See the Pools of Bethesda, the place where an amazing miracle of a lame man was healed. Nearby is the Church of St. Anne, which is the believed place where Mary, the mother of Jesus, was born.
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Location
1. The Pools of Bethesda are located on the property of the Church of St. Anne.
2. The Church of St. Anne is located just inside the Lions’ Gate at the eastern entrance of the Old City.
3. The Church of St. Anne is known for its extraordinary acoustics, and visitors singing hymns of praise to God can often be heard there.
4. The ruins of the Jewish, Roman, Byzantine, and Crusader eras are still well preserved at the Pool of Bethesda.
Historical Background
1. The Pool of Bethesda marks the place where a sick man was healed.
2. Bethesda means “House of Mercy” and has been associated with a place of healing for many years. According to the Gospel of John, Bethesda was a bathing pool with five porticoes or porches. Remains of part of these porticoes can still be seen today.
3. It should be noted that the pool that can be seen today is the corner of the southern pool. You will also note that it is significantly below the level today of the city today. That is because Jerusalem is really a large tel. A tel is something that develops and grows in height as one civilization builds upon another. Therefore, since the time of Christ, the city has been destroyed and rebuilt many times. That is why the pool is below the surface of the city today.
4. In around 700 BC, during the time of King Hezekiah, there was a large cistern built here to capture the water from the area and use it for the temple use of purification and animal preparations.
5. Later, in around 200 BC, another pool was built beside the first one. The first pool would become known as the southern pool, and the second one as the northern pool.
6. These pools, or also known as cisterns, were close by to the Temple Mount, and there was a gate close by known as the sheep gate that led up to the Temple Mount.
7. In the first century BC, prior to the birth of Christ, there were healing baths built here dedicated to the Greek false god, Asclepius.
8. When the Roman Emperor, Hadrian, rebuilt Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina in 135 AD, he built a large temple to Asclepius and Serapis, the Greek false gods of healing and believed deity.
9. After Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire, the temple Hadrian had erected was torn down and a large Byzantine basilica was built over its ruins in around 450 AD.
10. Close-by to the Byzantine Basilica was a grotto dedicated to the believed place where Mary’s parents, Anne and Joachim lived, and where Mary, the mother of Jesus, was born.
11. In 614, the Byzantine Basilica was destroyed by the Persians.
Later, in 1138 AD, the Basilica of St. Anne was erected over the site of the grotto believed by the Crusaders to be the birthplace of Mary mother of Jesus. The church is dedicated to Anna and Joachim, who according to tradition lived here, and the site where their daughter, Mary, was born in a cave which is located under the basilica. It is a well-preserved Crusader churches in Israel.
12. Three episodes from the life of the Mary are depicted at the front of the high altar in the Church of St Anne: The Annunciation on the right; the Descent of Jesus from the Cross in the center; and the Nativity of Jesus on the left. On the left-hand side of the altar is an illustration of the education of Mary by St Anne. On the right-hand side is a portrayal of the Presentation of the Mary at the Temple. A flight of stone steps descends from the south aisle to the crypt. This cave is the supposed remains of the house of Anne and Joachim, and the birthplace of Mary. Here, in a tiny chapel with a domed ceiling, an altar is dedicated to the birth of Mary.
13. In 1192, after the fall of the Crusader Kingdom, Saladin turned the church into a theological school for the study of the Quran, which is commemorated in an inscription above the entrance to the church.
Places of Interest
1. Pools of Bethesda (also used as a cistern and mikvah)
Southern Pool
Northern Pool
Pool of Bethesda and its 5 porticoes
Ruins of the Roman Temple of Asclepius (god of healing)
Pagan medicinal baths
Ruins of a Byzantine Basilica
Ruins of a Crusader chapel
2. Sheep Gate
3. Antonia Fortress
4. Temple Mount
5. Church of St. Anne
Altar at the front of the church depicting three events: (1) the Annunciation on the right (2) the descent of Jesus from the Cross in the center, and (3) the birth of Jesus on the left.
On the left-hand side of the altar is an illustration of the education of Mary by St Anne.
On the right-hand side is a portrayal of the Presentation of the Mary at the Temple.
Crypt dedicated to Mary’s birth.