A visitor photographs a renovated part of a fresco inside the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank City of Bethlehem, December 6, 2018. (Majdi Mohammed/AP)
Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity, built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was born, was removed from UNESCO’s list of endangered world heritage sites Tuesday following restorations there.
The church was named a UNESCO world heritage site in 2012 and placed on its endangered list the same year due to its poor condition.
Church and Palestinian officials have since overseen high-quality work restoring “roof, exterior facades, mosaics and doors,” UNESCO said in a statement.
A previous plan of concern to UNESCO to dig a tunnel underneath Manger Square, in front of the church, was also abandoned, it said.
The committee reached the decision to remove it from the endangered list during a meeting in Baku, which began on June 30 and continues until July 10, it said.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Editionby email and never miss our top stories
The Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian churches share custody of the site located in the city which is today in the West Bank under Palestinian Authority control.
A close up shot shows details of a renovated mosaic wall inside the Church of the Nativity, renovated by Italian experts, in the biblical West Bank town of Bethlehem on July 8, 2016. (Thomas Coex/AFP)
An initial church was built there in the fourth century AD.
It was replaced with a new structure in the sixth century but floor mosaics from the original church remain. Later alterations were made to the church.
Advertisement
During the Christmas season, pilgrims from around the world visit the church and the grotto within it believed to be Jesus’s birthplace.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
