Tomb of the Virgin in Jerusalem

Tomb of the Virgin in Jerusalem

On your trip to Jerusalem, the tourist attraction of Jerusalem that you must visit is the Crusader church which has the Tomb of the Virgin in Jerusalem. Not only the church is beautiful but the surrounding is equally beautiful. The Tomb which lies at the center of the church, though not sure, but might date from the 1st century. According to Bible, there is no information available about the death of Mary and her place of burial. Beliefs regarding her burial here in Jerusalem started from 2nd or 3rd century and became stronger in the 5th century.

Historians first mention about the presence of a church in the site of the Tomb of the Virgin in Jerusalem in the 6th century and in 455, a tomb was built here by quarrying out the surrounding rock. Mauritius Tiberius built a round church over the tomb but the Persians destroyed it in 614.

Though the church was restored later when the Crusaders came they found it to be in ruins and it was rebuilt by them in 1130 and it had a Benedictine monastery attached to it. The monastery had Gothic style columns, beautiful frescoes and three guard towers. In 1161 Queen Melisande was buried in the lower church.
After the defeat of the Crusaders, Salah al-Din destroyed the upper part of the church; however the lower part was intact.

When you reach the site then from the road you have to take the steps to go to the square courtyard of the upper church where you will find a beautiful pointed arch which is supported by eight marble columns. Go inside and after seven steps you will come to a staircase having 47 steps which was built in the 12th century, and you will come to the tomb of Joachim and Anne, the Virgin's parents. It was at one time protected by iron bars and you will find now an arch with a motif of a lily-bud. Lying just opposite to this is the tomb of Joseph. Here not only the stairs are of 12th century but also the windows which were made at that time to prevent the Kidron floods.

The room at the bottom of the stairs is a reminder of the Byzantine era. The room is beautifully adorned with paints and hanging lanterns.

In the eastern end of the Byzantine relic you will find the Tomb of the Virgin in Jerusalem which is marked by a small chapel. There is a altar inside the Tomb of the Virgin of Jerusalem concealing the remains of a bench tomb. In a corner in the south of the tomb you will find a mihrab. On the left of the Tomb of the Virgin in Jerusalem you will find an Armenian altar. There is a cistern in the western end of the chamber whose claim to fame is that its water has healing powers.

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