A major restoration project has begun at the shrine inside Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre where Jesus is said to have been buried before his resurrection.
An AFP photographer visiting the church on Sunday says he saw scaffolding going up around the grotto tomb site and workers welding steel supports.
Church officials had said in March that work was to be carried out by a team of Greek specialists.
They said the project was expected to be completed in early 2017 and that the site would remain open to visitors in the meantime.
Tourists line up to enter the Tomb of Jesus as they stand under a metal scaffolding built at the entrance ahead of the restoration on May 29, 2016 at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s Old City. (AFP/Gali Tibbon)
The shrine, several meters tall and wide and standing under the church’s dome, has for decades been held together by a metal frame.
Its marble slabs have weakened over the years, caused in part by daily visits from thousands of pilgrims and tourists.
The shrine was built in the early 19th century over the site of the cave where Jesus is believed to have been buried.
— AFP
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