News

The Edicule where the Holy Fire descends at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem to be restored first time in 200 years

Jerusalem, March 25, Interfax - Large-scale restoration of the Edicule (a chapel believed to be constructed over the place of the burial of Christ) starts at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

Works will be started after Orthodox Easter celebrated on May 1, and will last for more than eight months. Pilgrims will be allowed to the shrine during the restoration, press service of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem reports.

Experts from the Athens National Technical University, staff members of the Florence University and experts from Armenia will carry out the restoration. They will strengthen the construction, renew construction joints of the Edicule, change damaged fragments of the covering, clean the interior from the soot.

The scaffoldings have already been set up at the walls of the Edicule.

The existing construction was build over the Lord's Sepulchre in 1810 after destructive fire in the church in 1808. The Edicule has not been restored since 1810.

For several dozens of years the building was subjected to the influence of the weather as the doom of the rotunda over the Edicule had open hole till 1868. Earthquakes seriously damaged the Edicule in 1927 and 1934. It resulted in the lack of sustainability and threat of partial failure, so steel pillars were set up around the Edicule in 1947 as a temporal measure. Excessive humidity caused by the presence of millions of pilgrims and tourists and exposure to heat of candles also have negative impact on the construction.

The Holy Fire descends to the Edicule every year on the eve of the Orthodox Easter, which is delivered to dioceses of the Russian Orthodox churches and to the patriarchal service to Moscow.

Print this page

Home

News

.	Customize latest news

• Lawyer German Lukyanov who helped exonerate Nicholas II passes away 20 May 2022, 10:37
• The cathedral of Russian Church desecrated in Vilnius 19 May 2022, 20:14
• Putin's decision on Ukraine operation 'moral choice,' not geopolitics - top Kremlin official 19 May 2022, 20:08
• Duma committee supports bill banning foreigners from using surrogate mother services in Russia 19 May 2022, 15:54
• ROCOR first hierarch to be buried in Jordanville, New York, on May 22 18 May 2022, 10:30
• Patriarch Kirill offers Russia renewed understanding of sovereignty based on traditional values, without looking back to West 18 May 2022, 10:09
• Patriarch Kirill proposes stripping private clinics of right to receive female patients for abortions 17 May 2022, 19:49
• Patriarch Kirill describes 'abolition' of Russian culture in West as insane 17 May 2022, 16:27
• Patrushev blames the West of striving to achieve spiritual and moral degradation of Russia 17 May 2022, 16:22
• Patriarch Kirill calls for observance of humanitarian law in areas of special operation in Ukraine, Donbass 17 May 2022, 16:19
• First Hierarch of ROCOR Metropolitan Hilarion passes away 17 May 2022, 11:06
• Patriarch Kirill calls Orban one of few European politicians who stands up for Christian values 16 May 2022, 21:37
• The Russian Church declares a negative attitude to computer games 16 May 2022, 15:44
• Russian experts record more than 70 attacks on churches of UOC by the Ukrainian side 16 May 2022, 15:37
• The Synod of Ukrainian Orthodox Church asks Zelensky to put an end to her oppression 12 May 2022, 17:27
• Jehovah's Witnesses member in Nizhny Novgorod given 6-year suspended sentence 12 May 2022, 11:23
• Sanctions against Patriarch Kirill will not affect his activities in any way – Russian Church 10 May 2022, 15:28
• Patriarch Kirill describes Russia as self-sufficient country which doesn't want to harm anyone 08 May 2022, 17:15
• Patriarch Kirill calls on believers to pray for Russia to be protected from external, internal enemies 06 May 2022, 14:26
• Ukrainian Orthodox Church says bans on its activities imposed by local authorities have no legal force 06 May 2022, 12:06
• Russia to hold consultations with Hamas on situation around Al-Aqsa 05 May 2022, 11:21
• Patriarch Kirill can't be scared with sanctions - Russian Orthodox Church 04 May 2022, 16:01
• Pope Francis' recount of conversation with Patriarch Kirill incorrect - Russian Orthodox Church 04 May 2022, 15:38
• Russian Orthodox Church asks to use its potential in opening humanitarian corridors in special operation zone 04 May 2022, 14:47
• No agreement on Putin's meeting with Pontiff – Peskov 04 May 2022, 14:10
• Russia never attacked anyone, always protected its borders - Patriarch Kirill 04 May 2022, 12:10
• Russian Orthodox Church indicates interest in achievement of lasting peace in Ukraine 29 April 2022, 16:44
• The Russian Church' speaker calls the "culture of cancellation" a self-reprimand of civilization 29 April 2022, 12:46
• The Russian Foreign Ministry advised Washington to take care of religious freedoms in the United States 29 April 2022, 12:39
• Serbian patriarch assures Patriarch Kirill of support of Russian Orthodox Church amid Ukraine crisis 27 April 2022, 22:26

Other news