The Holy Grill

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also known as the Church of the Resurrection, is a fourth-century church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. The church is simultaneously the seat of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and the Catholic Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. It is the holiest site in Christianity, and it has been an important pilgrimage site for Christians since the fourth century. According to traditional beliefs dating to the fourth century, the church contains the site of the crucifixion of Jesus 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 most Christians. Researchers note that there are two or three independent accounts of the burial of Jesus in a tomb, and many scholars view the site as the possible location. Archeological findings in the site are consistent with details found in early sources, including the Gospel of John. After the crucifixion, Emperor Hadrian covered the tomb of Jesus and erected a Temple of Aphrodite on top of it (c. 135 AD), where it remained until Constantine the Great rediscovered the tomb around 325 AD. The church and rotunda were built under Constantine's rule in the 4th century (which has been confirmed by scientific testing), and destroyed in 1009 by al-Hakim. 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. Several renovations and restorations were made under the Ottomans. 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. Since its creation the church has been a major Christian pilgrimage destination as the traditional site of the resurrection of Christ; hence its original Greek name, Church of the Anastasis (Resurrection). The Status Quo, an understanding between religious communities dating to 1757, applies to the site. 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. Directly adjacent to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the Church of the Redeemer, marking a Lutheran presence at the site.