History:
The site marking the event of the Annunciation was already a shrine for the cult of the Virgin Mary in the late Roman and early Byzantine period. Remains of this shrine, including architectural elements, graffiti and painted plaster, were discovered beneath the monastery and church that were excavated by Bagatti. The shrine was dismantled and its fragments were used as fill for the foundations when the church and monastery were constructed, apparently in the early fifth century. The structure stood until the twelfth century when it was dismantled to make way for a large and elaborate Crusader church. The Crusader church was destroyed in the second half of the thirteenth century by the Malmluk Sultan Baybars. In the eighteenth century a Franciscan church and monastery were constructed on the site. A fourth church was constructed on the site, along with a Franciscan convent and seminary, in the twentieth century, after the eighteenth century structure was torn down.
