Jerusalem: Lost Crusader Altar Discovered in Church of the Holy Sepulchre

In the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, a team involving historians from the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) and representatives of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) stumbled upon the largest known medieval altar, which had been considered lost for decades. The exceptionally intricate Crusader high altar, consecrated in 1149, hints at a previously unknown connection between Rome and the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem.

The Roman connection involves the use of a marble construction technique, called “Cosmatesque,” which was only practiced by masters in the city of Rome, leading scholars to speculate that the altar may have been papally commissioned for this holiest site in the Holy Land, where Our Lord’s precious Body was laid, and where the Resurrection took place.