Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Church of the Holy Sepulchre
The church in 2010, from left to right: the bell tower (12th century), rotunda (big dome), catholicon (smaller dome), and ambulatory
31°46′42″N 35°13′47″E / 31.77833°N 35.22972°E / 31.77833; 35.22972
Location	Christian Quarter, Old City of Jerusalem
Denomination	Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic
Website	Roman Catholic Eastern Orthodox
History
Status	Active
Founder(s)	Constantine the Great
Consecrated	13 September 335 (1689 years ago)
Architecture
Architect(s)	Nikolaos Ch. Komnenos (1810 restoration)
Style	Paleochristian, Romanesque, Baroque
Groundbreaking	c. AD 326
Completed	AD 335 (demolished in 1009, rebuilt in 1048)
Specifications
Capacity	8,000
Number of domes	3
Materials	Stone

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The Church of the Holy Sepulchre,^[a][b] also known as the Church of the Resurrection,^[c] 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.^[1] 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 the fourth century, the church contains both the site where Jesus was crucified^[2] 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.^[3] 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 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.^[4] Several renovations and restorations were made under the Ottomans.^[5] The tomb itself 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 the Anastasis ('Resurrection').

The Status Quo, an understanding between religious communities dating to 1757, applies to the site.^[6][7] 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 the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Coptic, Syriac, and Ethiopian Orthodox churches.

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