The Church of the Nativity: The Birthplace of Jesus in Bethlehem

Interior of an old church — Source: Pixabay

A short drive south of Jerusalem, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, stands one of the oldest churches in continuous use anywhere in the world: the Church of the Nativity. Built over the cave that Christian tradition identifies as the birthplace of Jesus, it is for believers the place where the Christmas story began. For travellers it is a remarkable survival – a basilica whose roots reach back to the fourth century.

The Birthplace of Jesus

The heart of the church is the Grotto of the Nativity, a small cave beneath the main altar. A fourteen-pointed silver star set into the marble floor marks the spot venerated as the place of the birth, and pilgrims kneel to touch it. Nearby is the Manger area, where tradition says the newborn was laid. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke place the Nativity in Bethlehem, and devotion to this cave is recorded from very early Christian centuries.

Nativity scene depicting the birth of Jesus — Source: Pixabay

From Constantine to Justinian

The first basilica was raised in the 4th century by the emperor Constantine and his mother Helena, over the cave revered as the birthplace, and completed around 339. After it was damaged during sixth-century unrest, the emperor Justinian rebuilt it around 565, largely in the form that survives today. That makes the present church essentially a Byzantine building – one that has endured wars, earthquakes and changing rulers for some fifteen centuries, partly because successive conquerors chose to spare it.

The Door of Humility and a Shared Custody

Visitors enter through a tiny, low doorway known as the Door of Humility, lowered over the centuries so that no one could ride in on horseback and everyone must bow to pass. Inside, ancient columns, fragments of golden mosaics and worn floor stones speak of its long history. Like the Holy Sepulchre, the church is shared among Christian communities – chiefly the Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic and Roman Catholic (Franciscan) – under a careful traditional arrangement. In 2012 the Church of the Nativity became the first site in Palestine inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.