Holy Sepulchre Church (Golgotha)
It was here at Golgotha, tradition tells us, that Jesus was nailed to the cross, suffered, bled, and died. This is the most sacred place on earth for Christians -- and located within is the Rock of Golgotha. The Crusaders built the primary structure of the church. Within the church are several sites considered holy by Christians, including the traditional tomb of Jesus.
The church is a mosaic of architectural construction consisting of the main buildings linked with various smaller churches, chapels, pilgrimages, basements, stairs, courtyards, balconies, corridors and offices. The decor is a mixture of Byzantine wall paintings and statues, renaissance style art, and also modern mosaics and icons. The same applies to the exterior. The church stands among houses, monasteries and mosques, but its highlight is its great dome.
Constantine the Great and his mother, Helena erected the first Church (326-335 A.D.) after demolishing the roman pagan buildings that were erected on the site. Over the Tomb a circular building was erected and was named the rotunda. The historian Eusebius, in his book, “Biography of Constantine”, gives a detailed description of the shape, the rich decorations of marble, mosaic, gold and silver. He speaks of the inauguration of the temple on September 13th, 336 A.D. from the bishops who participated the Council in Tyre.
Unlike some historical sacred sites, which are often based solely on pious tradition and not historical fact, most historians and archaeologists agree that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is located over the actual tomb of Christ. The most important evidence includes:
- In the early 1st century A.D. the site was a disused quarry outside the city walls.
- Tombs dated to the 1st centuries B.C. and A.D. had been cut into the vertical west wall left by the quarrymen.
- The topographical elements of the church's site are compatible with the Gospel descriptions that say that Jesus was crucified on rock that looked like a skull outside the city (John 19:17) and there was a grave nearby (John 19:41-2).
- The Christian community of Jerusalem held worship services at the site until 66 A.D. When the area was brought within the city walls in 41-3 A.D. it was not built over.
- The local tradition of the community would have been scrutinized carefully when Constantine set out to build his church in 326 A.D., because the chosen site was inconvenient and expensive. Buildings had to be demolished to make way for the new church, most notably the pagan Roman temple built over the site by Hadrian in 135 A.D. Just to the south was a spot that would have been otherwise perfect -- the open space of Hadrian's forum.
- The eyewitness historian Eusebius claimed that in the course of the excavations, the original memorial was discovered.
The areas of the church are divided between the Greek Orthodox, the Roman Catholic, and the Armenian churches.
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