Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Timeline

1. c. 326–335Jerusalem · JerusalemConstantine I and Helena demolished the existing Roman temple on the identified burial and Golgotha sites, building a rotunda over the tomb and a basilica, making the site the starting point of imperial Christian pilgrimage.
2. 1009–1010Church of the Holy Sepulchre · JerusalemFatimid caliph al-Hakim ordered the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and a number of Christian sanctuaries; much of the rock tomb structure was razed and pilgrimage was interrupted. The event became a catastrophe of the Holy Land in the memory of the eleventh-century Christian world, coinciding with his broader religious restrictions.
3. c. 1027–1048Church of the Holy Sepulchre · JerusalemAfter al-Hakim's death, the Fatimid authorities permitted a smaller rotunda over the tomb and associated chapels to be rebuilt with funding from the Byzantine emperor; pilgrimage resumed, but the layout differed from Constantine's original design.
4. 1099–1149Church of the Holy Sepulchre · JerusalemAfter the Crusaders captured Jerusalem in July 1099 they took over the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, established Latin liturgy and the authority of the guardians of the Holy Sepulchre, and expanded a Romanesque church on the eleventh-century reconstruction, making the site the religious center of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
5. 1187Church of the Holy Sepulchre · JerusalemAfter Saladin the church remained open to pilgrims under Muslim rule; it later saw a brief Crusader return, Ottoman-era arrangements of denominational status, and modern restoration, with the co-management of the Greek Orthodox, Catholic, and Eastern churches continuing to this day.