| Ein Karem is
a neighborhood in southwestern Jerusalem that is important
to Christian tradition because it is the “the city
of Judah”, where John the Baptist was born (Luke 1:
39). Since Byzantine times various churches and monasteries
have been built in Ein Karem commemorating events connected
with John the Baptist. One of the churches is the Church
of John the Baptist, located in the central square
of the village. It was built in the second half of the nineteenth
century on the ruins of three churches, two Byzantine and
one Crusader, with the financial support of the Spanish
court. The magnificent church is decorated with scenes from
the lives of John the Baptist and Jesus. Above the central
altar is a painting of Mary’s visit to Ein Karem attributed
to the renowned Spanish painter el Greco (1541-1614). The
painting on the southern wall describes the slaying of John
the Baptist and is attributed to Ribalta, a well-known seventeenth
century Spanish painter. To the left of the main altar is
the cave of John the Baptist, which is believed to be where
Elisabeth, while in hiding from Herod’s soldiers,
gave birth to John the Baptist. The beautiful marble altar
in the cave was a present of Queen Isabella of Spain in
1851.
The second important church is the Church of the
Visitation. The modern church was built in 1955
by the well-known Italian architect Antonio Barluzzi, commemorating
the Visitation. Christian tradition identifies the church
with the summer house of Zacharias and Elisabeth, the parents
of John the Baptist. It was here that the meeting is said
to have taken place between the two pregnant women: Mary,
who was soon to give birth to Jesus, and Elisabeth, who
was carrying John the Baptist (Luke 1: 39-56). In the courtyard
of this church are forty-seven ceramic plaques on which
appear, in the same number of languages, the “Magnificat”
– Mary’s prayer of thanks while she carried
Jesus in her womb (Luke 1: 46-56). On the second floor one
can see remains of a Crusader church which are integrated
into the modern walls. This floor is decorated with impressive
wall paintings portraying events and traditions in Christian
history.
In addition to the two churches, Ein Karem also includes
a number of monasteries and other Christian institutions.
These were built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries. The most outstanding of them are the Convent
of the Sisters of Zion (serving today as a hostel), the
Russian Monastery (which spreads over a large area running
down to the village) and the convents of the Sisters of
the Rosary and Saint Vincent de Paul, which serve as institutions
for orphans and the sick.
The churches with their spires, the picturesque houses,
the terraced hillside around the village and its special
location among the surrounding hills, make Ein Karem one
of the more charming corners of Jerusalem and a fantastic
place to Film Productions related to Christianity.
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