STATUEOFMARY
Inthegroundsofthe
churchonthesouthern
sidestandsa statue
ofMarywelcoming
visitors.LEVEL 1LEVEL 2TRAVELLINGISRAEL.COMBIBLEWALKS.COM, CHURCHPOP.COM, LONELYPLANET.COM, MFA.GOV, NAZARETHINFO.ORG, SEETHEHOLYLAND.NET, THEATLANTIC.COM, SOURCES: BEYOND THE BASILICA: CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS IN NAZARETH BY CHAD F EMMETT (UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS, 1995),WHY TWO LEVELS?
Italian architect Giovanni Muzio took into account that
thousands of pilgrims and tourists would visit the site
but he also wanted to create a reverent feeling for the
holy place. So he built two floors, one a dimly lit area
for the holy site and the second a large area where
daily services can take place.
From level 2 visitors can look down onto the grotto
through an opening in the floor. There’s also a wide
walkway around the sunken grotto on level 1.A LONG HISTORY
The site contains the ruins of at
least three previous churches (from
the fourth and 12th centuries as
well as 1730). This last building was
demolished in 1954 to allow the
construction of a two-storey building,
which became the largest Christian
church in the Middle East when it was
completed in 1969.
CUPOLA
The lantern-topped cupola is
55m high and dominates the city’s
skyline. The lantern symbolises
Light of the World (Jesus).
The dome shape of the cupola
looks like an inverted lily opening
its petals to the shrine below. The
lily is one of the flowers associated
with Mary and symbolises her
urit.THEFRONTDOOR
This depicts important
events in Jesus’ life, such as
His crucifixion.WORDSONTHEFAÇADE
Carved in Latin across the
façade above the triple-
doorway are the words,
“Verbum caro factum est et
habitavit in nobis”, which
means,“The Word was made
flesh (God became human)
and dwelt among us.”RELIEFS ON
THE FAÇADE
A bronze statue of
Jesus stands at the
top and under Him you
can see the angel
Gabriel handing Mary
a white lily symbolising
Jesus’ miracle birth.
Under it are the four
evangelists, Matthew, Mark,
Luke and John – the apostles
whom it’s believed wrote the
gospels or accounts of Jesus’
life and teachings that make
up part of the New
Testament.ENTRANCE & FAÇADE