Basilica Of St Stephen, Jerusalem
History
The first time a sanctuary was built to commemorate the martyrdom was in the fifth century, when Empress Eudocia initiated the building of a structure on the site of the current basilica, a chapel dedicated to St. Stephen, where she was eventually buried. With the arrival of the Persians in 614 and the siege of Jerusalem that followed, the chapel was destroyed.
In 638, a small church was built by St. Sophronius, then restored and enlarged by the Crusaders, but later destroyed by themselves, lest they fall into the hands of Sultan Saladin.
In the nineteenth century the French Dominicans acquired the site of the ancient ruins of the Crusaders, and after archaeological excavations built the convent and the current basilica, which was consecrated in 1900.
See also
References
- ^ Mare, W. Harold (2002-05-22). The Archaeology of the Jerusalem Area. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN 9781579109707.
- ^ Dietz, Maribel (2010-11-01). Wandering Monks, Virgins, and Pilgrims: Ascetic Travel in the Mediterranean World, A. Penn State Press. ISBN 978-0271047782.
- ^ Sebag Montefiore, Simon (2011-10-25). Jerusalem: The Biography. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 9780307594488.
- ^ Boas, Adrian J. (2001-09-06). Jerusalem in the Time of the Crusades: Society, Landscape and Art in the Holy City Under Frankish Rule. Routledge. ISBN 9781134582723.
External links
- Photos of St Stephen's Basilica at the Manar al-Athar photo archive