Church on the Mount of Olives (Eleona)

The original Church on the Mount of Olives (Eleona) was amongst three early churches in Palestine the construction of which was initiated, during the early fourth century, by St. Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great. The name Eleona comes from the Greek meaning olive grove. The church was built over the cave where Christ taught his disciples during their visits to the Mount of Olives.

History

Until the new era under Constantine, Christians assembled and worshipped in private buildings called ‘‘domus ecclesia’‘, that is “church house”. An example of a church house is one found at Dura-Europos. With the era of Constantine, large structures for public worship began to appear. These public churches were divided into two classes based upon their function and plan form. One was a special class of churches that architecturally were suited for commemorative purposes and, thus, were centered around a point of interest emphasized within a circular, octagonal, or square structure. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is an example. The other style were churches based upon the Roman basilica. Sometimes the two styles were combined at a particular site of which the Eleona Church was an example.

Construction of the Eleona Church was initiated in 326 by Helena following her visit to Palestine. Construction of the church was completed in 333. The Eleona Church was a basilica, but placed, according to tradition, over the cave where Christ and his disciples often met. From this, the church is sometimes referred to as the Church of the Disciples. Thus while a basilica, the church also served a commemorative purpose.

Based upon archaeological studies, the Eleona Church was a large building with the traditional nave, two side aisles, and an apse at the eastern end. At the western end an atrium served as an extension of the main structure. The church was built on the western side of the crest of Mount Olives facing the Temple Mount.

Entry to the church was from the west through a peristyle court into the atrium that measured about 81 feet (25 meters) long by 62 feet (19 meters) wide. From the atrium, there were three doors entering into the basilica itself. This basilica was about 97 feet (30 meters) long and the same width as the atrium. The semicircular apse was about 29 feet (9 meters) wide and 15 feet (4.5 meters) deep.

The Eleona Church is mentioned in the writings of Egeria, relating her pilgrimage to Palestine in the later part of the fourth century in which she described the Palm Sunday procession into Jerusalem from the Eleona Church. The church, amongst most Christian places in Jerusalem, was destroyed by the Persians who swept through Palestine in 614. While the basilica was re-built in later years, it was again and finally destroyed by Caliph al-Hakim, the Fatimid ruler of Egypt, in 1009.

During the Crusades in the twelfth century, a chapel called “Pater Noster” (Our Father) was built by the crusaders on the site of the Eleona Church. The name was derived from the association of the Mount of Olives with Christ’s teaching of his disciples in this area, especially of his teaching them the “Our Father.“ This chapel later passed into disuse with the departure of the crusaders and possibly was destroyed in 1187 by Saladin’s armies. In 1874, a convent of Carmelite nuns from France was established on the site of the Pater Noster chapel. In 1910, the foundations of the original Eleona basilica were discovered by the French who in the 1920s began construction near the old foundations of a new basilica based upon the model of the Constantine church. As funds for the construction soon ran out the construction was never finished.

Source

Yoram Tsafrir. The Development of Ecclesiastical Architecture in Palestine, Ancient Churches Revealed. Yoram Tsafrir, ed. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1993. (ISBN 965-221-016-1)

External links

The Liturgy of Jerusalem according to Egeria The Carmel of the Pater Noster