This marvelous church is a landmark of the city of Jerusalem, and is the site where the Virgin Mary is said to have died, or fell into ‘eternal sleep’. Its Latin name is “Dormition Sanctae Mariae” (Sleep of St. Mary). The current church and Monastery, owned by the German Benedictine Order, was consecrated in 1906. It was noticeably damaged during the battles for the city in 1948 and 1967. In the crypt of the church lies a recumbent statue of the Virgin in death, and the rotunda above is noticeable for its glorious mosaic zodiac, a most unusual addition to a Christian church.
