After these things the beloved of God carried out another work in the province of Palestine. He thought it his duty to establish a structure that would serve as a subject of universal admiration at the place of the Savior's resurrection in Jerusalem. Therefore, he ordered a house of worship to be built, all this with God's help and with the inspiration of the Savior himself... Layer after layer of earth was uncovered and thus, contrary to our fears, the place of our Lord's resurrection was revealed. Afterward he informed all the rulers of the East that the building would be larger, more beautiful, and more precious than any other similar building. - Eusebius, Life of Constantine, 340 CE The building of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher - known to the Byzantines as the Church of the Resurrection (Anastasis) at the order of the Emperor Constantine probably took ten years (326-335). It was a complex of monumental structures, including a rotunda built over the tomb, a great basilica, and columned courtyards. According to a fourth-century Christian tradition, it was Constantine's mother Helena who found the true cross at this site. |
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