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 also the seat of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. It is considered the holiest site in Christianity and has been the most important pilgrimage site for Christians since the fourth century

According to traditions dating to the fourth century, the church contains both the site where Jesus was crucified at Calvary, or Golgotha and the location of Jesus' empty tomb, where he was buried and resurrected

Both locations are considered immensely holy sites by Christians

In earlier times, the site was used as a Jewish burial ground, upon which a pagan temple was built

The church and rotunda was built under Constantine in the 4th century and destroyed by al-Hakim in 1009

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

The church has been a major Christian pilgrimage destination since its creation in the fourth century, as the traditional site of the resurrection of Christ, thus 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 churches

Status : Active
Founder(s) : Constantine the Great
Consecrated :13 September 335 (1688 years ago)

Architecture
Architect(s) : Nikolaos Ch. Komnenos (1810 restoration)
Style : Paleochristian, Romanesque, Baroque
Groundbreaking : c. AD 326
Completed : AD 335 (demolished in 1009, rebuilt in 1048)

Specifications
Capacity : 8,000
Number of domes : 3
Materials : Stone

NAME
The church was named either for the Resurrection of Jesus or for his tomb which is at its focal point

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is also known as the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre and the Holy Sepulchre

Eastern Christians also call it the Church of the Resurrection and the Church of the Anastasis-Anastasis being Greek for Resurrection

PARVIS (COURTYARD)
The courtyard facing the entrance to the church is known as the parvis. Two streets open into the parvis: St Helena Road (west) and Suq ed-Dabbagha (east). Around the parvis are a few smaller structures

A group of three chapels borders the parvis on its west side. They originally formed the baptistery complex of the Constantinian church

BELL TOWER LEFT OF THE ENTRANCE
The 12th-century Crusader bell tower is just south of the Rotunda, to the left of the entrance

FACADE AND ENTRANCE DOOR
The wooden doors that compose the main entrance are the original, highly carved arched doors. Today, only the left-hand entrance is currently accessible, as the right doorway has long since been bricked up. The 'immovable ladder' stands beneath a window on the façade

CALVARY (GOLGOTHA)
The Altar of the Crucifixion, where The Rock of Calvary (bottom) is encased in glass. Just inside the church entrance is a stairway leading up to Calvary (Golgotha), traditionally regarded as the site of Jesus's crucifixion

STONE OF ANAOINTING
Just inside the entrance to the church is the Stone of Anointing-where Jesus's body is said to have been anointed before burial

ROTUNDA AND SEDICULE
The rotunda is the building of the larger dome located on the far west side.In the centre of the rotunda is a small chapel called the Aedicule in English

CATHOLICON
East end of the Greek Orthodox catholicon with its iconostasis
In the central nave of the Crusader-era church, just east of the larger rotunda is the Crusader structure housing the main altar of the Church today the Greek Orthodox catholicon

ARMENIAN MONSATERY (SOUTH OF THE SEDICULE)
South of the Aedicule is the "Place of the Three Marys"

SYRIAC CHAPEL WITH TOMB OF JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA
West of the Aedicule, to the rear of the Rotunda, is the Syriac Chapel with the Tomb of Joseph of Arimathea

FRANCISIAN AREA NORTH OF THE AEDICULE

ARCHES OF THE VIRGIN
The Arches of the Virgin are 7 arches (an arcade) at the northern end of the north transept which is to the catholicon's north

PRISON OF CHRIST
In the northeast side of the complex there is the Prison of Christ alleged to be where Jesus was held