Night at Holy Sepulcher
- Mahmoud Illean - AP
- Updated
FILE - Christian Orthodox pilgrims hold up candles during the Holy Fire ceremony, at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Old City of Jerusalem, Saturday, April 11, 2026.
Mahmoud Illean - APAs featured on
Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulcher was built over the very spots where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and rose from the dead. In a nightly ceremony dating back centuries, a representative of the Muslim families from Jerusalem who hold the basilica's keys locks the door from the outside. At dawn, the doors are usually reopened with the same ceremony watched over by about a dozen resident clergy of the Armenian Apostolic, Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches who share the worship space in a unique arrangement. On a mid-August night, also locked inside the sprawling, dark basilica were a smattering of registered pilgrims, a few cats and an Associated Press journalist.
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