Tomb of the Virgin Mary

The Tomb of the Virgin Mary, situated in the Kidron Valley at the foot of the Mount of Olives, is a site steeped in early Christian tradition. While the New Testament does not describe Mary's death, the 'Transitus Mariae' and other apocryphal texts from the 2nd to 4th centuries place her burial here. A small church was first built over the site in the 5th century, though it was destroyed and rebuilt several times during the Persian and early Islamic periods before the Crusaders arrived in the 12th century. The current structure is largely the work of the Crusaders, who built a magnificent upper church and a grand staircase leading down to the subterranean crypt. Although the upper church was later destroyed by Saladin, the crypt remained intact because Mary is also honored in Islam. The architecture we see today features a Romanesque facade and 47 worn stone steps that descend deep into the earth, creating a somber and mystical atmosphere that has been preserved for nearly a millennium. Today, the site is a significant place of pilgrimage managed primarily by the Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic Churches, with rights also held by the Coptic and Syrian Orthodox. The interior is dimly lit by hundreds of hanging oil lamps and filled with the scent of incense. It remains one of the few holy sites in Jerusalem where the ancient atmosphere of the Byzantine and Crusader eras feels almost entirely undisturbed by modern renovations.