Голгофа и храм Гроба Господня в Иерусалиме

If all of Palestine, sanctified by the life of our Savior in it, is a holy land for us Christians, then the greatest shrine of this holy land for us is Golgotha ​​- the place of the crucifixion and death of Christ on the cross for the salvation of people. His whole life was an ascent to Golgotha, to the great feat of obedience to the will of the Heavenly Father and the work of redemption of the human race. And even then, when the angels, at the birth of the Savior, sang “glory to God in the highest and peace on earth,” they glorified Calvary - the suffering and death of Christ. Yes, the whole life of Christ, from the Bethlehem manger to His last breath, to the great “it is finished,” is the Savior’s bearing of His cross to Calvary and, finally, the acceptance of the cross on Calvary. Here, when the villainous human deed was accomplished, marked by wonderful darkness, the Divine Sun shone, casting its saving and life-giving rays on all humanity; here the night of the Old Testament ended and the radiant day of the New Testament began to shine; in a word, here, on Golgotha, by the death of the Savior the doors to a new life and to the palaces of eternal life were opened for people. All this for the Christian heart and mind is connected with the sacred name of Golgotha, with the most holy place of the crucifixion of our Savior. And that Christian is bad whose heart does not beat with reverent joy at the name of Golgotha, at the memory of Golgotha! As an instrument of shameful slave execution, the Cross, through the death of the Savior of the world on it, became a luminous banner of victory, divine love and Christian triumph; so a gloomy place of severe punishment for human crimes, a place of violent death, Golgotha ​​by the death of Christ on it became the place from which life was poured out on humanity, from where “death was trampled upon by the death of Christ.” Golgotha once spoke about death, since the Hebrew name Golgotha itself, according to the evangelists, means “place of the forehead”, the place of the forehead, skull ( κρανίου τόπος – Matt. 27:33; Mark 15:21; John 19:17) or even simply “forehead”, “skull” ( κρανίον – Luke 23:33) 23. This was the place where criminals were executed, as well as the place where the bodies of those executed were buried after the execution of their sentence. According to Christian legend, in the depths of this place not only lay the skulls of executed criminals, but the ancestor of humanity, Adam, was once buried here: where the first Adam, who brought curse and death into the lives of people, died, there the Redeemer died and then rose again - the second ancestor of humanity saved from curse and death, who gave him life. As a place of public execution of criminals, Golgotha ​​was located outside the walls of ancient Jerusalem. It is known that, according to the ancient custom and legislation of Moses, the punishment of a criminal by death had to be carried out outside the city wall or outside the camp (camp). (Num. 15:35; 1 Kings 21:13; Acts 7:58; Heb. 13:12), just as according to Roman laws, the place of execution of judicial death sentences had to lie outside the city walls. Based on excavations carried out in Jerusalem in the 19th century and scientific research, the location of ancient Golgotha ​​appears to be 24. Not far (at a distance of about 100 cubits) from the western wall of ancient Jerusalem there was a small platform, or, better to say, a basin, surrounded on almost all sides by a rocky wall 8.5 arsh. height, at 108.5 soot. in a circle. On the eastern side of the basin, a rocky hill protruded in the form of a cape, no more than 6.5 arsh. height above the area of ​​the basin, but this protrusion attracted attention with its appearance, reminiscent of a human skull. This ledge was the ancient Golgotha, a real natural scaffold for the execution of criminals. Like most of the hills in this area, Calvary Hill also had a natural cave in it, into which the corpses of executed criminals were probably thrown. In the western part of the basin, which had a less high and steep descent, two tombs were carved 25. One of them apparently belonged to a wealthy family and was modeled after most of the Jerusalem tombs, i.e. had a vestibule and behind it a tomb chamber with three recesses inside the rock (loculi) opposite the entrance and with four on the sides. At the same time, we can conclude that the owner who bought this place for his tomb was a stranger in Jerusalem and was in some special circumstances, since he decided to buy a place for the tomb, which was inconvenient both due to its location near the usual place of execution of criminals, and due to the nature of the soil (soft - mizzi, and not hard - malaki). But this tomb, currently known as the “Tomb of Joseph and Nicodemus,” apparently later turned out to be insufficient for the large family of the owner. And so the latter builds a new tomb, and, moreover, due to the unsuitability of the surrounding soil of the basin, he chooses for the tomb a part of the rock even closer to Golgotha, 120 feet away from it, but convenient on the ground (malaki) and lying at a level 4 feet below the first tomb. However, this new tomb was not finished. The vestibule of the new tomb and the first tomb chamber had already been made in rough form, when Providence stopped further preparation of the tomb. And so the funeral unfinished chamber with a hastily prepared single bed (and not a loculus - a depression in the rock) became the tomb of the Savior - the One who throughout his life did not have where to lay his head, did not have his own tomb for his brief mortal rest. That the Savior’s tomb was not a recess in the wall of the tomb, but a simple bed in the form of a bench along the wall, this is confirmed by the Gospel. The evangelist says that when Mary came to the tomb and leaned towards the low entrance to the cave, she saw “two angels sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus lay” (John 20:11–12). This could not have happened if the body of Christ had been laid in a recess (loculus), and not on a bed along the wall of the cave. Somewhat further east from this tomb, which temporarily received the body of Christ, there was a cistern (a depression in the rock for collecting rainwater), which at the time of the Savior’s death had no water. According to legend, the crosses of the Savior and two robbers were thrown into it. Here these crosses were found at St. Elena. This is how ancient Golgotha ​​and the place where the Savior was buried are represented. After St. This was found by St. Helena. the place and the honorable tree of the Cross of Christ, it, by order of Emperor Constantine, was decorated and furnished with magnificent structures. Unfortunately, church historians who testify to these buildings do not give an accurate and detailed description of them, but rather talk about their magnificence. Yes, blessed one. Theodoret notes: “I consider it completely unnecessary to describe the beauty and grandeur of them (Constantine’s buildings), because, one might say, all Christians flock there, and they can see the richness of the buildings for themselves” 26. The church historian Socrates says that the buildings were located opposite ancient Jerusalem and bore the name New Jerusalem 27. The historian Eusebius of Caesarea introduces these buildings in more detail and in detail, although he does not give their exact description, but only gives a general picture of their majesty. He pays special attention to the monument of the Holy Sepulcher, which bore the name Anastasis (Resurrection). This church, located on the eastern side, opposite the holy cave, called by Eusebius the “royal church”, was “an amazing work”, was of immeasurable height and enormous dimensions in length and width. Inside it was decorated with slabs of multi-colored marble, and on the outside its walls shone with polished stones, tightly fitted to each other and not inferior in beauty to marble. The roof of the building on top was lead, “reliable protection from winter rains,” but inside it was made up of different squares overlaid with gold, making the entire church sparkle, like illuminated by the rays of the sun. The entire length of the church, on both sides, stretched double columns, which were also decorated with gold at the tops. Three gates, located towards the east of the sun, let in crowds of people entering 28. In the middle of the Church of the Resurrection was the tomb of Christ, surrounded by 12 columns, according to the number of apostles. These columns were decorated on top with large silver bowls, donated by Tsar Constantine himself. These buildings of Constantine the Great on the site of the Holy Sepulcher and Golgotha ​​were completely destroyed in 614 by the Persian king Chozroes II. But, thanks to the efforts of the wife of Khosroes - a Christian and sister of the Greek Emperor Mauritius, the monk Modest (rector of the monastery of St. Theodosius Kinoviarch, later Patriarch of Jerusalem), could, if not restore the church (basilica) of Constantine, then build between 616 and 626 new smaller churches on the Holy Sepulcher, Golgotha and the place of the discovery of the Cross of Christ - the churches of the Resurrection, the Cross and Golgotha. But these buildings of Modest on St. places in Jerusalem were completely destroyed in 1010 by Caliph Hakem, and 38 years later they were resumed again according to the previous plan by order of Constantine Monomakh. However, the crusaders found these structures to be little in keeping with the grandeur of the holy places and at the beginning of the 12th century. (around 1130) they erected a large church, which with its buildings captured all the sacred places. Two of the main parts of this church, which our Russian pilgrim Abbot Daniel saw and described in some detail, have reached us intact, despite countless alterations and additions, namely: in the east, the rotunda of St. The coffin and in the west are three naves (ships) with choirs and an amphitheater. And in subsequent centuries, merciless history did not spare these structures. They were destroyed in 1244 and existed in a dilapidated state until the 16th century. In the 16th century under Charles V and his son Philip, rumors spread in Europe about the sad state of the holy places. Preacher Franz Vergas collected large donations, with which the monument to the Holy Sepulcher was built anew, and the old one was completely removed due to its disrepair. In 1719, significant alterations were again made to the structures at the holy places of Jerusalem, but a fire on October 12, 1808. again destroyed a significant part of them. Almost the entire Church of the Holy Sepulcher burned down, the dome of the church collapsed and significantly damaged the Edicule (the monument over the site of the Holy Sepulcher), the columns cracked, the molten tin of the roof flowed inside like rain. The honor of restoring the buildings on the site of the Holy Sepulcher after this belongs to the Orthodox, with whose funds the main church was restored according to the plan of the architect Kalfa Kamnenos from Mitelen in 1810; and in 1868, by agreement between France, Russia and Turkey, the completely destroyed dome of the main Church of the Holy Sepulcher was restored by architects of different nationalities. It is clear that all these historical storms of destruction and often unsuccessful restoration, which swept over the buildings in the holy places of Jerusalem, left their mark on the current buildings and on the main church on these sites - the Church of the Resurrection of Christ and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher 29 . In this Christian shrine, along with the remains of deep antiquity, one can see new additions that deprive the building of unity and integrity. At present, both the ancient Golgotha ​​and the Holy Sepulcher, and the structures built on these places, are not located outside the walls of Jerusalem, but in the city itself, since the ancient walls of the city are not only buried under ruins and debris, but have also ceased to mark the boundaries of Jerusalem, which now covers a much larger area than in antiquity. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher itself, with a dome crowned with a golden cross (there are two domes - a larger and a smaller one) rises in a fairly open place and, despite the abundance of surrounding buildings, is visible from afar. From the outside, the church looks like an oblong building, stretching from west to east and rounded at both ends 30. In front of the current main entrance (to the south) to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, there is a square or platform with about 8 soots. in a circle, paved with yellowish slabs (hard malaki stone) and usually cluttered with merchants and beggars. This square is surrounded on all sides by high walls, which house churches and chapels of various faiths. On the southern side of the platform is the Greek monastery of Gethsemane, on the eastern side is the Greek monastery of Abraham, the Armenian church of St. John and the Coptic Chapel of the Angel; on the west - the Greek churches of St. James, St. 40 martyrs and the Church of St. John (under the bell tower); on the north side there is the Latin Chapel of the Agony and the Greek chapel of St. Mary. In the northwestern corner of the square there is a bell tower, which was previously separated from the church, but is now attached to it. The bell tower (built between 1160 and 1180) is supported by buttresses and carries large Gothic vaults on its four fronts, topped by two rows of small double windows. The entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is on the north side of the square. The facade of the church, which belongs to the 12th century in its decoration, has two entrances - western and southern; but at present only the southern entrance remains operational, and the western one is closed, after its space was occupied by the entrance staircase to Golgotha. The two entrances correspond to two windows on the upper floor with vaults, decorated with deep carvings; they are surrounded by a cornice richly decorated with branches with tassels, modeled on the Byzantine cornice of the golden gate. The arcades of the entrances are supported by a series of marble columns, the capitals (upper parts) of which represent a Byzantine imitation of the Corinthian style (decorated with oak branches and acorns). One of the columns has a crack, from which, according to legend, fire once came out. Local belief connects the power of healing toothache with this column: Jerusalem Christian women bring a fallen tooth here and throw it into the crack with a prayer for a new tooth. The lintels above the two entrances are decorated with bas-reliefs (convex images) of great value. The content for these bas-relief images is taken from the gospel story. To the left is the resurrection of Lazarus: Christ is visible with the book of the Gospel and Mary at His feet; Lazarus emerging from the tomb, and in the background spectators, some of whom cover their noses. Next, Mary is depicted begging the Savior to come for Lazarus. Then pictures from the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem are depicted: the disciples of Christ, looking for a colt for the Lord, there are two shepherds with sheep; then the disciples are depicted bringing a donkey and spreading their clothes along the way, the Mount of Olives is visible in the distance. Next, the Lord’s entrance into Jerusalem is depicted: crowds of people spread their clothes along the way; one person is cutting branches, a woman is holding a child on her shoulders, in front is a relaxed man with crutches. The last picture represents the Last Supper: St. John, leaning on the chest of the Savior, at the end of the table is Judas at the moment when he accepts bread from Christ and leaves. The images located on the right side are symbolic in nature: these are branches, leaves and fruits of which are mixed with a crowd of naked people, birds, etc.; on average - a centaur with an arc in his hand; animals representing evil are below, from where they look at good and, as it were, lie in wait for it. But then the heavy checkered gates of the church open; Having crossed its threshold, the visitor enters the vestibule (vestibule), in which Turkish gatekeepers are located. Directly opposite the entrance, the visitor sees a pinkish-yellow stone of anointing (from mizzi stone), on which the most pure body of the Savior was laid after being taken down from the cross and anointed with aromas. The stone is surrounded by lamps and huge candelabra belonging to different confessions. Not far to the west there is another stone on which the myrrh-bearers stood while anointing the body of Christ. On the right side, the visitor opens to the entrance to Golgotha. Currently, one ascends to Golgotha ​​by two steep staircases of 18 steps each, since Golgotha ​​is located above the level of the church. This hill (Golgotha) represents a platform of 21.5 arsh. length and width and is divided by two pillars into two parts, forming two chapels: the chapel of the Crucifixion (planting of the Holy Cross), belonging to the Greeks, and the chapel of Nailing to the Cross, belonging to the Latins. The crucifixion chapel (in the north) is richly decorated with precious paintings and mosaics. In the depths of this chapel, on a protruding part of the ancient rock, three depressions, according to legend, mark the locations of the crosses of the Savior and the two thieves. These recesses are located in the shape of a triangle, in the lower two corners of which are the places of the robbers’ crosses, and on the upper corner is the place of the Savior’s Cross, located slightly lower (on the surface) in relation to the first two. The place of the cross of the thief, crucified at the right hand of the Savior (the good thief, called the right thief by the Arabs) is on the northern corner of the triangle, the place of the cross of the left thief is on the south, and the Cross of the Savior is on the west. The hole of the Cross of Christ is 0.5 arsh. depth and 0.25 arsh. in diameter; it is framed in silver. The holes of the crosses of the robbers are blocked, and their places are indicated only by black circles on marble. In the eastern recess of the chapel there is a marble open altar on four legs above a recess marking the place of the Holy Cross. St. is placed behind the throne. A cross with the image of the Crucified, and on the sides are images of the Mother of God and John the Evangelist. This place is always lit with lamps and candles. At a distance of about two arsh. to the south of the opening of the cross of the left thief there is a well-known historical cleft of the rock, covered with a silver board and below a copper grating, which, according to legend, was formed at the moment of the death of the Savior. This cleft was already in the 4th century. Cyril of Jerusalem pointed to the great events that took place here as proof. Under the chapel of the crucifixion is the chapel of Adam, where, according to legend, the first man was buried and resurrected by the blood of Christ, flowing onto his skull through a cleft in the rock. Another chapel (Catholic), Nailing the Lord to the Cross (or the Seven Sorrowful Words of the Savior), is located on the south side. It is not large, its interior can only be seen through the bars: it is richly decorated; The altar painting depicts the body of Christ bowed in the arms of the Mother of God. Having descended again to the foot of Golgotha ​​into the church itself and from the foot of Golgotha, walking about 40 steps in the north-west direction past the stone of anointing, they enter the rotunda (middle part) of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher 31. It is a round building and has about 7 soots. in diameter and with its 18 massive pillars surrounds St. Coffin. These pillars in turn support the upper gallery, consisting of 18 arcades 32. A majestic iron dome rises above the rotunda; The inside of the dome is decorated with gold stars and other images painted on a blue field, and the outside is covered with lead. There is a passage around the inside of the dome from where you can look inside the church. In the middle of the rotunda, closer to the western wall of the Catholicon, there is a monument (the so-called “Edicule”), decorating the burial place of the Savior and from the outside looking like a pentagonal chapel of 3 fathoms. length and 2 fathoms. width, lined with Jerusalem yellowish-pink marble and supported by columns on which a dome 33 flaunts as a crown. The Monument to the Holy Sepulcher consists of two parts - the western main and eastern extension, called the chapel of the Angel. The aisle is about 5 arsh. length and 4.5 arsh. width. Its walls, which contain stairs leading to the roof of the church, are very thick. The interior of the chapel is illuminated by lamps, of which 5 belong to the Greeks, 5 to the Catholics, 4 to the Armenians and one to the Copts. In the middle of the chapel there is a stone set in marble: according to legend, it covered the tomb of Christ and was rolled away by an Angel. Through a small low door (above the door there are statues of two angels) of the Angel's chapel one enters the chapel (chapel) of the Holy Sepulcher, which has only 2 arsh. 14th century in length and almost the same (2 arsh. 11 in.) in width, so that 3-4 people can fit in it at the same time. Here, 43 lamps hang from the ceiling (plafond), which rests on marble columns, of which 13 are Greek, 13 Latin, 13 Armenian and 4 Coptic. These lamps illuminate the interior of the Chapel of the Holy Sepulcher day and night. The paintings and other decorations are very poor, especially considering the innumerable donations that flow here from all over the Christian world. The white marble bas-relief representing the picture of the Resurrection of Christ belongs to the Greeks, the picture on the right belongs to the Armenians, and the picture on the left belongs to the Latins. The place of the tomb of Christ itself, located under the lamps, is marked by a quadrangular raised platform covered with a marble (broken in the middle) board, which serves as a throne. There is a candlestick along the entire wall. Here, on this throne, the liturgy is served daily by clergy of three confessions - Orthodox, Armenian and Latin 34. Behind St. To the west of the coffin there is a small chapel belonging to the 16th century. Copts. Directly opposite the door in the chapel of the Angel, three or four yards to the east, are the western doors of the cathedral Greek Church (Katholikon) of the Resurrection, which occupies the central place of the entire church building and is remarkable for the correctness of its architecture, the richness of its decorations (the iconostasis is made of pure gold) and the icons of the Byzantine style. The Church of the Resurrection is majestic, spacious, although gloomy. Four large pillars support four arches on which the dome illuminating the church is mounted. The eastern part of the church is elevated by several steps and rounded: this place serves as a fairly spacious altar; It is remarkable that the throne in it is not quadrangular, as usual, but longitudinal in shape. In the altar there are parts of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord and the right hand of St. Basil the Great. In the middle of the church itself there is a small stone urn (bowl), which contains a kind of flattened ball, with a black cross inscribed on top. This is the so-called navel, or center, of the earth. At the right (southern) and left (north) walls there are pulpits: to the left - the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and to the right - the Patriarch of Antioch. According to legend, this entire part of the church was built on the site where the garden of Joseph of Arimathea was located. Around the main part of the Church of the Resurrection there is a dark corridor in which there are small open chapels and chapels in honor of various events and persons of gospel history. If you enter this passage from the north side, then first of all you encounter the place where, according to legend, the Savior appeared to Mary Magdalene after the resurrection, and the Latin chapel, in which they indicate the stone to which Christ was tied before the crucifixion. Having passed the northern part of the passage, known as the seven arches of the Holy Virgin (their remains are still visible), they enter the dark chapel of the Bounds of Christ - here, to the right of the entrance, there is a throne, under which there are two round holes: these holes, according to legend, form the so-called log, into which the Savior’s feet were inserted during the preparation of the cross. Next is also the Greek side-chapel of Jesus' prison, in which He and the thieves were imprisoned before the crucifixion. Here, according to legend, the Mother of God sank to the ground in exhaustion when Her Divine Son was led to Golgotha. This event is depicted on the altarpiece. There are two thrones here - one in the name of the Dormition of the Mother of God, and the other in memory of the scourging of the Savior. In this chapel, unquenchable lamps burn. Further down the passage, in the apses of the outer wall of the church, is the chapel of St. Longinus - the warrior who pierced the Savior's rib with a spear. According to the legend recorded by the Jerusalem presbyter Hesychius (5th century), he was from Cappadocia; He was blind in one eye, but received his sight when several drops of blood and water flowing from the Savior’s rib, which he had pierced, splashed onto his eye. He believed in Christ and subsequently, together with two other soldiers, was beheaded by the Jews. In this place, where there is now a chapel in honor of him, his head was buried and then found. The chapel itself, belonging to the Greeks, has been dedicated to him only since the 16th century. The following chapels (chapels) separate the chasuble (belonging to the Armenians; known since the 12th century) and the chapel of the crown of thorns. Between these two chapels, in the south-eastern part of the passage, there is the beginning of a wide stone staircase of 29 steps leading to the dungeon, memorable for the discovery of the crosses of Christ and the thieves. The dungeon itself is located outside the church walls and consists of two parts. The first is the chapel of St. Helena, owned by Armenians and, it seems, not damaged at all during the fire of 1808. Although the structure of the walls in the chapel is not visible behind the plaster, it seems likely that they were carved into living rock. Four massive columns (from a red monolith) with Corinthian capitals, thought to belong to the original basilica of St. Helena (built under Constantine the Great), support a low dome that crowns the chapel and illuminates it with its six windows. These windows overlook the courtyard of the Abyssinian monastery. In the eastern part of the aisle there are three apses. There are two altars in the chapel - the northern one (in the northern apse) is dedicated to the memory of the prudent robber, and the middle one is to St. Elena. To the right, near this altar, is the seat, which, they say, was occupied by St. Elena while digging up the Cross. The very place where the Cross was found lies even lower. The descent to it is in the south-eastern corner of the chapel of St. Helena and consists of 13 steps, of which the lower three are carved into the rock. The chapel of the discovery of the crosses itself is an expanded and finished natural cave, the lower part of which lies in a layer of mizzi stone. The close proximity of the water tank imparts constant humidity to the walls of the cave of St. Cross. The place of the cave on the right belongs to the Greeks: here, under an overhanging rock, there is a marble slab with a black cross in the middle. To the left is the altar of the Latins. Bronze image of St. Life-size Helen is embraced by the Cross. Twilight reigns everywhere; The benches carved at the western and southern walls of the cave seem to invite the devotee of St. who has secluded himself here to rest. places and think about the greatness and holiness of those places that he walked around, examined and reverently bowed to. According to some, the name “frontal place” or simply “forehead” indicates the shape of the Calvary hill, which resembled a human skull. See prof. N. Maccabees, called cit., p. 195–196. Olesnitsky A., prof. Holy Land. Kyiv, 1876, p. 414 ff. Among the Jews, the family tombs of kings, nobles and rich people in general were not built from individual stones, but were carved into the living soil of rocks; Moreover, stronger layers of the so-called were selected. malaki in the lower parts of the mountain slopes. In the vicinity of Jerusalem there were many natural caves and grottoes that the poor could use for tombs. In the Talmud, the size and arrangement of tombs is defined as follows. First of all, you need to hollow out a grotto four cubits wide and six cubits long; Inside the grotto, eight kokimas (loculi - stoves, recesses for placing coffins) must be hollowed out: three on the right, three on the left and two opposite the entrance to the grotto; each kokim should be four cubits long (deep into the grotto), seven spans high and six spans wide. However, apparently, this size of the tomb, the number and size of which were not obligatory for everyone. According to the rule of Rabbi Simeon, “you need to make a grotto 8 cubits long and 6 wide and carve kokim inside it: 4 on the right, 4 on the left, three opposite the entrance. What should be 4 cubits in length, 7 spans in height and 6 in width” (see Prof. A. Olesnitsky, op. cit., p. 418). Sometimes, instead of kokima - perpendicular recesses carved into the walls - wide stone benches, flat or with recesses like mangers or troughs (arcosolia), which can be called beds, were carved parallel to the walls of the tomb, also to accommodate coffins or sarcophagi. In addition, sometimes a vestibule was located in front of the tomb chamber - another chamber in front of the entrance to the tomb. It served for the gathering of relatives and friends of the deceased, as well as for the performance of liturgical rites here at certain times. Large Hebrew tombs also included cisterns (reservoirs), which were located on platforms at the entrance and served for washing those defiled by touching a corpse, as well as niches for lamps. Of course, only the tombs of rich and noble people were arranged in this way, while the tombs of the poor were simpler: their bodies were buried in common cemeteries, and their graves probably had mostly the shape of a pit, lined with stones and covered with a stone slab. See prof. N. Maccabees, called cit., p. 220–224. See prof. N. Maccabees, called cit., p. 295–296. The description of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Church of the Resurrection was compiled on the basis of information provided in Baedeker's guidebook (ed. 1912), “Holiday trip to St. Earth" by P. Petrushevsky, Kyiv, 1904, "The first pilgrimage excursion of students of the Imp. Kievsk. Spirit. Academician." edited by prof. priest AA. Glagolev, Kyiv, 1914, Brockhaus dictionary (vol. XIII) and other descriptions of St. Earth. “In general,” says one of the recent pilgrims, the Church of the Resurrection (Holy Sepulcher) is quite gloomy, like most eastern churches. This gloomy appearance is greatly facilitated by the dust and dirt that appears in places in the church and, of course, has an unpleasant effect on everyone, especially the Russian pilgrim, who in Russia is accustomed to seeing shine and cleanliness in churches... The church of Christian churches, therefore, is not consistent in its appearance with its great significance” (“The First Pilgrimage Excursion of Students of the Imperial Kiev. Spiritual Academy.” edited by Prof. Priest A. A. Glagolev , Kiev, 1914, p. 42). In its present form it dates back to 1810. Initially, under Constantine, according to Eusebius of Caesarea, there were 12 pillars (columns). The entire monument was restored in 1810. “During the conciliar bishop’s service, the Holy Sepulcher serves only as an altar, while the throne is then a slab placed on an urn in the chapel of the Angel; The clergy then, during the liturgy, stand before this altar, going to the Holy Sepulcher only for commemoration. When one or two priests serve, the Holy Sepulcher simultaneously serves as both an altar and a throne, and the clergy stand before it almost continuously” (“First Excursion...”, pp. 43-44). You might be interested in: