The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem stands on the site Christians have venerated since antiquity as both Calvary, where Jesus was crucified, and the tomb where he was buried. Emperor Constantine the Great ordered a grand church built there after the Council of Nicaea, and it was dedicated in the 330s. The original buildings were damaged by the Persians in 614 and destroyed in 1009 by order of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim, and the present church largely dates from the Crusader reconstruction of the twelfth century. Several Christian communities share custody of it, and two Muslim families have traditionally held the key to the door.
Before and after
- 327 CEConstruction of Church of the Nativity
- c. 330 CEKing Ezana converts Aksum to Christianity
- 11 May 330 CEConstantine dedicates Constantinople
- 17 November 331 CEBirth of Julian
- 335 CEConstruction of Church of the Holy Sepulchre
- 22 May 337 CEDeath of Constantine the Great
- 339 CEBirth of Ambrose
- 344 CEBattle of Singara
- 345 CEBirth of Jerome
More in Civilizations & archaeology
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- from 476 CE to 1492Middle Ages
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 4th century.