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For over 3,000 years, Jerusalem has been

the backdrop of epic legends.

A place where stories and structures

helped shape civilizations.

And every stone bear a story. A story

that concern all of us.

Since antiquity, the most prestigious

architects of the Mediterranean basin

have worked to make this isolated city

one of the jewels of the Middle East.

In the heart of the city, the Romans

built an immense religious complex,

constructing an entire mountain in order

to see through the reconstruction of the

temple that had carried such importance

in Judaism.

To create this architectural wonder,

they developed ingenious methods to

transport the enormous blocks of stone.

The biggest single stone is estimated to

weigh 400 tons.

Hundreds of years later, Emperor

Constantine erected one of the first

large Christian churches in the center

of the city, the church of the Holy

Sephiler, built around the tomb of

Christ.

He was motivated by this new religion

and the origin of said religion was

Jerusalem.

This city, the soul of Christianity for

nearly 300 years, constantly reinvented

itself, one conquest after the next. As

times changed, it would also become home

to one of the marvels of Muslim

architecture.

of the rock was the Islamic Empire's

response to the Constantinian church of

the Holy Sephilur and its dome which

represented the symbol of Christianity

in Jerusalem.

From the Temple Mount to the Dome of the

Rock, how were these ambitious buildings

constructed?

How have they managed to survive through

ages of earthquakes, wars, and

conquests?

From one hilltop to another, one

civilization to the next, we will

penetrate the heart of Jerusalem's most

iconic buildings, which bear witness to

3,000 years of history and mystery.

Today, we will lift the veil on the

secrets of the eternal city and its holy

builders.

In the heart of the Judean mountains,

Jerusalem, the world's ultimate holy

city, has stood proudly for more than

3,000 years.

This city is of vital importance to all

three of the main monotheistic

religions.

Located at top a mountain ridge at the

meeting point between the desert and the

Mediterranean, it is home to the most

symbolic places of the Jewish,

Christian, and Muslim religions.

This is the meeting point of heaven and

earth. This is the place where you have

divine interaction with the human, that

connection. And that's why Jerusalem has

remained important in the three

Abrahamic faiths.

For nearly 2,000 years, Jewish people

from all over the world have been

praying at the foot of the Wailing Wall,

the last vestage of the ancient temple.

Simultaneously, more and more Christians

are coming to visit the church of the

holy sepulcher where Jesus died.

And the Muslims believe the stone

protected by the Dome of the Rock played

an integral part in one of the most

important episodes in the Quran.

For all these reasons and more,

Jerusalem is an ideal place to trace the

evolution of major civilizations through

history.

For archaeologists here in Jerusalem,

you have every aspect of archaeology,

all the periods, all the structures,

synagogues, mosque, churches, private

houses, burial tombs and many, many

more. Here

everything happened and every stone bear

a story. A story that concern all of us

and this is a magic.

According to the Old Testament, the

story began in the first millennium B.C.

when David, the king of the Israelites

and an important biblical figure,

conquered Jerusalem and threw out the

local population.

At the time, it was a dry area on the

edge of the desert that opened out onto

the Mount of Olives in the east.

He chose this site because he believed

it was close to where another important

biblical event had taken place.

The sacrifice of Isaac.

The original area of the settlement of

Jerusalem, this little southeastern hill

or city of David, is dominated to the

north by a high outcrop of bedrock,

which comes later to be called the

temple mount.

Now this spot in Jewish and later also

in Christian and Muslim tradition is

significant because it comes to be

identified with Mount Moriah which is

the spot where according to the Hebrew

Bible Abraham prepared to offer his son

Isaac for sacrifice.

The era of the great builders of

Jerusalem began right after the death of

King David with his son Solomon

in 966 BC. He started building the first

holy Jewish temple.

The monument was naturally built on top

of the famous Mount Mariah

known as the Temple Mount.

The first Jewish temple was comprised of

three distinct spaces.

The porch called the ulam,

the heckl or sanctuary and the deir, the

holy of holies.

The Bible mentions two columns covered

in bronze framing the main doorway.

While the holy of holies contained the

ark of the covenant placed there by

David himself. This gold covered chest

contained the stone tablets of the law

that were handed down to Moses. The

holiest objects in the Jewish religion

lost for many centuries.

The building was 20 cubits wide, 60

cubits long, and 30 cubits high or

around 10 m wide, 28 m long, and 14 m

high.

It may not seem very large today, but at

the time and in the region, a monument

this size attracted a lot of attention.

Jerusalem was a tiny city. It really was

more of a small town, if you can even

call it that. I mean, if you have this

quote unquote city that's so small in

size and in population, then a building

that measures 10 m wide by 35 m long is

going to be a big building.

In relation to everything else in

Jerusalem, it was a large building.

Word of the new temple quickly spread

throughout the region.

At the start of the first millennium

B.C., the population increased from just

700 to 2,000 inhabitants.

The region of Jerusalem rose in power

and prosperity under the rule of several

different kinks.

But this was not to last.

The first major break in the history of

the city occurred after just a few

hundred years.

In August of 586 BC, the powerful

Babylonian dynasty from the east moved

into the Judean territory,

entered the city, ransacked it, and

destroyed the temple of Solomon.

The city was now part of the Babylonian

Empire.

Not long after, it was taken over by the

Persians. Then the Macedonians led by

Alexander the Great.

In 141 BC, the Jewish people revolted

and founded the Hessmonian dynasty.

It did not last long, however.

In 63 BC, Jerusalem was conquered by

General Pompei, thus falling into the

hands of the Great Roman Empire.

This was a turning point for the city.

A few years after the conquest, one of

the leading figures of Jerusalem's

history came into power.

Herod the Great, a renowned builder and

bloodthirsty desperate.

Herod is known as the single greatest

builder in the history of Israel, in the

history of the country. No other

individual has left a lasting imprint on

the landscape of the country than Herod.

He built all over the place.

Herod would have a lasting effect on

Jerusalem's urban design. His plans for

the city reflected the size of his own

ego.

His largest architectural undertaking

was the gigantic Temple Mount.

In 22 BC, he decided to rebuild the

temple of Solomon to gain favor with the

Jewish population.

Herod was a cruel ruler, very cruel,

very hard and harsh with his people,

especially with the Jewish population.

But according to the legend, at some

point he understood that he need to be

good to his people, to the Jewish

people.

Herod was also modeling himself after

David and Solomon. That is, he's lining

himself up just as Solomon built the

first temple. So Herod is sort of

setting himself up as a legitimate

successor to David and Solomon by

rebuilding the temple.

Overcome with ambition, Herod decided

that simply renovating or replacing the

old temple was not enough. He wanted to

build something that would leave a mark

on history and raise him up onto a

monumental pedestal.

To that end, he would need to remodel

the entirety of Mount Mariah.

When King Herod decided around 22 BC

that he's going to build the temple, he

decided that he will be done something

megalomanic. It will be huge

and all of the surrounding area will be

enormous.

But Herod have a problem because the

topography of Mount Moriah it's very

narrow. It could hold the modest temple

but could not hold this magnificent and

large structure. So he did something

very smart.

Change the topography of Mount Moa.

Create an artificial platform.

This builder without equal decided to

artificially extend Mount Mariah from

its summit to create a gigantic

esplanade.

Using previous constructions, he built a

massive retaining wall.

This platform overlooking the mountain

was designed to support the rest of the

structure.

The walls were up to 30 m high and went

as far as 20 m below ground level for a

total height of 50 m in certain

segments.

The existing square plaza spanning 250x

250 m was extended to the north, south,

and west for a total surface area of

280x490

m.

Romans like to build. But even they in

the scale of the Roman architecture,

even Romans who visit the Temple Mount

said, "Listen guys, this is something

special. The Temple Mount was something

unique."

With this inordinately sized project,

Herod sought to build not just a

religious center, but also a public

place for business and trade.

He had to keep that function in mind

when designing the structure.

According to Herod's plans, the temple

occupied the central position.

To the south, he had a large gate built,

the royal stoa, where people could

exchange currency or buy animals to

sacrifice at the temple.

To the north, the Antonia Fortress

surveyed the rest of the complex.

These public buildings surrounded a

trapezoidal esplanade measuring 144,000

m, the equivalent of 12 soccer fields, a

space that was accessible to all.

The large size meant that anyone could

move from one gate to another without

having to cross through the sanctuary,

which was reserved for people of the

Jewish faith.

The esplanade is very impressive in

terms of size. It feels like a city

within a city. When you see the scale of

the project and try to imagine the

construction site with all the various

craftsmen hard at work, you understand

it was a massive undertaking.

More than 10,000 builders worked on this

unprecedented expansion of the Temple

Mount.

But the project had to respect one very

important constraint. The temple had to

remain in service at all times. To

Herod, even a temporary closure was out

of the question,

so they had to build quickly and

intelligently in order to preserve

access for the pilgrims.

The Roman Empire were experts in

engineering in architecture

and for sure Herod which was the friend

of the Romans used those Roman experts

in planning all of this area. But of

course you can see from archaeology, you

can see that from the ancient scriptures

that apart from the Roman expert, there

is the stamp of King Herod itself.

In order to complete the project as

quickly and efficiently as possible,

Herod undoubtedly had to build the

retaining walls segment by segment.

In order to build this large complex,

you need to start with the corners

because they are the key to stabilize

all the compound.

If you look at the corners of the

whaling wall, you can see there are huge

stones combined like this. So we started

for the corners and then connected all

the walls and all all the dots.

Construction likely began with the

southeast wall.

Here, the remains of an ancient

supporting wall from the 2nd century BC

can still be seen today.

By building the eastern wall first, the

workers were able to connect the old

wall to the new Herodian wall.

There is a very distinct break between

the old espanade and the one Herod built

where you can see what's clearly a line

in the wall. So we know the whole

southern part was added as well as the

western part.

Today the famous whailing wall is the

last trace of this gigantic

architectural project spearheaded by

Herod.

As one walks along the retaining wall,

one cannot help but be impressed by the

size of the stones that were used to

build it.

The best way to appreciate their size is

by observing the blocks that have fallen

off the wall south of the esplanade.

Some of the stones weigh hundreds of

tons

and they are wellmade. They are very

accurate.

There is less than 1 mm between the

stones. It's amazing. Even today we

could not duplicate or build in in such

techniques.

Most of the blocks that make up the 37

rows of the walls weigh anywhere between

2 and 5 tons.

But the most impressive are hidden from

onlooker's eyes.

It is inside the whailing wall and its

basement that the most imposing stones

were found.

The biggest single stone is estimated to

weigh 400 tons.

It's just gigormous.

This large stone used in the retaining

wall of the temple mount is the fourth

largest and heaviest ever transported

during antiquity.

Over 13 m long, the monumental stone is

part of the foundation of the structure,

its base.

It is placed in a spot where the wall

exerts a particularly high amount of

pressure.

The massive scale of these foundations

attests to the size and ambition of King

Herod's project.

He would need stones that were

sufficiently strong to withstand the

pressure over time,

thousands of them.

Fortunately, Jerusalem is surrounded by

limestone mountains.

The army of builders assembled by Herod

could harvest stone from ancient quaries

and also create new ones closer to the

construction site.

Jerusalem stone which is typical of the

region is a gray yellow limestone of

very high quality.

There is an abundance of it in the

quaries nearby the city.

This type of limestone transforms under

pressure into a sort of marble. It's a

very sturdy vein of stone.

Open air quaries were exploited less

than 5 km from the construction site.

But the workers also turned to ancient

quaries located directly underneath the

city, the so-called Solomon's quaries.

This gigantic cave extended to the

northern edge of the ramperts, right

next to the temple mount.

No matter the location, the goal was

always the same, to quarry the best

quality stone possible.

If you have good quality rock directly

at surface level, you can create what's

called an open air quarry, which means

it doesn't have a roof. You don't need

to work underground.

You simply start at ground level and

work your way down bit by bit. If you

don't have good quality rock at surface

level, sometimes you can find better

quality rock underneath.

In that case, you'll need to create an

underground mine and start digging

underneath the surface.

The traces left by the quarry workers

can still be seen today.

To extract the cut stones, the workers

known as quarrymen started by making

fine notches in the rock to mark the

sides and depth of the block using a

pickaxe.

Then they placed corners inside those

notches to force the rock to break at

the back of the block.

After that, the quarry workers could

pull the block out of its position

inside the rock, breaking its fall using

a pile of rubble underneath.

After being extracted, the raw stones

were carved into a smooth rectangular

shape.

But the job was far from finished. Each

block used to form the gigantic

retaining wall weighed between 2 and 10

tons.

How did the builders transport such

large pieces of stone to the

construction site at the end of the 1st

century BC?

First, they had to raise the stones out

of the quaries.

The architects had a solid understanding

of pulley systems.

They used what is commonly known as a

lifting jack.

This system consists of two beams

connected at the top and held in place

by cables anchored in the ground.

A pulley is suspended and a rope is

threaded through it so it can be

maneuvered using a hoist.

With the more advanced systems, they

could lift blocks weighing up to 800 kg.

For heavier loads, they used a tread

wheel instead of a crank handle.

This humansized wheel inside the

framework was powered by the workers

themselves.

Next, they had to attach the stone

securely.

To do so, the works notably used tenins

or wedges carved directly into the

blocks.

Once the stones were lifted up to ground

level, they had to be transported to the

construction site.

Because of the terrain, they created the

stone quaries to the north so they

wouldn't need to cross any valleys or go

up any slopes.

From the north, it took minimal effort

to transport the rock downhill to the

monument they were building.

For smaller stones, Herod's builders

could simply place wooden dowels under

the blocks and then roll them along.

For heavier loads, they also used a

system of wooden wheels in which the

blocks were placed like axles.

These methods, however ingenious, had

their limitations given the excessive

scope of the project. Some of the stones

used for the foundations weighed more

than 10 or even 100 tons.

The process used to move these

enormously heavy blocks was more

complex.

First, they needed a flat surface

because if the ground was sloped too

steeply downward, the stone could slip

out of control. If the ground was sloped

upward, it would take too much effort to

push. So, they needed the perfect slope.

They created a sort of artificial

embankment to maintain that

horizontality. It was calculated very

carefully.

A series of earth platforms aimed at

transport were built between the quarry

and the construction site. In order to

move the blocks along this newly flat

terrain, several systems of winches were

anchored directly in the artificial

ground.

Multiple groups of workers would

activate the hoist simultaneously from

different positions along the path,

thereby multiplying their strength and

enabling them to slide the stone along

the surface. The construction site was

also covered with backfill so that each

stone would reach the exact right level.

This enabled them to build each level of

the wall bit by bit before clearing out

the excess soil at the end.

Using these simple yet ingenious

physical principles, Herod's workers

were able to move some of the largest

pieces of stone in the antique

Mediterranean world.

But with the mountainous terrain around

Jerusalem making transport so difficult,

why such determination to build this

record-breaking monument?

The largest stones of the gigantic

retaining wall of the temple mount are

found underground.

They are not visible to onlookers. So

all the efforts they required were not

designed to impress visitors.

The stability of the walls and the

compound is due to the fact that Herod

or the builders use enormous

blocks of stones. Some of them weigh

hundreds of tons. And until today it

stays. It's untouchable.

Jerusalem had many earthquakes, many

wars, and many destructions.

Still, it stands until today.

Herod succeeded in his project.

It is indeed the weight of the stone

blocks that makes the retaining wall so

strong.

But Herod could also rely on the skill

of his builders to ensure the monument

would hold up through the ages.

The accuracy of putting each stone near

each other. Every course of the stone

goes back one cm.

It's a dry building without cement.

All of these functions were made to

stabilize the compound and the walls.

In order to achieve this great

architectural feat, the stone carvers

used a special chiseling technique known

today as Herodian stone dressing.

This technique consisted in leaving the

middle parts of the blocks flat and

raised while carving narrow, very

shallow borders around the edges.

The purpose of the borders was to give

the blocks very clear edges so that when

they were placed side by side you could

confirm that everything was a perfect

fit.

So it have a functional reason but there

is a theory that it have also an

aesthetic reason because if you look

from far away those margins and the

bosses play with light and shadow and

it's more emphasized from far away the

sacredness the light of the temple

mount.

Another part of what makes the wall so

sturdy is its foundations.

In order to withstand the many

earthquakes that struck the city over

the centuries, the architects decided to

build the foundations of the wall on the

bedrock, a stronger layer of rock found

deeper underground.

Herod's workers sometimes dug as much as

20 m below ground level to reach the

bedrock and thereby ensure the

construction would be stable.

Little by little, the builders used the

soil that had been cleared to fill in

the inside of the wall and artificially

extend the summit of Temple Mount, thus

providing a base for the esplanade.

But there was a problem. The backfill

exerted a huge amount of pressure on the

walls, especially in the southeast

corner where the wall is the highest.

Despite the solidity of the

construction, it was essential that this

pressure be relieved.

Herod hence decided to build several

vaulted rooms inside the esplanade

so that instead of it being filled with

soil, it would have a quasi honeycomb

structure.

It enabled them to lighten the structure

and control the architecture of the

wall. That's why we have the famous

rooms that are known today as Solomon

Stables.

Work on this legendary monument began

around 20 BC.

It continued until 63 AD, long after the

death of Herod himself.

After more than 80 years of work, which

occupied generations of builders, the

plaza Herod had dreamed of finally

towered over the city.

It would bring fame to the Temple Mount

complex and allow it to survive many

conquests through the years.

Thanks to this monumental project,

Jerusalem grew and developed, becoming a

major regional hub.

People flocked from all over the Roman

Empire, and pilgrimages to the temple

attracted crowds of faithful followers.

those people are coming into the city

and they're bringing with them money to

pay for, you know, accommodations and

food and tour guides and souvenirs and

of course the sacrifices that are being

offered at the temple. So, it's actually

a huge money maker from the point of

view of economics. So, it all worked out

very well.

In just a few hundred years, the

population increased 10fold.

The city was now home to more than

20,000 people.

This era also coincided with the

appearance of a person who would forever

change the history of Jerusalem.

A major figure in the Bible and of our

shared history,

Jesus Christ.

The city was the backdrop for his final

days and the passion of Christ.

His famous trial took place in one of

the towers of the palace built by Herod

and his way of the cross took him

through the streets of Jerusalem to

Golgotha.

Pilgrims still walk in his footsteps

along the famous Via Dolora. today.

A dismal period followed.

A few years later, in 70 AD, the temple

built by Herod was ransacked and

destroyed by the Romans during a Jewish

revolt.

For nearly 200 years, Jerusalem lost its

status as a holy city. Under Roman

occupation, it was relegated to the

status of a provincial military city.

The Jews were chased out of the city

once again, and the religion of Christ

was still considered a cult.

In the year 312, the situation began to

change.

Roman Emperor Constantine the Great

converted to Christianity and the cult

became a bonafide religion.

A few years later in 324, the Roman

Empire in the east separated from the

Roman Empire in the west to become the

Byzantine Empire in which Christianity

would play a crucial role.

Constantine was convinced that

Christianity could replace the declining

pagan religion which was dying out and

that he could use it to consolidate his

power.

He was driven by this new religion and

wanted to find its epicenter and origin.

That origin was Jerusalem.

Constantine wanted to restore the city's

religious character by turning it into a

capital of Christianity.

So he decided to create one of the

world's first Christian churches on the

site where Christ was crucified.

The church of the holy sephiler

with its immense dome more than 36 m

across and its 56 m long basilica. The

church of the holy seiler would be the

largest building in the city.

Before

anything else, the emperor ordered his

troops to find the place where Jesus was

presumed to have been crucified along

with his tomb.

This was a major challenge. For the past

two centuries, his predecessors had been

striving to erase every trace of Jesus

and his followers.

The site located outside the city walls

was originally a quarry carved out of

the slopes of the hill of Golgoa.

After the quarry was abandoned, the

Romans used it to perform their

executions.

This is where Jesus Christ is said to

have been crucified.

After that, the quarry was progressively

turned into a necropolis and several

tombs were carved out of the rock,

including the one presumed to belong to

Christ.

Finally, Emperor Hadrien, who ruled 200

years before Constantine, had the quarry

cleared out and leveled to erase any

traces of Judeo-Christian religions. In

its place, he created a large prominade

where he built a Roman temple honoring

Aphrodite.

In order to find these early traces of

Christianity, Constantine sent out his

best sleuths to find the places he was

looking for.

In religion, one of the main sources of

information is the oral transmission of

locations.

Places don't move.

Sometimes they're decorated differently

in accordance with tradition, but

there's a kind of immobility that made

it possible for Constantine to find

these sites. By wanting to destroy them,

Hrien actually preserved them.

The emperor had the site cleared,

revealing the original terrain and thus

the location of what was presumed to be

Jesus's tomb.

Construction of the Church of the Holy

Sephiler began around this symbolic site

in 325.

First, Constantine had the hill across

Golgoa carved out to isolate the tomb.

Around the tomb, he used the stones that

were extracted to build a rotunda topped

with a cupula known as the Anastasis.

To the east, a basilica called a

martyrum was erected with a total length

of 45 m.

The two buildings were separated by a

patio representing the biblical garden

granting access to the boulder of

Golgotha.

The entrance to the complex was on the

main street east of the basilica and

consisted of a monumental triple door.

All these buildings together form the

church of the holy sepller.

It offers pilgrims a unique experience

to honor Christ's memory by reliving his

passion. His crucifixion at Golgoa, then

his burial and resurrection at the sight

of his tomb, the ultimate relic.

You have to imagine that the church of

the holy seiler was visited by a

constant flow of pilgrims who came to

experience this direct contact with the

origins of their religious beliefs.

The architects had to turn it into a

monument and protect the relic, placing

it in the center of the building. But

they also had to channel this flow of

people.

Today, a few steps and column pedestals

are all that remain.

Most of the marble also dates back to

the Byzantine era, but the sources all

agree that the building left a lasting

impression on every visitor.

We have written documents saying that

there were marble floors and goldplated

wood ceilings. There were candalabbras

and wall hangings everywhere. These

written accounts from the pilgrims are

an invaluable source of information.

Because they were so amazed by what they

saw, they didn't want to forget

anything. So they wrote highly detailed

accounts.

The church of the holy sepller was

completed in 335.

In building it, Constantine had created

one of the first models of a Christian

holy place. Jerusalem then entered a

period of prosperity that would last

nearly 300 years. It was the epicenter

of the Christian religion and thousands

of pilgrims from all different

backgrounds came to visit. But a few

centuries later in 614, the first

Persian invasion marked the start of a

new era for the city whose fate was

about to change once again.

In 571, the birth of Prophet Muhammad in

Mecca heralded the arrival of Islam in

the Middle East.

The Muslim armies quickly conquered the

region and extended their power.

In 638, Jerusalem capitulated to the

armies of Khalif Omar, a companion of

Muhammads, and Jerusalem became a Muslim

city.

The conquest of Jerusalem didn't have

much importance on a military level.

However, the Arab conquerors were fully

aware of the symbolic value of the city

they had taken.

Islam was a blend of past traditions.

It rested on the writings of the Bible

and recognized both Jewish and Christian

prophets.

The conquerors wanted to restore the

temple mount to its previous religious

importance as quickly as possible.

When Omar's armies arrived in Jerusalem,

the gigantic esplenade had been

abandoned for hundreds of years. It had

been intentionally left in ruins by the

Christians in favor of the church of the

Holy Sephiler.

This is where the califf decided to

build one of the first mosques in

Jerusalem.

on the site where the Al Axa Mosque

stands today.

But the real jewel of this new style of

Islamic art would be built in the center

of the esplenade

on the site of the former temple,

the Dome of the Rock.

It was built in the late 7th century,

making it the oldest Islamic building

still standing in near perfect condition

today.

Its architecture is impressive in its

precision.

The size of the sanctuary was determined

primarily by the rocky outcropping in

the center of the building where Jewish

writings hold that Abraham sacrificed

his son.

An initial circle was traced around said

rock. Then a square was inscribed within

that circle. The sides of the square

faced the four cardinal directions.

Next, a second square was drawn at right

angles to the first. When the sides of

these squares were extended, the points

of intersection defined the octagon that

would form the first ambulatory, a

passage marked on either side by a

series of columns. In the same way, the

intersections created by the extension

of the sides of the octagon defined the

perimeter of the second circle, which in

turn defined the placement of the outer

wall.

The outer wall encapsulated a second

ambulatory.

The geometry of the building was

borderline perfection.

24 columns support the first octagon and

16 columns support the central tambour.

The dome of the rock is an example of a

perfectly balanced architectural design.

Nothing about its shape or layout was

left to chance.

The circle symbolizes the celestial

world. The square portrays the earthly

world and the octagon represents the

intersection of the two.

But as it takes center stage on the

temple mount, it clearly evokes

Byzantine architecture as well.

The Dome of the Rock was also a response

to the Constantinian Basilica of the

Holy Sephiler and the dome that crowned

its church of the resurrection. It was

the Islamic Empire's response to the

most iconic monument to Christianity in

Jerusalem.

Neither mosque nor palace, but rather a

sanctuary, the building remains very

enigmatic.

The only certainty is that it was of

great symbolic importance.

The Dome of the Rock was built on the

site where Herod's temple was believed

to have stood and probably even reused

some of the stones from the old temple.

Geographically, it overlooks the Church

of the Holy Sephilar, which was

previously the largest building in

Jerusalem.

The dome was both a symbol of Islam's

superiority over other religions and an

attempt to synthesize them.

With the Dome of the Rock, Islam

effectively became the new dominant

religion in Jerusalem. It also

proclaimed Islam as the religion of the

empire.

One Muslim dynasty followed another,

reigning over Jerusalem for more than

500 years.

But at the turn of the new millennium,

the city's prosperity was put at risk by

a new leader.

In 1009, Al-Hakim, nicknamed the mad

califf, called for the church of the

holy sepiler to be destroyed.

This news spread to the west, laying the

groundwork for the crusades.

In 1096, Pope Urban II issued a call to

reconquer the Holy Land.

3 years later, the Catholic armies

finally began to approach the city.

When the crusaders arrived in Jerusalem,

you have to realize that they had left

Europe several years before.

The group had crossed the entire

Byzantine Empire from west to east,

fighting along the way.

By the time they reached their

destination, they were starving and

exhausted.

Thus began their horrific killing spree

that was well documented in historical

records. It was an outlet for their

exhaustion and the violence of the trip.

Once the city had been conquered, the

crusaders ordered churches to be built

all over the city.

The church of St. Anne, Chapel of the

Ascension, Church of the Flagilation.

But the newcomers primary focus was the

destroyed church of the Holy Sephiler,

Jesus's tomb, which they wanted to

restore to its former glory.

What's interesting is that the crusaders

had the opportunity to redesign the holy

sephiler, but they were restricted by

the city that had been built up around

it since Constantine.

The crusaders thus had to rebuild the

holy sepiler on top of its own ruins,

doing their best to bring it up to their

new European standards.

A new monumental dome was erected above

what was believed to be Jesus's tomb

and the edicule directly around the tomb

was renovated.

To reflect the layout of the

contemporary European churches of the

time, they decided to unify the three

distinct spaces of the original

Constantinian church. The anastasis, the

atrium, and the basilica were combined

into a single building.

The crusaders also carved a monumental

gate into the south wall, offering

direct access to the area where masses

were celebrated. The church, in the

modern sense of the word, was now at the

heart of the building.

The decoration inside has remained

unchanged for 9 centuries.

a hybrid style that reflects the

intersection of Europe and the Middle

East.

It's a blend of Roman or Latin

architecture and more eastern inspired

decorations

which benefited from the expertise of

true local artisans

in particular mosaicists who've

decorated the new buildings constructed

by the Latins.

This building which would become much

more than just a church had its own

unique layout.

It was here in the church of the holy

supplr that the kings of Jerusalem would

display the link between religion and

power

in a veritable liturgy.

The rule of the crusaders would not last

for long. However, a mere century after

their arrival, the city was taken back

by Saladine's army in 1187.

It was only a short chapter in

Jerusalem's history, but it had a

lasting effect on its organization and

its architecture.

It's important to note that the old city

as we know it today is still contained

within the confines of the city as it

was at the time of the Crusades.

With this final church, the crusaders

left their mark on the urban landscape

of Jerusalem forever more.

Over the centuries, Jerusalem has grown

from a simple agricultural outcropping

to a city of great importance.

A city that has embodied the major

spiritual and political issues of its

time throughout history.

Here,

more than anywhere else in the world,

religion has shaped the city,

resulting in lively cosmopolitan

neighborhoods.

But above all, these majestic buildings.

They have survived through the ages and

continue to reveal their secrets today.

Every day it's a new day for us the

archaeologists in Jerusalem.

Every day we find, we expose, we see

something new that we didn't aware of.

Like so many treasures of Middle Eastern

culture, these works stand as a

testament to the city's history. They

represent a long continuity of cultures

and civilizations.

Each building echoes the others and the

people who built them.

It's a melting pot of humanity.

It's dizzying to think about.

from a top its hill more than 3,000

years after it was founded. And today,

more than ever, Jerusalem deserves its

nickname of the eternal city.