Sights

A church masquerading as a fortress, the massive Basilica of the Nativity on Manger Sq. is the oldest continuously used church in the world. Under the supervision of his mother Helena, Constantine the Great erected the first basilica in 326 over the site of Jesus’ birth. During the Persian invasion in 614 virtually every Christian shrine in the Holy Land was demolished with the exception of this basilica, reputedly spared because it contained a potent mosaic of the three wise men which had special anti-artillery powers.

The Crusaders extensively renovated the church but it fell into disrepair after their defeat by the Muslims. By the 15th century it had become undeniably decrepit, but the basilica’s importance as a holy shrine never waned. Thus during the ensuing centuries, struggle for its control among Catholic, Greek, and Armenian Christians repeatedly led to bloodshed. Not until the 1840s was the church restored to its former dignity, but squabbles between the various sects over the division of the edifice continue. In recent years an elaborate system of worship schedules has harmonized the competing claims of the different groups, but the confusion and tension resulting from the Greek Orthodox Church’s rejection of summer daylight savings time demonstrates the teetering balance of this arrangement.