Sealing the tomb
Because of the Crusaders and other wars that occurred in Jerusalem, the church underwent numerous changes and reconstructions. The church’s bell tower collapsed in 1545. The Franciscan friars began serious work on their own renovation, and one of the cleanups on their agenda was the shrine that housed Jesus’ tomb.
In order to preserve the location of Jesus’ tomb, Franciscan monks sealed it in 1555. They erected a marble slab over the burial site to keep pilgrims from touching the actual rock where Jesus’ body was once laid. It had remained sealed since then.
A much-needed renovation
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre has been subjected to centuries of water and structural damage, accumulating a great deal of decay. Although the Church of the Holy Sepulchre clearly requires renovations, the process has been notoriously difficult.
Because the tomb of Jesus was the most important Christian holy site, three major Christian denominations shared custody of the area: the Roman Catholic, the Greek Orthodox, and the Armenian Apostolic. And, over time, these three denominations have not always agreed.
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Decisions made over a century ago
In fact, one of the most famous debates between the three denominations involved a Lebanon cedar ladder that sat above the church’s entrance. The debate over whether or not to remove it lasted two and a half centuries, and the ladder is still there today. The ladder had earned the nickname “the immovable ladder.”
If these denominations couldn’t agree on what to do with a ladder, what hope do they have for the tomb of Jesus? Nobody wanted to jeopardise something of historical and spiritual significance. As a result, despite the decay, the church and tomb remained untouched.
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