A MAJOR RESTORATION project at the shrine inside the Jerusalem church where Jesus is said to have been buried was completed yesterday ahead of time.
Work at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City began at the end of last May and were completed ahead of time.
It was carried out by Greek specialists who reconstructed the Edicule, which for decades had been supported by metal beams following an early 20th century earthquake.
The restoration and cleaning has uncovered the original details of the Edicule (a space framed by columns or pilasters).
The work also included opening what Christians believe to be Jesus’s tomb for the first time since at least 1810, when the last restoration work took place after a fire, and possibly earlier.
Tomorrow, the renovated site will be inaugurated in the presence of senior political and religious leaders from Greece, as well as Holy Land clergy.
According to the Guardian, the €3.7 million cost of the restoration came from contributions from the six denominations which share custody of the Holy Sepulchre.
These include King Abdullah of Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, and Mica Ertegun, the widow of Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun, who gave €1.2 million.
The church also contains the area where Jesus is believed to have been crucified and his body anointed.
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