Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!
Church of St

Church of St. Mark

 

Behind a doorway in a narrow alley in the Old City of Jerusalem stands the Church of St. Mark. Parts of the building date to the 12th century A.D., but according to a 16th-century inscription, the site of the church has been dedicated to religious purposes since A.D. 73. Evidence shows that a church stood here as early as the seventh century A.D. This early building may have been the church called St. Peter in Chains, which was restored by the Crusaders. Later, a Moslem hospice and mosque occupied part of the restored building.

 

Today, the church is known as St. Mark’s because of a tradition that Peter hid there after an angel rescued him from prison in Jerusalem. After his escape Peter “went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark” (Acts 12:12). Another story says that original house on the site contained the Upper Room, where Jesus ate the Last Supper and where the Pentecost occurred.

 

Inside the church there is a small baptismal font, which would have held holy water for baptisms. It is decorated with a scene of Jesus baptizing a woman. Some scholars think this woman may have been Mary, the mother of Mark; or she may have been Jesus’ mother. Hanging on one of the church walls is a very old painting of the Blessed Virgin. According to Theodore of Constantinople, a church leader in the sixth century, this portrait was painted by the gospel writer Luke.