What artifact is preserved inside the central chapel?

The interior of the shrine houses a stone slab venerated by pilgrims as the footprint of Jesus.

What structure forms the present shrine?

The surviving building consists of an octagonal masonry edicule surrounded by a partially preserved octagonal perimeter wall from Crusader and Ayyubid reconstructions.

Why does the interior of the chapel contain a mihrab?

The building was repurposed as a mosque following the conquest by Saladin, who established the Mount of Olives as an Islamic waqf.

Why was a separate mosque built next to the chapel?

Saladin ordered the construction of a separate mosque nearby to accommodate Muslim worship while permitting Christian pilgrims continued access to the main chapel.

What earlier building occupied the location during the Byzantine era?

The location previously featured a Byzantine rotunda called the Imbomon, which had open skies and circular porticoes before its destruction during Persian invasions.

Jérusalem-Ouest · Israël

église de l'Ascension: ce qu’il y a autour, comment y aller et quand venir · 2026

Residents on the Mount of Olives ridge share narrow neighborhood lanes with continuous processions of international pilgrims.

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The octagonal shrine stands within a historic compound atop the Mount of Olives.

The site in the At-Tur district preserves layered religious architecture from successive imperial eras. Roman aristocrat Poimenia funded the early Byzantine rotunda known as the Imbomon over grounds venerated for the Ascension. Persian military campaigns destroyed the initial sanctuary, prompting reconstructions by Byzantine builders and Crusader stonemasons who shaped the surviving octagonal edicule.

Saladin converted the structure into a mosque with an interior mihrab and assigned the surrounding grounds to an Islamic waqf. To accommodate Christian pilgrims visiting the venerated footprint slab, authorities constructed a separate adjacent mosque for Muslim worship. This administrative arrangement established shared access across faiths that continues to define the daily management of the hilltop complex.

Associations

Mount of OlivesHilltop setting above the city with clustered monastic compounds.
Veneration StoneInterior stone slab revered by pilgrims as preserving a holy footprint.
Zawiyat al-AdawiyaIslamic complex and adjacent mosque established alongside the chapel.
Congestion and AccessNarrow neighborhood corridors in At-Tur create bottlenecks during peak visits.

Faits

The shrine contains a stone slab venerated by pilgrims as the imprint of the Ascension.
Saladin established an Islamic waqf over the hilltop property and added a prayer niche inside the shrine.
A dedicated mosque was erected beside the chapel to allow separate Muslim prayer while keeping the central shrine open to pilgrims.
The complex stands within the At-Tur neighborhood on the ridge of the Mount of Olives.

Mis à jour le 21 septembre 2026Source : Wikipedia

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église de l'Ascension: ce qu’il y a autour, comment y aller et quand venir · 2026

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The octagonal shrine stands within a historic compound atop the Mount of Olives.

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