24. Church of the Holy Sepulchre,

Jerusalem, begun c. 325 with many

later rebuildings (Israel)

This famous church, the ultimate goal of Crusader zeal, has been many times destroyed and rebuilt. Since it is supposed to have been erected on the actual site of Jesus’ Passion and Resurrection, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is of central importance to Christianity: among several other holy areas which are reputed to be contained within its walls is the Hill of Calvary, where the Crucifixion took place, as well as the rock-cut tomb of Christ. In its original form, a large rotunda covered the latter site, a feature that was often imitated in later European churches. The location of the building is said to have been determined by the Empress Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine, who came to the Holy Land and miraculously discovered the True Cross lying discarded in a pile of rubbish. The present building is a patchwork of different styles and historical periods, and the control of every square centimetre is fought over by a variety of Christian sects. For this reason, the keys to the Church have long been held by a prominent Muslim family of Jerusalem.