The Pointed Arch has never previously found the need to abandon the safe shores of England in its search for suitable subject matter. However, the editor of this august magazine has been to the Holy Land on pilgrimage and has consequently ordained that an article on the major churches of the area should be written. Those of us who live “in his mild and magnificent eye” quail and obey. The Holy Land possesses innumerable churches, and even many of the more modern ones tend to be built on the remains of earlier Byzantine and Crusader sites. To cover more than a very few would be impossible.
Jerusalem was an early centre of Christianity. The Emperor Constantine (306-337 AD) legalised the religion and sparked off the building of basilicas and churches. The Caliphate conquered Jerusalem from the Byzantine Empire in the first half of the 7th century; the most visible religious building in Jerusalem is the golden Dome of the Rock, built as a mosque in 688-69 by the Umayyad Caliph Abd al Malik. In 1099, the Crusaders seized Jerusalem and held it for 92 years. They were finally evicted from “Outremer” in 1291: thereafter (with some exceptions) Christian churches became mosques.
The Franciscans returned discreetly and in 1322 regained a presence in the Holy Sepulchre. In 1347 they also settled in Bethlehem, at the Church of the Nativity. They remain charged by the Holy See with custodianship of the major holy sites. In 1517 the Ottomans added Palestine to their empire, of which it remained part until General Allenby arrived in 1917. During the 19th century, the Ottomans had become more tolerant of other religions and allowed the construction of new churches. The British Mandate in Palestine effectively lasted from 1920 until 1948.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is one of the most holy buildings of Christendom, and has never been turned into a mosque, unlike Hagia Sofia in Constantinople after 1453. It lies at the end of the Via Dolorosa in the Christian Quarter and is believed by most Christians to contain both the site of Golgotha where Christ was crucified and the tomb in which he was buried and from which he rose again. The first church here was probably built at the behest of St Helena, the mother of Constantine. In the 7th century the Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab refrained from praying in the church, thus preventing it from becoming a mosque. In 1009, however, it was destroyed by the mad Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah.
After the capture of Jerusalem in 1099 the church was reconstructed. The current building is essentially a Crusader structure and built for strength rather than elegance, typified by the massive bell tower to the left of the entrance. One enters by one of two Gothic doors, the one on the right having been blocked since 1187. The interior is somewhat confusing, as there is no recognisable layout or obvious focal point. There are two high, large rotundas, and the centre point of the building is of course the Tomb of the Resurrection. The present structure, or aedicule, described as a Muscovite cupola, is built of marble and was erected in 1810 by the Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches.
Ownership of the building is shared between the Catholic Church and various other denominations – Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox and Copts. After the capture of Jerusalem by Saladin in 1187, the keys of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre were handed to the Muslim Nuseibeh family to avoid Christian clashes over control of the church. This arrangement is maintained to this day.
St Anne’s Church, Jerusalem is a beautiful and austere early-Gothic stone Crusader church; it was built in 1137. It has few furnishings save for a white marble statue of St Anne, Our Lady’s mother. The church has a dome with wonderful acoustics. It lies inside the Muslim quarter, next to the Pool of Bethesda; after the capture of Jerusalem, Saladin turned it into a madrasa. Over the centuries the church became a stable for the cavalry of the Turkish governor. In 1856 it was handed to Napoleon III by the Turks in thanks for help for French help during the Crimean War.
The Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem was rebuilt after 529 by the Emperor Justinian and remarkably still stands today. One enters by the very low Door of Humility. Again, the church is shared by the Catholic Church and other denominations. Eleven sturdy Byzantine columns create the space for the wide nave and aisles; high up on the walls there are fragments of lavish 12th-century Crusader mosaics. The sanctuary is dominated by an enormous number of hanging lamps; below the sanctuary is the Grotto of the Nativity, which firmly reflects Orthodox taste.
Many 20th-century churches in the Holy Land were built by Antonio Barluzzi (1884-1960). Born in Rome, he had initially intended to join a seminary but the First World War intervened. He joined the Italian army as a sergeant and was present at the entry of the Allies into Jerusalem. The Franciscan Custos requested him to work on the Church of All Nations at Gethsemane (1919-24) and The Church of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor (1921-24). Barluzzi then worked on many churches including the Church of the Flagellation, Jerusalem (1927-9), the Church of the Beatitudes by the Sea of Galilee (1937-8 and largely paid for by Mussolini) and the renovation of the Church of Saint Catherine, Ein Karem, Jerusalem (1939).
They were followed by the the Church of Dominus Flevit, Jerusalem (1954-5) and the Church of the Visitation, Ein Karem, Jerusalem (1955). HV Morton wrote of them that “They are remarkable for their originality and the variety of their design… Barluzzi will be recognised as a genius in years to come.”
Barluzzi was a fervent nationalist and from 1927 to 1937 was the secretary of the Jerusalem branch of the Italian Fascist party. He was also a Knight of Malta.
The Basilica of the Annunciation, Nazareth, completed in 1969, was built by Giovanni Muzio for the Franciscans to replace an earlier 18th-century church. It is large and modern with gleaming pale stonework, crowned with a bronze dome. The sunken grotto cave venerates the Annunciation by the Archangel Gabriel to Our Lady. Through the wrought iron gate there is a small altar from the previous Franciscan church of 1730.
Ending on an ecumenical codicil, the Anglican Cathedral of St George, Jerusalem, was built at the end of the 19th century by the architect George Jeffrey for the Anglo-Catholic bishop George Blyth. The style is Perpendicular, and the cathedral has a magnificent tower. The whole place is a peaceful English time-warp, and redolent of the years of the Mandate. Continuing ecumenically, let us conclude our visit to the Holy City and its surrounds with John Mason Neale’s magnificent translation of the opening words of St Bernard of Cluny’s “Urbs Syon aurea”.
Jerusalem the golden, with milk and honey blest,
Beneath thy contemplation sink heart and voice oppressed.
I know not, O I know not, what social joys are there,
What radiancy of glory, what light beyond compare.
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