Church of the Nativity (Bethlehem, West Bank): First repairs since A.D. 1479

Weekend coverage of WASHINGTONPOST online (Reporter-correspondent is William Booth): BETHLEHEM, West Bank — When Pope Francis arrives here Sunday (May 25, 2014) on his first trip to the Holy Land as pontiff, he will enter the Church of the Nativity for private contemplation at the grotto believed to mark the birthplace of Jesus Christ. He may also notice the church is falling apart. The 1,700-year-old basilica is one of the oldest in Christendom, and the church is showing its age: The lead-covered roof leaks, the ancient rafters are rotting and water drips onto the 12th-century mosaics of hovering angels. So notorious is its decay that it was listed by the United Nations as an endangered world heritage site in 2012. But in a kind of modern-day miracle, the three Christian faiths that share an acrimonious joint custody of the pilgrimage site — Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox and the Franciscan order of Roman Catholics — were persuaded by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to allow Italian master craftsmen, working alongside structural engineers and wood scientists, to perform the first major documented restoration since Venetian carpenters rebuilt the roof in 1479. Pope Francis will get a look at the progress. After five years of study and debate, the first phase of work — fixing the sagging beams and replacing the bullet-pocked windows — is expected to be complete by Christmas, at a cost of about $3 million. The money was raised by the international community and dispersed by the Palestinians, so that none of the three caretakers can claim credit — or more rights — over the church. Renovations of mosaics, doors, and paintings may follow, if more funds can be secured. . .The original basilica, built in the 4th century by Emperor Constantine, was leveled in the Samaritan Revolt of A.D. 529, though the floor mosaics survived. The church that stands today was constructed during the reign of Justinian in the 6th century. . .Over the centuries, the church has been besieged, burned, looted and shaken by earthquakes. It was transformed into a walled fortress by the Crusaders, who crowned their kings here. The structure has also been beset by fungi, termites, sun, wind and rain. A Christmas storm last year dropped a foot of snow on the roof. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/the-church-of-the-nativity-jesuss-birthplace-gets-its-first-repairs-in-400-years/2014/05/22/a8d3db16-df31-11e3-9442-54189bf1a809_story.html?hpid=z1