The Church of the Holy Sepulchre – 3D Travel in Time

In this video, we are taking a 3D journey back in time, into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre here in Jerusalem. This video presentation was prepared by Mrs. Raffaella Zardoni for ATS pro Terra Sancta.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre as we see it today is a collection of structures built one next to/on each other over almost 2000 years.

In The Video

The video presentation goes from today back to the days when Jesus had been crucified on Golgotha. It starts showing the church of the holy sepulcher as we know it today, after the last structural intervention which took place in 1808 after the great fire. The current structure includes all the sections inside the church as; Calvary, The Stone of Anointing, The Edicule over the Tomb of Jesus, the Katolikon, St. Helena Chapel and the cistern where the Cross of Jesus was found, The Arches of the Virgins where Mary walked to visit her Son’s tomb and others.

From there the video takes us back to the Crusader area in the 12^th century when the Rotunda over Christ’ Tomb and the Chapels on Calvary were joined together under one roof within a magnificent cathedral and the sought parvis was beautified with the bell Tower and the noble entrance to Calvary, called the Chapel of the Franks. At that time, Saint Helen’s lower Basilica was built as the Chapel of the Finding of the Holy Cross.

From there, we are traveling back to 336 AC to see the Constantine Complex. At that time the entrance to the Eastern atrium was opened onto the Cardo Maximus (the Main Street) and through 3 doors one could enter the majestic Basilica called the Martyrium. According to Egeria, there was a second church behind the Cross (behind Calvary). Egeria also defines the Triportico as veritable church with open roof. After the finding of Jesus’ Sepulchre, Constantine decided to isolate it from the hill and place it in the magnificent mausoleum called Anastasis (Resurrection).

Last stop before we are reaching the time of the Crucifixion is at year 135 AC, during the time of Roman Emperor Hadrian who destroyed Jerusalem and built a new town name Aelia Capitolina. Hadrian put a Capitaoline Hill in the center of the town in honor of the Roman Gods. The Golgotha area disappeared under the new buildings, but the Christians kept its memory alive. According to Saint Jerome, for about 180 years, from the reign of Hadrian to Constantine, the status of Jupiter was worshipped on the place of the Resurrection while a status of Venus was raised on the rock of the Cross.

The last stop in our Journey back in time, is year 33 AD when the place called Calvary was a disused stone quarry outside the city gate and a stone spur was the spot where executions were carried out. The hill was transformed into gardens and also used for burials. A third area, previously used as a dumping ground, became a cistern as the town developed.

Let’s all live the Jerusalem Experience !!!!