Marian Shrines in the Holy Land

Jerusalem

1.      Tomb of the Virgin Mary also referred to as the Church of the Assumption.

      The final reputed resting place of the Blessed Virgin.

      Address:  Kidron Valley

      Jerusalem, 91193 Israel

      Telephone:  (972) (02)6282936 or (972) (02) 6280271

      When dialing from outside Israel:  The first three numbers are an international code, the next number is the code for Israel and the last seven are the phone numbers to reach the place.

      Open:  5:00 A.M. – Noon, 2:00P.M. - 5:00 P.M. (A small donation is expected.)

      Custodians: The Greek Orthodox Church

      No Souvenir Shop.  No Restrooms.

2.      Church of St. Mary Magdalene

      Russian Orthodox Church

      Kidron Valley

      The access to the church is directly behind the Church of the Agony.

      Telephone: (02) 628437

      Open:  10:00A.M.-11:30 A.M. Tuesdays and Thursdays only, ring the bell

      Custodians:   The White Nuns of the Russian Orthodox Church

      No Souvenir Shop.  No Restrooms.

3.      Church of St. Anne also known as the Crusader Church of St. Anne

      Built in 1140 A.D. over the reputed site of the home of St. Joachim and St. Anne, the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This site is about sixty yards inside St. Stephen’s Gate (also known as the Lion’s Gate)

      Telephone: (02) 6283285

      Open:  Summer: 8:00A.M.-noon, 2:00P.M. – 6:00P.M.

      Winter: 8:00A.M. -noon, 2:00P.M.-5:00P.M., closed on Sundays

      Custodians: The French White Fathers (A Greek Catholic Community)

      Souvenir Shop: post cards and a guidebook. Restrooms, yes.

4.      Garden Tomb   

      This site lies to the right of the Nablus Road, 250 yards due north of the Damascus Gate.

      Telephone: (02) 6272745

      Open: 8:30 A.M. - noon, 2:00-5:30P.M., closed Sundays except for a service at 9:00P.M.

      Custodians:  The Garden Tomb Association

      Telephone: (02)  6272745

      Souvenir Shop, yes.   Restrooms, yes.

5.      Church of St. Mark

Claimed to be on the site of the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, the author of the second gospel. Inside on a stone discovered in 1940, but dating from the 500s is the inscription: This is the house of Mary, Mother of John, called Mark. This is a Syrian (Jacobite) Church.

Address: Jerusalem (Old City) Israel

Open: 8:00 A.M.-5:00 P.M. (closed Sundays); winter: closes 4:00 P.M.

      Telephone: (02) 6283304

      Custodians: Syrian Orthodox Church

      No Souvenir Shop.  No Restrooms.

6.      Dormition Abbey

      The site of the “falling asleep” of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

      It is located in the Old Neighborhood, Old City, Jerusalem, in the southwest corne. The Church is within the compound of the Dormition Abbey.

      Hours: 8:00A.M.-noon, 12:30 P.M.-6:00P.M.  Monday- Saturday

           9:30A.M.-noon, 12:30 P.M.-6:00 P.M. Sunday; Roman Catholic Mass

           Telephone: (927) (02) 6719927

      Custodians: Benedictine:  specifically, The German Society for the Holy Land. The Abbey is entrusted to an international community of German-speaking

      Benedictine monks.

      Souvenir Shop, yes. Restrooms, yes.

7.       Upper Room

       This room is known as the place of the Last Supper and the descent of the Holy Spirit after the Resurrection.

       The Upper Room is situated roughly between the Cathedral of St. James in the Armenian Quarter in the southwest corner of the Old City and the rebuilt Jewish  Quarter of the Temple Area.

       Open: 8:30 A.M. - 5:00 P.M., closed Friday afternoon.

       No telephone is listed.

       Custodians:  The German Speaking Society for the Holy Land

       No Souvenir Shop. No Restrooms.

Bethlehem  Place of the Nativity, Bethlehem, about five miles north of Jerusalem.

8.      Church of the Nativity
This church is built upon the traditional site of the birth of Jesus. The church was built in the sixth century by the Emperor Justinian upon the ruins of the church built by the Emperor Constantine. The church is owned jointly by the Greek Orthodox and Armenian Churches.

      Open 5:30 A.M.-6:30 P.M. daily; winter closes 5:00 P.M.

      Telephone: (02) 741020

      Custodians: The Armenians and the Greek Orthodox

      No Souvenir Shop.  No Restrooms.

9.      Cave of St. Jerome

      This cave is important because it is beneath the Church of the Nativity, so is directly connected to the place of Jesus’ birth. St. Jerome at this site, translated the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures into Latin, the Vulgate.

      Open Times are the same as the Church of the Nativity.

      Telephone: (02) 741020

      Custodians:  (The Church for the Nativity: The Armenian and the Greek Orthodox Churches)

      No Souvenir Shop.  No Restrooms.

10.  Milk Grotto, the Church
This church is on the site of a sixth century legend that when the Blessed Virgin Mary was suckling the Infant Jesus, a drop of her milk fell to the ground, and the rock immediately turned white.

Open: 8:00 A.M.-11:45A.M., 2:00 P.M.-6:00P.M. daily; Winter closes at 5:00 P.M.; ring the bell
Telephone: (02) 743867
Custodians: Franciscans

      No Souvenir shop. No Restrooms.           

11.  Shepherds Fields

       Located in the Franciscan compound, about a mile and a half from the town of Bethlehem. This site is mentioned in the Gospel of Luke 2:8-20: “While the angels

       in the sky, Sung praise above the silent field, To shepherds poor the Lord most high, The one great Shepherd was revealed.”

       Chapel of the Angel

       Open:  8:00-noon, 2:00 P.M. -6:00 P.M. daily (winter closes at 5:30 P.M.)

       Telephone: (02) 6472413

       Custodians: The Franciscans

       No Souvenir Shop.  Restrooms available.

Ein Kerem (Ein Kerem is the traditional home of Zachariah and his wife, Elizabeth, Mary’s cousin.)

12.  Church of the Visitation

The Virgin Mary visited her cousin St. Elizabeth here.  The place was the birthplace and home of St. John the Baptist.

      Open: 8:00A.M.-11:45 A.M., 2:30-6:00 P.M. Winter closes at 5:00P.m.; closed on Saturdays.

      Telephone: (02) 6417291

      Custodians: The Franciscans

      Souvenir shop, yes.  Restrooms, yes.

Cana (Arab village of Kafr Kanna) about six miles from Nazareth

13.  Franciscan Church of the Wedding Feast

       Open: 8:00 A.M.-noon, 2:00 P.M.-6:00P.M. daily (winter, closes at 5:00P.M.)

       Souvenir Shop: yes, No Restrooms          

       Custodians: The Franciscans

       Telephone: (06) 6517011

14.  Greek Orthodox Church of the Wedding Feast

       Open: 8:30 A.M. - 6:30 P.M.

       Custodians: Greek Orthodox Church

       No other information available.

Nazareth

15.   Basilica of the Annunciation

        This basilica is located over the reported site over the home of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is where the angel Gabriel visited Mary.

        Open: 8:00 A.M.-11:45 A.M., 2:00P.M.-6:00P.M., winter closes daily at 5:00P.m.

        Telephone: (06) 6572501

        Custodians: The Franciscans

        No Souvenir Shop. Restrooms, yes. 

                 
16.   St. Joseph’s Church

        Across from the Basilica of the Annunciation, this church is also known as the Church of the Carpenter’s Shop.

        Open: 8:00A.M.-11:45A.M., 2:00P.M.-6:00P.M., winter closes at 5:00P.M.

        Telephone:  (06) 6572501

        Custodians:  The Franciscans

        No Souvenir Shop. Restrooms, yes.                    

17.    Church of St. Gabriel (also known as the Church of Mary’s Well)

         Located near the Basilica of the Annunciation, near the Franciscan Monastery Compound.

         The well is authentic and was used by the villagers two-thousand years ago.

         Telephone: (06) 6576437

         Open:  8:00 A.M. - 5:00P.m., Sundays noon-2:00 P.M. only.            

         Custodians:  The Greek Orthodox Church

         No Souvenir Shop. No Restrooms.

Source: 

Wareham, Norman and Gill, Jill. Shrines of the Holy Land.  Liguori, Press, Liguori, Missouri, USA, 1998.