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Jerusalem: Church of the Holy Sepulchre Being Restored

  • Veronica Neffinger

    Veronica Neffinger wrote her first poem at age seven and went on to study English in college, focusing on 18th century literature. When she is not listening to baseball games, enjoying the…

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  • Updated Mar 15, 2017

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Israel’s Old Jerusalem, thought to be the site of Jesus’ burial and resurrection, is being restored.

CBN News reports that the interior of the church is getting restored after years of neglect. 

"The holy rock is preserved; this is the great result of this project," Prof. Antonia Moropoulou, who oversees the renovation, told CBN News.
 
"Of course now we are going with bolts and anchors, titanium anchors, to readjust the marble slabs upon some mortar and concrete," she continued. "That means we are going to ensure the structural integrity through this intervention."

Not only is the church thought to be built on the site of Jesus’ burial, the structure itself goes back to the Middle Ages. When members of the renovation team removed a marble slab that had itself been in the church for over 200 years, they found another part of the building which dated back all the way to the time of the Crusades. Underneath all this was a tomb--thought to be the very tomb in which Jesus was buried.

CBN News asked the renovation team what their feelings were upon opening the ancient tomb.

"Great feelings," Moropoulou said. "We were feeling that working on the tomb of Christ, we were not in just a monument … it's the message of resurrection. It's the hope and the prayers of millions of people. I don't know, but you feel when you are there, you are in the most alive place in the world."

The church is expected to be completely restored in time for Easter.

 

Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

Publication date: March 15, 2017