Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem is the center of all Christianity in our world. This religion unites one-third of the world's population . The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is located exactly in the place where Christ was crucified, buried, and where he was resurrected.

The structure of the temple is not easy, it is easier to understand it if there is a scheme, because there are at least 40 buildings on its territory. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is a mountain of Golgotha, on which the crucifixion of Christ took place , and the cave of the Holy Sepulcher. Underneath are underground passages, however, few eligible ones can pass through them. It is also unique that different parts of the church belong to different faiths: Orthodox, Catholic, Coptic, Syrian, Ethiopic and Armenian.

History of the Temple

The history of the temple is very interesting - it was destroyed three times and completely restored. The building, which appears to the gaze of pilgrims these days, was restored after the fire that occurred in 1808. After a while, the main dome suddenly fell in the temple. The restoration of this dome took place during the reign of Nicholas I. Funds for restoration were allocated from the Russian and French coffers.

The very first temple, located above the Holy Sepulcher, was built during the time of Constantine the Great, who planned to build the most beautiful of the existing temples on earth. In 614, the first destruction of the temple occurred - the work of Persian king Khosrai II. The restoration was carried out by the Patriarch of Jerusalem Modest. Rebuild only succeeded in some parts of the temple.

In 1009, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher was destroyed for the second time, the Arabs joined in this. This time the temple was rebuilt in the 12th century. The emperor from Byzantium Constantine Monomakh built a new church over the Holy Sepulcher, however, he did not succeed in repeating the beauty and refinement of the previous structure. In 1130, the crusaders who conquered Jerusalem decided to rebuild the temple in order to restore the former beauty. But the building was too fragile, it was rather temporary.

The next destruction occurred in the 16th century, or rather, its disassembly. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher was rebuilt by Emperor Charles V and his son Philip. This structure existed until 1808, after which there was a fire.

The Temple of Our Days

Nowadays there are three components: the first is the temple on Calvary, the second is the chapel of the Holy Sepulcher, the third is the temple of the Resurrection. Every person who enters the Temple in Jerusalem immediately sees the "anointing stone", which is located opposite the entrance. Next is the blank wall of the Resurrection Cathedral. Guides call this wall an internal temple located inside the main building. If you turn right, you can see the entrance to Calvary. On the left hand there is a rotunda of the central temple. At its top flaunts a blue dome. Around the rotunda there is a colonnade of 18 columns, and in its center there is a marble chapel, called Kuvuklia. It is the center of all buildings, it was at this place that Christ was buried. Built this chapel in 1810. Its location is interesting because it covers the cave where there was a thunder with the body of Christ. The cave is divided into two parts - the chapel of the Angel and the cave of the Holy Sepulcher proper. In the cave itself there is a "lioness" in the form of a bed, where the body of Christ lay.

Nowadays the "lioness" is the altar for the celebration of the Liturgy. The length of this "altar" is 2 meters, width - 1.5 meters. The "lavitsa" is laid out with slabs of white marble. A long crack stretches across it, which served as the basis for many legends. The cave of the Holy Sepulcher is illuminated by 43 lamps. Every day, three liturgies are performed on the "lioness" - Orthodox, Armenian and Catholic.

Directly from the temple you can get to Calvary, having overcome 18 steps. The Golgotha temple is a very small room, the source of light in which is the only window. At the place of execution of the cross now is the throne for the commission of a bloodless sacrifice.