Church of Nativity

Church of Nativity

The oldest church in the Holy Land that is still in use, is the Church of Nativity. It was constructed under the patronage of Constantine's mother Helena, who came on a pilgrimage to Palestine in 325 AD to investigate the sites associated with the life of Jesus Christ in the early days of Christianity. Helena chose the Grotto of Nativity, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, as the site for the huge basilica which was completed in 339 AD. Inside the church, two sets of stairs on either side of the main altar lead down into the grotto, the site where Jesus was born. A silver star embedded in white marble and bearing the Latin inscription 'Here of the Virgin Mary Christ was born' marks the site. In 2010, a Palestinain presidential committee was established to restore the roof of the church, in bad need of repairs. In 2012, the Nativity Chruch and the Pilgrimage Route were inscribed on the World Heritage List.