This Week in Christian History: Cathedral Completed, Pope Elected, Holy Site Destroyed

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, October 15, 2017

Church of the Holy Sepulcher Destroyed – October 18, 1009

Christians at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Old City of Jerusalem. | (Photo: Reuters/Ammar Awad)

This week marks the anniversary of when a Medieval Muslim ruler ordered the destruction of one of the holiest sites in Christendom.

Over eighty years before the First Crusade was launched, Egyptian Caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah had the Church of the Holy Sepulcher destroyed.

"The destruction of the sanctuary was virtually complete, including the demolition of the church of Calvary and of what remained of the structure of the Martyrium, and the complete dismantling of the Edicule of the Tomb," noted the Holy Land Timeline blog.

"The structure of the church in our time is based almost entirely on building from the Crusaders era, with additions and reconstructions which were made in subsequent years."