The Catholic Saint Anne’s Church and the Pool of Bethesda

This compound contains two interesting sites: Saint Anne’s Church, which stands on the right side and its entrance is free of charge, and the Pool of Bethesda- an archeological site with paid entrance. Saint Anne’s Church According to the Catholic tradition, the house of Anne- Hanna in Hebrew, was located here, where she lived with her husband Joachim and raised her daughter Miriam- mother of Jesus. The church was built by the crusaders during the 12^th century. This is a beautiful Romanesque building characterized by a simple structure, with thick walls and few decorations. A few years after the occupation of the kingdom of Jerusalem by Salah A-Din in 1187, the church became a Madrasa- a school for religious studies. Under the entrance arch there is an Arab inscription that glorifies Salah A-Din. During the Ottoman regime, the building was deserted and in the middle of the 19^th century, it was transferred to the French government and the Catholic “White Fathers” order. The monks rehabilitated the church and exposed the remnants of the ancient churches adjacent to the church. The friendly monks of this order walking around the courtyard can by identified by their white robes. The church has extraordinary acoustics. It functions as a perfect sound box for the human voice, and therefore it is recommended that you enter the place when groups or individuals are singing or praying. Inside the church, we can see on the left side of the entrance gate a statue of Anne with her child Miriam, the mother to be of Jesus. According to the tradition, Miriam’s parents, Anne and Joachim, were a rich and childless couple. They dedicated their money for charity. According to the tradition, Joachim made pilgrimage to the Temple Mount to bring his sacrifice, but one of the people present at the temple pushed him away, claiming that whoever did not bear children could not make a sacrifice. Shamed and full of sorrow, Joachim escaped to the hills, where an angle appeared in front of him, commanding him to return to Jerusalem and meet his wife Anne next to the beautiful gate. The angle also apprised him about the expected birth of their daughter Miriam. Miriam was consecrated to the temple and served there until her engagement to Josef. On the right side of the gate one can see the staircase leading to an underground tunnel- a Crypt, which indicates Miriam’s place of birth. In the courtyard of the church there is an archeological site named “Bethesda” (entrance for fee), one of the most impressive archeological sites in the old city, containing remnants of two ancient pools, a roman temple and two large churches- the first one is Byzantine, and the other is a Crusader church. The small valley on the left side served as a water reserve from ancient times, after a damm was built at its opening in order to store the rain water of the Beit Zeita Stream that runs from the north. After the destruction of the Second Temple, the Romans established here magnificent bath houses and a temple for the Roman Medicine God- Asclepius. After Christianity became the prevalent religion, a large basilica was established at the site during the 5^th century, commemorating the birth of Miriam and the “Bethesda Miracle”. The church was established upon an embankment that separated both pools, and part of it stood over one pool, supported by pillars which can be seen till this day. The church was damaged by the Persians in 614 and almost completely wiped out during the Muslim rule. During the Crusader era, the site was renewed. The crusaders separated between the two traditions, building a chapel upon the ruins of the Byzantine church commemorating the Bethesda Miracle. This church is smaller than its predecessor, and the remnants of its walls can be seen in the upper part, as well as Saint Anne’s Church. If you chose to enter the Archeological site, it’s recommended that you tour the marked trails, where you can see the remnants of the basilica, descend to the water wells and observe the remnants of the Roman temple.