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Agence France-Presse

The newly restored shrine surrounding what is believed to be Jesus’ tomb was unveiled at a ceremony in Jerusalem Wednesday following months of delicate work.
Religious leaders opened the ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built at the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified and buried.
They stood in front of the 19th-century edicule surrounding the tomb as hymns were sung.
Dignitaries including Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras were in attendance.
Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem, in his address to the ceremony, called the restoration “not only a gift to our Holy Land but to the whole world”.
“For the first time in over two centuries, this sacred edicule has been restored,” he said, referring to the shrine built in 1810 surrounding the tomb.
The shrine is a key part of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s Old City.

The church is located in Israeli-occupied east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians see as the capital of their future state, and the shrine was briefly closed by Israeli authorities in 2015 over security fears.
Centuries of candle smoke and visiting pilgrims had left the shrine discoloured and almost black.
Parts of it were also coming loose, with warnings that it was structurally unsound and posed a risk to the millions of pilgrims who visit the site every year.
Following a $3.7 million renovation led by the church’s three main Christian denominations, the tomb has been painstakingly restored to its former glory - including a warm reddish-yellow colouring.
“Before this the monument was black,” chief renovator Antonia Moropoulou said.
“This is the actual colour of the monument, the colour of hope.”

Unlike other parts of the church, which were renovated between the 1960s and 1990s, the edicule had been neglected.
Moropoulou said that restorers had systematically dismantled, cleaned and renovated almost all of the edicule, including the columns and upper and inner domes.
A window has been installed to allow pilgrims to see the bare stone of the ancient burial cave for the first time.
The new structural integrity means a protective cage installed 70 years ago by the British is no longer necessary.
“The deformations of the holy edicule are addressed and the structural integrity is assured,” Moropoulou said.

Samuel Aghoyan, the superior of the Armenian Church at the Sepulchre which co-financed the project, said that after the renovation the edicule looked “like a brand new building”.
In October, perhaps the most dramatic moment in the renovation occurred when the cave thought to be the tomb of Jesus was opened for the first time in centuries.
Marble slabs were removed to allow for the chamber’s reinforcement.
They found a top slab dating from the era of the Crusades, indicating that the tomb had not been opened for 700 years, Moropoulou said.
Underneath they found another from the era of Constantine the Great, the emperor who began the Roman empire’s transition to Christianity in the fourth century AD.

“When we opened the slabs we discovered within the internal masonry all the layers of history - from Constantinian to Byzantine, to Crusaders to Renaissance,” Moropoulou said.
Whether the site is indeed the place of Jesus’ burial has long been a matter of dispute.
Some Christians believe he was buried in the Garden Tomb, outside the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City, but Moropoulou said their findings supported the Sepulchre as the location.
Asked if the slabs supported the argument that Jesus was buried there, she said it was “not a matter of an argument”.
“It is a matter of revealing a tomb which is alive and which is influencing us working here and all the world.”

The work is not the end of plans to renovate the church.
Aghoyan said they have “tentative” plans to fix the basement of the edicule as well as the “entire floor of the church”.
Such work would require around $6 million.
The Greek Orthodox, Armenian and Roman Catholic denominations share custody of the church, but disputes between the three have led to renovations being delayed for decades.
Aghoyan admitted there were tensions between the churches at times.
“We are not in love with each but we love each other,” he said with a smile.


Shrine at Jesus' tomb unveiled in Jerusalem after months of restoration work

Centuries of candle smoke and visiting pilgrims had left the shrine discoloured and almost black. Parts of it were also coming loose.

Christian worshippers light candles around the Edicule of the Tomb of Jesus (where his body is believed to have been laid) at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s Old City on March 21, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Gali TIBBON

epa05861822 View of the marble slab stone that coverd the Thomb of Jesus Christ in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City, 21 March 2017. The tomb of Jesus Christ in the rotunda of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City, was on 26 February 2017 without its iron cage for the first time since it was placed around the stone tomb by the British in 1947 to keep the Edicule from falling apart. Greek archaeologists have been working since June 2016 to restore the tomb, believed to be the place where Jesus Christ was buried and then resurrected from after his crucification. EPA/ABIR SULTAN

A picture taken on March 21, 2017 at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem shows the renovated Edicule of the Tomb of Jesus (where his body is believed to have been laid). / AFP PHOTO / THOMAS COEX

epaselect epa05861827 A visitor waits in a line to go inside the marble slab stone that coverd the Thomb of Jesus Christ in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City, 21 March 2017. The tomb of Jesus Christ in the rotunda of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City, was on 26 February 2017 without its iron cage for the first time since it was placed around the stone tomb by the British in 1947 to keep the Edicule from falling apart. Greek archaeologists have been working since June 2016 to restore the tomb, believed to be the place where Jesus Christ was buried and then resurrected from after his crucification. EPA/ABIR SULTAN

People line to visit the renovated shrine in Jerusalem. Photo: AP

‘Astonishing’ discovery as Jesus' tomb opened for first time in centuries

The moment workers remove the top marble layer of the tomb said to be of Jesus Christ, in the Church of Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. Photo: National Geographic/AP)

A Franciscan friar looks at the exposed the Tomb of Jesus, where his body is believed to have been laid, as part of conservation work done by a team of Greek team of preservation experts in Jerusalem on late on October 28, 2016. The experts from the National Technical University of Athens for cultural heritage preservation removed the marble slab stone that covered the original tomb since the last restoration of the edicule on 1810 by Greek architect Nikolaos Komnenos. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s Old City is traditionally believed to be the site of Jesus’s burial and attracts every year millions of pilgrims from all over the world. / AFP PHOTO / GALI TIBBON

epa04445698 YEARENDER 2014 APRIL A man stands in the door of the church roof inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem during the Holy Fire ceremony on 19 Arpil 2014, the day before Easter. Eastern Orthodox Christians believe the Holy Fire, which emenates from within the Tomb of Christ and quickly spreads around the church and outside to Jerusalem and even to foreign countries, represents the flame of the Resurrection power, as well as the fire of the Burning Bush of Mount Sinai. EPA/ABIR SULTAN

BBNHBW geography / travel, Israel, Jerusalem, Church of the Holy Sepulchre (resurrection church), exterior view, Golgatha rock, Joseph [30OCTOBER2016 FEATURE POST MAGAZINE]

Greek preservation experts work to strengthen the Edicule surrounding the Tomb of Jesus, where his body is believed to have been laid, as part of conservation work done by the Greek team in Jerusalem on late on October 28, 2016. The experts from the National Technical University of Athens for cultural heritage preservation removed the marble slab stone that covered the original tomb since the last restoration of the edicule on 1810 by Greek architect Nikolaos Komnenos. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s Old City is traditionally believed to be the site of Jesus’s burial and attracts every year millions of pilgrims from all over the world. / AFP PHOTO / GALI TIBBON

Greek preservation experts place back the marble slab stone that covered the Tomb of Jesus, where his body is believed to have been laid, after it was removed for 3 days to allow the team to do restoration works and study as part of conservation work done by the Greek team in Jerusalem on late on October 28, 2016. The experts from the National Technical University of Athens for cultural heritage preservation removed the marble slab stone that covered the original tomb since the last restoration of the edicule on 1810 by Greek architect Nikolaos Komnenos. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s Old City is traditionally believed to be the site of Jesus’s burial and attracts every year millions of pilgrims from all over the world. / AFP PHOTO / GALI TIBBON

A picture shows the slabs of stone covering the Tomb of Jesus, where his body is believed to have been laid, after it was exposed for the first time in centuries as part of conservation work done by the Greek team in Jerusalem on late on October 28, 2016. The experts from the National Technical University of Athens for cultural heritage preservation removed the marble slab stone that covered the original tomb since the last restoration of the edicule on 1810 by Greek architect Nikolaos Komnenos. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s Old City is traditionally believed to be the site of Jesus’s burial and attracts every year millions of pilgrims from all over the world. / AFP PHOTO / GALI TIBBON

A Greek Orthodox priest stands in front of the Tomb of Jesus at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City on October 28, 2016. The tomb where Jesus is said to have been buried before his resurrection, is to undergo major restoration. The restoration entrusted to a Greek team, is expected to be completed in early 2017 and the site will remain open to visitors in the meantime. / AFP PHOTO / THOMAS COEX

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Centuries of candle smoke and visiting pilgrims had left the shrine discoloured and almost black. Parts of it were also coming loose.


Shrine at Jesus' tomb unveiled in Jerusalem after months of restoration work

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Centuries of candle smoke and visiting pilgrims had left the shrine discoloured and almost black. Parts of it were also coming loose.

Centuries of candle smoke and visiting pilgrims had left the shrine discoloured and almost black. Parts of it were also coming loose.