christians regarding rights of worship and possession of sacred keys, space and relics within the Church.
To resolve this, Sultan Abdulmecid issued a decree which outlined rules and power-sharing arrangements between the denominations that became known as the “status quo”. The status quo defined territorial boundaries and possession rights within the Church complex, which was split between Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Armenian authorities. Certain co-ownership agreements were put in place. Although the status quo did not have the power of officially approved law, it succeeded in maintaining peace between the Holy Sepulchre’s Christian communities.
In 1927, a massive earthquake struck Jerusalem and severely damaged the Church. But British authorities who held power at the time quickly approved repairs. To accommodate the repaired sections, some new structural features were added. These included thicker pillars, larger concrete beams across the nave, and ugly steel girders that propped up the outer gallery level. Repairs were completed by 1935.
The most recent round of restorations at the Church began in 1959 and continued intermittently for decades. The dilapidated Edicule shrine covering the Tomb of Christ was reinforced and its interior remodeled. A team of scientists from National Geographic carried out archaeological studies of the tomb itself in 2016. Their findings seemed to confirm that it dated back to Constantine’s builders. Though the ornate chapel enclosing the tomb was demolished and rebuilt, the tomb chamber itself remarkably still stood in its original spot.
Today, the sprawling Church complex combines architecture and design features accumulated over 1700 years of tumultuous history. It resembles a large fortress perched atop steep stone streets in Jerusalem’s Old City, its high walls and monasteries clinging dramatically to the edge of the hillside. Its spires, turrets and imposing facades look like something out of medieval fairy tales. Time, natural disaster, warfare and repeated rebuilding have left their mark through odd juxtapositions of arches, lintels, columns, chapels and structural modifications from diverse eras.
The interior is dimly lit by hanging lamps and shafts of daylight filtering through small windows. Soot from candles blacken the gray stone ceilings, while marble columns are eroded with age. The atmosphere is hushed and gloomy, with the musky scent of antiquity filling the air. Chapels and ascetic shrines line the shadowy passageways, as mournful chants resonate through the galleries and crypts. Despite the somewhat cluttered and dilapidated state of the complex, its powerful resonance as a sacred Christian site is undeniable.
To enter the main part of the church facing the Stone of Unction, one must pass through a main doorway and a small courtyard. This leads into the Stone of Unction Chapel, where Jesus was prepared for burial after being taken down from the cross. Pilgrims rub perfumed oils on the marble slab to obtain blessings. The Ramp of Golgotha ascends about 20 feet to reach the main floor of the church containing the Tomb of Christ.
On the main floor, the focal point lies under the church’s largest dome – the circular shrine called the Rotunda of the Anastasis. This contains the Holy Edicule, the shrine encasing the cave tomb where Jesus was buried and resurrected. The Edicule structure sits directly beneath the grand dome’s oculus, through which a tall shaft of light dramatically illuminates it. To the side of the Rotunda is the Catholicon, the main Orthodox church space with rows of columns and an ornate iconostasis screen bearing holy images.
A high platform in the Catholicon’s northern apse marks the traditional location of Golgotha, the “place of the skull” where Jesus was nailed to the cross. Stairs behind the platform’s altar lead down to the Chapel of Adam, where Jesus’ blood is said to have dripped onto Adam’s skull buried below. Pilgrims kneel in front of the altar to touch the rock of Calvary protruding beneath it.
Surrounding the central areas are a maze of small chapels belonging to various denominations – for example, the Armenian Chapel, Latin Sacristy, Syriac Chapel and Coptic Patriarchate. North of the main building are areas such as the large Monastery of St. Abraham and the handsome façade of the Chapel of St. Helena. To the south are the Franciscan remains of Flagellation Chapels on the Via Dolorosa street marking Jesus’ walk to crucifixion.
The Holy Sepulchre complex therefore contains, within one vast unified building, all the most significant sites and events at the end of Jesus’ mortal life according to the Gospels. For Christians, it is considered the most sacred location on earth. Jesus’ last human footsteps walked upon this place, sanctifying it. Here is where he died on the cross, was laid in tomb nearby, and miraculously came back to life three days later, heralding a new covenant between God and man.
No other place carries such meaning for the foundations of the Christian faith. The Church built on this spot became the first of many to follow within Christendom. As the primary destination for religious pilgrimages, it laid the most ancient foundations for the growth of Christianity throughout the Roman empire and into Europe and North Africa. The Church’s long and turbulent history reflects the struggles early Christians faced in upholding their faith.
For centuries, the Holy Sepulchre Church has stood as a concrete symbol binding all major Christian denominations together. Despite the conflicts, disasters, reconstructions, occupations and uncertainties it has endured, it remains a sacred destination constantly renewed and rebuilt. The fact that this sacred site continues to be shared jointly and protected by various Christian custodians reflects Christianity’s core values of cooperation, hope and belief in resurrection.
