Reconstruction of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, under Constantine IX Monomachus

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the most important monument in Christendom, was commissioned by Constantine and his mother Helena in 325–26. However, many points are still hotly debated. When it was completed, the group comprised an atrium, a five-nave basilica, a courtyard with three porticoes, Golgotha, a baptistery and the tomb of Christ enclosed by a rotunda. There is still disagreement about the precise dating of the various elements, but recent research seems to show that the basilica, known as the Martyrion, and the rotunda, Anastasis, were part of the original architectural programme.

The rest of the history of the Holy Sepulchre is linked to the vicissitudes of the fate of Jerusalem. In 614 the Sasanian Persians attacked Jerusalem and took the True Cross. The partial destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre led to its restoration during the reign of Heraclius (610–41), before he triumphantly brought the True Cross back to the church in 630. In 638, after a siege, Jerusalem fell into the hands of the Arabs. In 1009 the Fatimid caliph Al-Ḥākim Bī-Amr Allāh (996–1021) ordered the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Relations between the Byzantine Empire and the caliphs improved after 1027, which resulted in an agreement between Emperor Michael IV (1034–41) and Caliph Al-Mustansir (1036–94). The church was then rebuilt at the emperor’s expense. The work was completed in 1048 under Constantine IX Monomachus (1042–55). A team of Byzantine masons sent by the emperor rebuilt the Holy Sepulchre in collaboration with a local team. While the preserved architectural sculptures of the Constantinian monument were reused, the eleventh-century masonry differed from that of the original building. The most important difference between the Constantinian edifice and that of the eleventh century is the plan, whose surface area was reduced by half: the five-nave basilica and the atrium – that is, the entire eastern part – were abandoned. On the other hand, the courtyard with three porticoes between the basilica and the rotunda was restored in the same dimensions as before. To the west of the courtyard, three new chapels were built, but are only known to us through written sources. The cisterns to the west of these buildings were transformed into an underground chapel. Various new chapels were added between the Patriarchate and the Anastasis. Three were built south of the Anastasis, the central one serving as a baptistery. These chapels replaced the Constantinian basilica.

The entire new edifice was richly decorated with a pavement of mosaic work in stones of different colours. The mosaics feature mainly geometric motifs. The pavement of the Anastasis comprises about ten panels. In the middle of these panels are marble plaques, surrounded by a border with lozenge motifs. On the four sides there are still four different figural representations against a white ground. In each case there are two animals facing each other: for example, two fish on either side of a chalice or two strange birds attacking a fish. These decorative motifs are Islamic in inspiration and are also found on sculpted plaques, ceramics, metal objects and textiles. This, no doubt, is evidence of the work of local craftsmen, but it should be noted that this repertory was very common in the Byzantine world.