13671 - Nazareth - Church of the Annunciation

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Nazareth - Church of the Annunciation

Church Name, type, function

Site Name: 
Nazareth
Identification: 
The church of the Annunciation was constructed over the House of Mary, at the place where Gabriel, the angel of God, delivered the message to Virgin Mary that she would bear the son of God (Luke 1, 26-38). These events are commemorated to the present in a cave. Franciscan scholars maintain that the site became a shrine for the cult of Virgin Mary by Jewish-Christians, already before the construction of the church and monastery in the 5th c.
Church name: 
Church of the Annunciation
Functional Type: 
Memorial
Dedication: 
Annunciation
Church type: 
Basilical

Location

Coordinates, ITM system: 
228.25
734.24
Coordinates, ICS system: 
178.25
1,234.24
Geographical region: 
Lower Galilee
Topographical location: 
Moderate slope
Distance from nearest bishop-seat: 
ca. 22 km (Gaba Hippeum)
Distance from nearest settlement: 
0 (Nazareth)
Distance from Roman roads: 
Ca. 10 km.
Provincial affiliation: 
Palaestina II
Bishopric: 
Sepphoris

Source of knowledge

Literary sources: 
Epigraphy: 

Archaeological remains

Excavated site
Excavators: 
NameDate
Vlaminck
1900
Bagatti
1955-1960
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.
Bibliograpy: 
de Vogüé, M., 1860
Vlaminck, B., 1900
Viaud, P., 1910
Reil, J., 1912
Bagatti, B., 1954-1955
Bagatti, B., 1955
Bagatti, B., 1956
Editor, 1960
Governanti, G. , 1962
Governanti, G. , 1962
Bagatti, B., 1967
Bagatti, B., 1969
Bagatti, B., 1969
77-218
Brunot, A., 1969
Editor, 1969
Stiasny, M. J., 1969
Editor, 1969
Ovadiah, A., 1970
Bagatti, B., 1970
Briand, J. , 1971
Ovadiah, A. and de Silva, C. G., 1982
Briand, J., 1984
Abbreviation for Journals and Series

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered: 
The site was very poorly preserved under the medieval and later churches. The complex which consisted of a basilical church with an atrium and a small monastery were excavated, after which the mosaics of the church were preserved and the monastery was completely dismantled. The basilical church, with external apse, measured 39.6 x 19.5 m (external dimensions, including the atrium).

Description

Illustrative material: 
Atrium: 

A large atrium was located to the west of the church. An opening of a watern cistern, that seemingly preceded the erection of the church, is located next to the western wall f the basilica. A second cistern was located under its center. 

Lateral walls: 

A deep southern wall along the line separaing the nave from the southern aisle, is attributed to a Jewish-Christian synagogue that preceded the late 4th - early 5th c. church. In an higher elevation, next to it on the north, was uncovered a basin with six grades next to its southern wall, interpreted as a baptismal basin of the Jewish-Christians.

Nave: 

8 m in wide. A small fragment of a mosaic floor with Christian symbols, including a cross surrounded by a wreath, was found in the nave.

Aisles: 

The northern nave was apparently two steps lower than the nave due to the slope on which the church was constructed. The southern wall of the southern aisle was well preserved to an elevation of 1-2 courses. Two superimposed layers of mosaics were uncoveredin this aisle. 

Bema, chancel screen and apse: 

The apse was semi-circular and external. Only a northern segment of it was uncovered. Its radius: 3.06m. 

Lateral spaces: 

The northern sacristy is rectangular in shape, 7.92 x 4.20 m. in dimensions, extending east beyond the external face of the apse. Two sections of its mosaic floor, geometric in patterns, survived. 

Crypt: See in the Detailed Description, crypt

Small finds

Comments, discussion and summary: 

A Franciscan church with it facade to the south, with the cave of annunciation in a crypt in its northern end, was erected in 1730. This church was dismantled in 1955 to give place to archaeological excavations and a new church, erected in 1969. 

Detailed description

Structure

Orientation: 
Facing east
Materials applied (walls): 
Limestone
Atrium: 
Yes
Water cistern: 
Yes
Narthex: 
No
Aisles: 
2
East end: 
External apse, round
Church Head/Chevet: 
dead end aisles (mon-aps III)
Central Apse Category: 
apsidal
Altar remains: 
no remains
Apse shape: 
Hemispherical

Pastophoria

Pastophoria loci: 
N
Description and function of northern: 
Elongated room; a small section of its mosaic pavement was preserved at its SW corner.

Crypt

Accessibility and description: 
The Cave of Annunciation and the Chapel of Archangel Gabriel on its front were accessed from the northern aisle. A narrow cave to their west is a 3rd c. Martyrion of deacon Konon of Jerusalem, mentioned in a Greek mosaic inscription at the entrance to the cave. Behind the entrance there is a square mosaic floor with a monogram ΤΡ (staurogram).

Architectural Evolution

General outlineDating materialPhase no.CenturyWithin century
The church and its adjacent monastery were constructed in the late 4th or early fifth century CE. The structure forms one integral unit. It was constructed over fill consisting of architectural members and other remains of the earlier structure named by Bagatti "pre-Byzantine". The complex stood until the medieval period but had deteriorated greatly, while apparently the monastery was still active.

Based on the mosaics, Bagatti dated the first complex to the late fourth or early fifth century.

Phase 1
4th c.
Late
The church and monastery apparently continued to exist at least up to the ninth century. A church and twelve monks in Nazareth are attested in the Commemoratorium de Casis dei in 808 CE, but the church and monastery are not named. It is not known if the monastery continued to function right up to the twelfth century when the church was rebuilt by the Crusaders. Throughout the years, the mosaic pavements had been repaired and re-laid.
Phase 2
In the twelfth century a new church was built at the site by the Crusaders.
Abandonment
12th c.