St. John Ba-Harim, Ein Kerem: The birthplace of John the Baptist.

The most ancient church in Ein Kerem. This catholic church and monastery are built over ruins of earlier Byzantine (6th cent AD) and crusader (early 12th cent AD) churches. Inside the church is a cave where according to tradition was the birthplace of John the Baptist. There were layers of ruins even from Herodian and Roman period (First cent AD) before Byzantines built the first church. The first written record about this church as the birth place of John the Baptist is from the writing of church father Theodosius (published 530 AD). From the Byzantine ruins two chapels are visible today - the "Martyrs chapel", where the modern church is located, and another chapel near the monastery. The mosaic from the 6th cent Martyr's Chapel can be seen when you enter the modern church. These Byzantine chapels were destroyed a few years later and only in 1104, crusaders rebuilt the church. The crusader church was also destroyed in the same century (12th), only to be reoccupied by Christians 5oo years later. The Franciscan monks purchased the land in 1674 and a monastery was completed in 1895. The modern church was built in the end of the 19th cent and completed in 1920.