Palestine and Syria:  Handbook for Travelers

The Mûristân. The street running to the E. from the quadrangle of the Church of the Sepulchre leads after a few paces to the Mûristân (on the right), with the Church of the Redeemer. The whole building covers an area of about 170 yds. from E. to W., and 151 yds.  from N. to S.; the E. half was presented by the sultan to Prussia on the occasion of the visit of the Crown-Prince of Prussia to Constantinople in 1869.

History. The monastery founded by Charlemagne at Jerusalem is supposed to have occupied the site on which two centuries later the merchants of Amalfi, who enjoyed great commercial privileges in the East, erected a church and Benedictine monastery (1048). These were the church of Maria Latina and the Monasterium de Latina. Remains of the church still exist on the S. side of the street which we are now following. In course of time a convent and church fur nuns were added to the monastery and dedicated to St. Mary Magdalen , whence the name Maria Parva, or St. Mary the Less. The accommodation here at length proving insufficient, the hospice and chapel of St. John Eleemon (the merciful; patriarch of Alexandria, 606-616) were erected to the W. of St. Mary the Less. At a later period John the Baptist was revered as the patron-saint.  This hospice was dependent on the other, until a servant of the establish ment with several other pious men determined to found a new branch of the order. This was the Order of the Hospitallers, or Knights of St. John, who at first devoted themselves to the care of pilgrims, but afterwards to the task of combating the infidels, and, at length, took an active part in politics also. They gradually came into possession of large estates. The chief buildings were erected under Raymond du Puy jn 1130-40. The hospice was situated opposite the Church of the Sepulchre, to the S., and was probably in the style of a khân. It was a magnificent edifice, borne by 124 colums and 54 pillars. The hospice extended as far as the David Street, where there are still a number of pointed arcades of that period, once used as shops and warehouses. In 1187 the Knights of St. John left Jerusalem, and upwards of a century later they settled in Rhodes. Connected with the establishment of these knights at Jerusalem there was also a nunnery, called St. Mary the Greater, which lay. to the E. of the hospice of St. John. The buildings which we now find here date from 1130-40, and belong to the former church and monastery of Maria Latina. The principal entrance faced the N., and the nunnery lay behind the church. When Saladin captured Jerusalem in 1187 he lodged in the 'Hospital', and the property of the Hospitallers was granted as an endowment (wakf) to the mosque of 'Omar. In 1216 Shihâbeddîn, nephew of Saladin, converted the hospital-church, which lay opposite the Church of the Sepulchre, into a hospital, Arab. Mûlristân, a name which, therefore, properly applies to one part only of this pile of buildings. Adjacent to it the same prince built the mosque of Kubbet ed-Dergâh, the site of which is now occupied by the mosque of Sidna `Omar. The hospice, which the Muslims allowed still to subsist, was capable of accommodating upwards of a thousand persons.  The management of the foundation was committed to the El-`Alemi family, who, as usual in such cases, were prohibited from alienating the ground until it should become a mere wilderness.  The buildings were therefore suffered to fall to decay. The lofty square minaret of the mosque of Sidna 'Omar, opposite the clock-tower of the Church of the Sepulchre, was erected in 1417. The whole of these buildings are rapidly falling to ruin. Adjoining them on the E. is the small Greek Monastery of Gethsemane (PI. 65), where the residence of the grandmaster was formerly situated. On the W. side of the area is the Bath of the Patriarch (p. 79), and in the S.W. corner the Greek Monastery of John the Baptist (p. 79), Dêr Mâr Hanna, a name which is sometimes given to the entire Mûristân. The central remaining space is still of considerable extent.

Crown-Prince Frederick William Street

The porter keeps the key of the Mûristân. The interesting old Entrance Portal is incorporated in the new church. It consists of a large round arch comprising two smaller arches, which are no longer extant. The spandril over the two arches was formerly adorned with a relief, the greater part of which is now gone. These arches rested on one side on a central pillar, and on the other on an entablature reaching from the small side columns of the portal. The larger arch above rests on a buttress adjoining the portal. Around the whole arch runs a broad frieze enriched with sculptures, representing the months.

January, on the left, has disappeared; 'Feb', a man pruning a tree; 'Ma', indistinct; `Aprilis', a sitting figure; 'Majus', a man kneeling and cultivating the ground; (Ju)`nius', mutilated; (Ju)'lius' , a reaper; 'Augustus', a thresher; (S)'epien`(ber), a grape-gatherer; (Octob)'er', a man with a cask, above whom there is apparently a scorpion; (November), a woman standing upright, with her hand in her apron, probably the symbol of repose. Above, between June and July, is the sun (with the superscription `sol'), represented by a half-figure holding a disc over its head. Adjacent is the moon ('luna*), a female figure with a crescent. The cornice above these figures is adorned with medallions representing leaves, griffins, etc. The style of the whole reminds the spectator of the European art of the 12th century.

The German Protestant Church of the Redeemer, completed in 1898 on F. Adler's plans , follows the lines of the ancient Church of St. Maria Major as closely as possible. It is, however, an absolutely new structure, as the ancient foundations were quite inadequate and new foundations had to be constructed on the rock, whioh is in some places 30 ft. below the ground. The bell-tower commands a beautiful *View. — The 'Crown-Prince Frederick William Street', on the N. side of the building, is German property also. A staircase, built by Saladin and afterwards removed hither, leads from this street to the former refectory on the S. side of the partially preserved cloisters. The cloister, in two stories, is bounded on each side by four columnar pillars, and surrounds a square open court, which contains some interesting fragments of marble columns.  Beyond and beside this court is a large space, now freed from a huge mass of debris, 26 ft. deep, which formerly covered it. The rubbish was removed to the space outside the Jaffa Gate, and that plateau has thus been considerably enlarged. The houses now rear themselves loftily above the cleared space, where pillars of indestructible hardness were discovered. Several very deep and finely vaulted cisterns have also been brought to light. The bottom of the cisterns is 25 ft.  below the level" of the street. At several points the visitor can see into these.