top of page
Jerusalem. People United in a Prayer
Sezione 1
Sezione 2
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Indoor
Godfrey of Bouillon. 1099 AD
PLAY ME
I was proclaimed
"Defender of the Holy Sepulchre" in July of the year of Our Lord 1099,
even though they wanted me to be the King of Jerusalem, after a victorious crusade. I did not accept, however, because of my inclination towards the humble service of a higher cause. In this very place that I defended with the sword, Christ was crucified and buried, only to rise again three days later. The decision to found a great sanctuary
over his tomb, carved into the rock on the slopes of Golgotha, was taken by Emperor Constantine in 325 AD. However, three hundred years later, the last Byzantine garrison defending Jerusalem tragically surrendered to the new Arab conquerors. The Caliph Omar rode into the holy city on a white camel, followed by his troops and greeted
by Patriarch Sophronius, who pleaded for clemency for the Christian people... Apparently no violence broke out and the Caliph asked instead to visit the places of worship. When he was taken to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, it was time for prayer for the Muslims. Respecting the place where he was, Omar stepped
out of the rotunda and summoned his men to recite the Koran on the front porch. The gesture of the first Arab conqueror of Jerusalem was significant: the holiest monument of Christianity could thus maintain its functions, while Islam would occupy new spaces within the city. Today, many pray in front of the rock on which Jesus' lifeless body was laid.
Sezione 3
bottom of page