Early sources reveal that Constantine’s church of the Holy Sepulchre was sumptuously decorated with fine marbled panels, columns and a coffered ceiling. A cross was set up on the rock of Golgotha to commemorate the exact site of the Crucifixion and was replaced over the following centuries with one decorated with gems, a golden cross and a simple wooden one in the seventh century. Christ’s tomb was in two parts: the first a porch that contained part of the stone that formed the door to the tomb and the second the tomb itself. It had a roof of silver and gold, outer walls made of marble and it was topped with a cross.
The modern church has been significantly modified and little of the Late Antique fabric has survived as much of it was rebuilt in the nineteenth and twentieth century following a fire and an earthquake that caused much damage.
Creator
Lucy O'Connor
Date of Visit
1st July to 8th August 2013
10th October to 6th November 2014
Contributor
Lucy O'Connor
Rights
Metadata and all media released under Creative Commons
unless otherwise indicated
Type
Architecture
Tags
Architecture, C12th, C19th-C20th, C2nd, C4th, Christ, Christian, Church, Constantine, Cross, Crucifixion, Crusades, Domed Basilica, Golgotha, Holy Sepulchre, Holy Site, Israel, Jerusalem, Joseph of Arimathea, Mosaic, Pilgrimage, Resurrection, St. Helena, Tomb
Collection
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem
Citation
Lucy O'Connor, “Inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem,” Architecture and Asceticism, accessed April 19, 2024, https://architectureandasceticism.exeter.ac.uk/items/show/213.