The Holy City of Jerusalem

Around 135 the emperor Hadrian buried the tomb beneath what became the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, under a temple of Aphrodite; after Constantine's bishops cleared the site, three crosses were unearthed nearby, one taken for the True Cross, and the basilica was consecrated in 335.

In 614 Sassanid troops burned the church and carried the True Cross away, and Heraclius restored both in 630. The Fatimid caliph al-Hakim ordered the building demolished in 1009, and reconstruction was completed in 1048. Crusaders rebuilt it, finishing under Queen Melisende in 1149 and uniting the chapels under one roof.

Saladin's forces occupied the church in 1187 yet soon admitted pilgrims again. The Status Quo of 1757 fixed the denominations' rights, and after the fire of 1808 the rotunda and tomb shrine were rebuilt in 1809 to 1810.