Vatican Insider:It took 18 months work and €600,000 to restore the Basilica of Gethsemane back to its original splendour. Restoration work on the precious mosaics has finished and the 5000 pilgrims that visit the Basilica of Agony in Jerusalem every year will once more be able to linger amid the Church’s ancient aisles, their heads tilted backwards, immersed in a nocturnal atmosphere, intensified by the dark blue starry sky depicted on the mosaics which is framed by olive branches.
A number of countries contributed to the building of the great Basilica with the 12 domes, designed by the architect Antonio Barluzzi, hence it is also called Church of All Nations. The basilica was finished in 1924 and has not undergone any restoration work since.This coupled with the fact that the signs of “ageing” were really beginning to show on the Basilica’s domes, led the Custody of the Holy Land to begin restoration work on what is one of Christianity’s most important sites. The Basilica is just a few steps away from the holy garden which evokes that nocturnal scene on Holy Thursday when Jesus suffered the moments of agony and abandonment the Lord had in store for him. Read more here.
