קבר מרים

Tomb of the Virgin Mary - Church of the Sepulchre of Saint Mary

Useful Information

photography — Map of Grotto of Gethsemane/Tomb of the Virgin Mary, Jerusalem, Israel. Public Domain.

Location:	Jerusalem. East of the Old City, in the valley below, signposted the Tomb of the Virgin/Church of Assumption. Walk No. 4. from Damascus Gate, Bus No. 1. (31.780139, 35.239407)
Open:	APR to SEP daily 5-12, 14:30-17. OCT to MAR daily 6-12, 14:30-17. [2021]
Fee:	free. [2021]
Classification:	Cave Tomb Cave Church
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Tomb of the Virgin Mary, Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre, Tel: +972-2-6284613.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

5th century	Euthymiaca Historia probably written by Cyril of Scythopolis.
452	shroud sent to Constantinople, where it was kept in the Church of Our Lady of Blachernae.
5th century	small church on an octagonal footing built by Patriarch Juvenal above the tomb.
614	church destroyed during the Persian invasion.
1130	Crusaders installed a walled Benedictine monastery, the Abbey of St. Mary of the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
17th century	bought by the Franciscans.
1919	Eastern Orthodox Christians renounced their rights to the land.
1955	destruction by a flood.
1956	restoration of cave and entrance.
1972	Bellarmino Bagatti, a Franciscan friar and archaeologist, excavated the site and found evidence of an ancient cemetery dating to the 1st century.
25-JUN-1997	Pope John Paul II states that Mary experienced natural death prior to her assumption into Heaven.

Description

קבר מרים (Tomb of the Virgin Mary) is said to be the place where Virgin Mary was buried after she died a natural death. According to Eastern Christian Sacred Tradition she died like any human being, her soul was received by Christ upon death and her body was resurrected on the third day. She was taken up, soul and body, into heaven for the general resurrection. As a result her tomb was found empty on the third day. This version of the legend was written first in the Dormition of the Theotokos, the falling asleep, in a Greek document attributed to John the Theologian.

According to Roman Catholic legend Mary was "assumed" into heaven in bodily form, the Assumption. In the Catholic view, whether Mary actually underwent physical death remains open. However, on 25 June 1997 Pope John Paul II said that Mary experienced natural death prior to her assumption into Heaven. Nevertheless this site is obviously more important for Orthodox Christians.

For Muslims the site is the burial place of the mother of prophet Isa (Jesus). So it was an important religious location for many religions and thus it was never destroyed or damaged during wars and occupation in 2000 years.

The Euthymiaca Historia was probably written by Cyril of Scythopolis in the 5th century. It tells how the Emperor Marcian and his wife, Pulcheria, requested the relics of the Virgin Mary from Juvenal, the Patriarch of Jerusalem. Juvenal replied that Mary's tomb was discovered to be empty on the third day after her burial, only her shroud being remained and was preserved in the church of Gethsemane. In 452 the shroud was sent to Constantinople, where it was kept in the Church of Our Lady of Blachernae (Panagia Blacherniotissa). There are other traditions, for example that it was the Cincture (belt) of the Virgin Mary which was left behind. It was brought to the Vatopedi monastery on Mount Athos, and is venerated by the Holy Eastern Orthodox Church.

The nearby Cave of Gethsemane was bought by the Franciscans in the 17th century, but for some reason their ownership was disputed and not certain. The Eastern Orthodox Christians used this cave, but renounced their rights to the land in 1919. But the Tomb of the Virgin Mary is owned by the Greek Orthodox Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church of Jerusalem. In 1972, as a result of floods, Bellarmino Bagatti, a Franciscan friar and archaeologist, excavated the site and found evidence of an ancient cemetery dating to the 1st century. He interpreted the remains and guessed that the cemetery originally consisted of three chambers, and the current chamber was the inner chamber of the whole complex. However, he did not allows peer review by the wider archaeological community, and the validity of his results is not fully assessed. What remains is, that the site is obviously a completely artificial grave structure, and the age actually fits to the legends.

In the 5th century a small church on an octagonal footing was built by Patriarch Juvenal above the tomb. It was destroyed in the Persian invasion of 614. The church was rebuilt and destroyed several times during the centuries. In 1130 the Crusaders installed a walled Benedictine monastery, the Abbey of St. Mary of the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and rebuilt the church.