View source for St. Stephen's Basilica, Jerusalem

{{Short description|Church in Jerusalem}}
{{Infobox church
|name            = St. Stephen's Basilica
|fullname=
|other name      = Saint-Étienne
|native_name     = מנזר סנט אטיין
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|image           = Jerusalem Saint Stephen church.JPG
|imagesize       = 250px
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|location        = [[Jerusalem]]
|country         =
|denomination    = [[Roman Catholic Church]]
|website = <!-- {{URL| example.com}} -->
|founded date    = 5th Century (original church)
|founder         = [[Aelia Eudocia]] (original church)
|consecrated date= 1900 (Dominican basilica)
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The '''St. Stephen's Basilica'''<ref>{{Cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=QcxKAwAAQBAJ |title=The Archaeology of the Jerusalem Area |last=Mare |first=W. Harold |date= 2002-05-22 |publisher= Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=9781579109707 |language=en}}</ref> ({{langx|he|מנזר סנט אטיין}}) or simply the '''Church of St. Stephen''',<ref>{{Cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Vp90sw8tj3QC |title= Wandering Monks, Virgins, and Pilgrims: Ascetic Travel in the Mediterranean World, A |last=Dietz |first=Maribel |date=2010-11-01 |publisher= Penn State Press |isbn= 978-0271047782 |language=en}}</ref> also known by its French name, '''Saint-Étienne''', is the name given to a Catholic church located outside the walls of the [[Old City of Jerusalem]], on the road leading north to Nablus.<ref>{{Cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=QO0-lV0rxsQC&pg=PA165 |title= Jerusalem: The Biography |last=Sebag Montefiore |first=Simon|author-link=Simon Sebag Montefiore |date=2011-10-25 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn= 9780307594488 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=0TuCAgAAQBAJ |title= Jerusalem in the Time of the Crusades: Society, Landscape and Art in the Holy City Under Frankish Rule |last=Boas |first=Adrian J. |date=2001-09-06 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781134582723 |language=en}}</ref> It is next to the convent of St. Stephen, home to the French Bible and Archaeology School ([[École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem]]), and the convent church. An [[Saint Stephen#Location of the martyrdom|old tradition]] sees this place as the place where the martyrdom of [[Saint Stephen]] took place, the martyr deacon mentioned in the [[Acts of the Apostles|book of Acts]] ({{bibleverse|Acts|7: 54–60}}). A rival site connected to a later, post-Byzantine tradition is located in the [[Kidron Valley]].
==History==
The first time a sanctuary was built to commemorate the martyrdom was in the fifth century, when [[Aelia Eudocia|Empress Eudocia]] initiated the building of a structure on the site of the current basilica, a chapel dedicated to St. Stephen, where she was eventually buried.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}} With the arrival of the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persians]] in 614 and the siege of Jerusalem that followed, the chapel was destroyed.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}}
In 638, a small church was built by [[Sophronius of Jerusalem|St. Sophronius]], then restored and enlarged by the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem|Crusaders]], but later destroyed by themselves, lest they fall into the hands of Sultan [[Saladin]].{{citation needed|date=August 2016}}
In the nineteenth century the French [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]] acquired the site of the ancient ruins of the Crusaders, and after archaeological excavations built the convent and the current basilica, which was consecrated in 1900.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}}
Italian architect and engineer, [[Ermete Pierotti]], who served under the Jerusalem governor, Surraya [[Pasha]] (1857–1863), thought that St. Stephen's Basiica marked the site of the tomb of [[Helena of Adiabene|Queen Helena]], described by [[Josephus]] as being "three stadia outside of Jerusalem."<ref>[[Ermete Pierotti|Pierotti, Ermete]] (1864), ''Jerusalem explored: being a description of the ancient and modern city, with numerous illustrations consisting of views, ground plans, and sections'', translated by T.G. Bonney, London: Bell and Daldy; Cambridge: Deighton, Bell and Co., pp. [https://archive.org/details/gri_33125012261307/page/36/mode/2up 36–37], {{OCLC|1472902357}}</ref> This view is today largely rejected, in favor of the [[Tombs of the Kings (Jerusalem)|Tombs of the Kings]].
==See also==
*[[Catholic Church in Israel]]
*[[Catholic Church in Palestine]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[File:École Biblique, Jerusalem (5251802201).jpg|thumb|Internal view]]
==External links==
{{commons category}}
*[https://www.manar-al-athar.ox.ac.uk/pages/search.php?search=%21collection2279 Photos of St Stephen's Basilica] at the [[Manar al-Athar]] photo archive
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[[Category:Roman Catholic churches in Jerusalem]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Jerusalem]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic churches completed in 1900]]
[[Category:Basilica churches in Jerusalem]]
[[Category:École Biblique]]
[[Category:20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings]]