This catholic church is named after virgin Mary's visist to the summer house of the parents of John the Baptist (Luke 1:39-56). Tradition attributes its construction to Empress Helena, Constantine's mother, who identified the site as the home of Zechariah (4th Cent AD). It is identified as "the city of Juda" in the Biblical verse in Luke's Gospel (1:39) "And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda". A natural grotto and a small spring existed here from ancient times and the grotto became a place of worship in the Byzantine period (6th cent AD). Later, Crusaders (12th cent AD) built a large, two-storey church over it. When the Crusaders left the Holy Land, the church fell into Muslim hands and gradually deteriorated. Only in 1679, the site was bought by the Franciscans and later they made 2 churches here. The Lower Church was completed in 1862 and the Upper Church in 1955 only.
Today, inside the lower church, on the right side of the altar, is a tunnel that leads to an ancient well. From this well, as per the tradition, John and his parents drank from the water. It is also believed to be the place where Zechariah and Elizabeth hid John from soldiers during the infamous slaughter of infants in Bethlehem during King Herod's reign (Mathew 2:16). In a corner inside the lower church, behind a grill, there is a rock, the stone in which John was concealed from the soldiers of King Herod.
The upper church still has remains of the 12th century Crusader church. In the church courtyard, ceramic tiles bearing the words of the Magnificat (the famous Song of Virgin Mary spoken by her upon the occasion of her visitation to her cousin Elizabeth, Luke 1:46-55) in 42 languages are displayed.
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