Israel - Photos

'The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Old City'

Looming over Golgotha, the place of the Crucifixion, and the tomb where the body of Jesus was laid, stands the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.The Church of the Holy Sepulchre has stood in almost the centre of the walled city, since its first construction in 324. In the year 44 A.D. a new wall was built of Herod Agrippa. Hadrian obliterated Calvary and the Tomb of Jesus by building a temple dedicated to Jupiter. This was done because he wanted to rot out every remembrance of Jewish and Christian religions. Instead of desecrating the place he preserved it. In 326 A.D. Constantine demolished Hadrian's temple and erected a magnificent basilica. The Persians destroyed the Constantine monument in 614. It was again destroyed by the Khalif Hakem in 1009, after it was rebuilt on a reduced plan by Abbot Modestos. The destruction of the church by the Khalif sparked war and animosity for 200 years between East and West in the great collision of the Crusades. It was by the Crusaders that the present church was built. Despite the different additions and restorations the church exists to this day in its main original outline.