Located in Bethlehem, West Bank, Palestine, The Church of the Nativity is the oldest complete church in the Christian world. Built by the emperor Justinian in the 6th century. It replaced the original church of Constantine the Great, built over the cave venerated as Christ’s birthplace, and dedicated in AD 339. Before Constantine, the first Christian emperor, the Romans had tried to wipe out the memory of the cave. They planted a grove dedicated to the pagan god Adonis, lover of Venus, and established his cult in the cave. As St Jerome wrote in AD 395, “The earth’s most sacred spot was overshadowed by the grave of Adonis, and the cave where the infant Christ once wept was where the paramour of Venus was bewailed.” Persians invaded Palestine in 614 and destroyed many churches. They spared the Church of the Nativity when they saw a mosaic on an interior wall depicting the Three Wise Men in Persian dress. Apart from the Holy Sepulchre, this is considered one of the Holiest sites in Christianity due to being the birthplace of Jesus.

Bethlehem, Palestine, West Bank

September 2022