The Cathedral of St. James is the cathedral of the Armenian Church in Jerusalem ( Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem ) in the Armenian quarter of the Old City . The temple was built in the XII century and is dedicated to the apostle James .
| The cathedral Saint James | |
|---|---|
 Cathedral Interior | |
| A country | |
| Location | Jerusalem |
| Denomination | Armenian Apostolic Church |
| condition | satisfactory |
History
Traditionally it is believed that Jacob was executed at this place. First, there was a Byzantine church, and from the XII century - the church of the Crusaders. The modern ensemble of the cathedral includes buildings of the 12th- 18th centuries , during which the building was substantially rebuilt.
In addition to worship, the cathedral with meter-thick walls was repeatedly used by members of the Armenian community as a refuge. The last time it was in 1948 during a mortar shelling of the city, when more than 1000 inhabitants of the quarter took refuge here.
Architecture
The church is oriented in the traditional west-east direction. An ornate 18th-century wooden door leads into the building from the western side. Here are the graves of Gureg Israelyan, the 94th Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem, and Abraham, a contemporary of Saladin .
A huge number of lamps are suspended from the ceiling of the building. These oil lamps, along with candles, are the only light sources in the building.
On the left side of the entrance are three small chapels. The first is the tomb of Macarius, bishop of Jerusalem (4th century), while the third is built on the site of the death and burial of the Apostle James.
In the building itself there are three altars, of which the central is dedicated to St. James, the right to John the Baptist, and the left to the Virgin Mary. Not far from the altar there are two throne chairs - a more modest one for the Patriarch, and a richer one, decorated with a canopy, as if it were a throne for Jacob himself.