Katharinenkirche (Bethlehem)

Katharinenkirche, west facade of the courtyard of the cloister with the statue of St. Jerome

Katharinenkirche, view through the nave

Child Jesus figure in the side altar of the Katharinenkirche

The Katharinenkirche ( Arabic كنيسة القديسة كترينا) is a Roman Catholic pilgrimage church in Bethlehem . It is looked after by the Custody of the Holy Land of the Franciscans . The church is located immediately north of the Church of the Nativity and can be entered from there through a side portal in the north cone .

history

The Katharinenkirche, completed in 1882 in place of an earlier church and older predecessor buildings from the 5th century, is consecrated to St. Catherine of Alexandria . It has an atrium in front of the cloister and the associated Casa Nova complex from 1982. This houses, among other things, the Roman Catholic parish center of Bethlehem.

According to tradition, the church rises at the point where Jesus Christ appeared to St. Catherine and foretold her imminent martyrdom . In the 12th century, at the time of the Crusader rule under the Kingdom of Jerusalem, a convent of Augustinian Canon Regulars was set up north of the Church of the Nativity , of which the core of the now reconstructed cloister has been preserved. To the east of it was a room that was probably used as a chapter house. From here there was an access to a rectangular church, which was mentioned for the first time in the 15th century and was used by the Catholic religious as the Catholics were excluded from the Orthodox Church of the Nativity.

The surviving medieval buildings were almost completely destroyed in the course of the construction of the Katharinenkirche between 1874 and 1882. Small remains can be seen in the southwest corner of the nave. The Katharinenkirche itself is a representative three-aisled basilica . The central nave was decorated with many wheels, the attribute of St. Catherine, until 1999 . This was followed by restoration for the anniversary year 2000 with a papal visit, during which the space behind the main altar was enlarged.

A staircase leads directly from the south aisle to the grotto system under the Church of the Nativity, in which the graves of St. Jerome , St. Paula and St. Eustochium are located. The bones of the saints were transferred to Rome in the 15th century in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore . A connecting door gives access to the nativity grotto, which is only opened on religious occasions such as Christmas or during the processions of the Franciscans.

The most famous piece of furniture in the Katharinenkirche is the baby Jesus made of wood. The life-size nativity figure is shown throughout the year under the right side altar, bedded on straw. At Christmas it lies (without any other figures) under the main altar. Since the renovation, the altar has integrated a special oval bowl as a bed for it.

The upstream cloister in the style of corresponding southern French buildings of the 12th century comprises three wings and was restored and reconstructed in 1948 by Antonio Barluzzi while retaining the parts that were preserved. The cloister corresponds to the size of the original building of the medieval Augustinian convent, omitting the east wing.

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  Preserved pillar of the Augustinian monastery from the 12th century in the church

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  South-west corner of the cloister courtyard or atrium

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  Cloister, 12th century capital

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  Cloister, west wing

Organs

The organs of the Katharinenkirche were built from 2002 to 2003 by the organ building company Rieger (Schwarzach, Vorarlberg, Austria). The system consists of a main organ and a choir organ, with a total of 52 stops on three manuals and a pedal . The main organ has 37 stops on two manual works and a pedal. From the console of the main organ (2nd manual: Positif) you can also play the choir organ, which has 15 stops on a manual and pedal. In connection with the Palestinian occupation of the Church of the Nativity, 38 registers of the main organ were destroyed by an Israeli fire bomb during the construction in 2002. A Palestinian who tried to put out the fire was shot.

I Grand Organo C – g 3 Bordone 16 ′ Principals 8th' Bordone 8th' Flauto armonico 8th' Voce Umana 8th' Ottava 4 ′ Flauto 4 ′ Duodecima 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Decimaquinta 2 ′ Ripieno IV 2 ′ Cornetto V 8th' Tromba 16 ′ Tromba 8th' Tromba 4 ′

II Positivo C-g 3 Principals 8th' Bordone 8th' Salicionale 8th' Ottava 4 ′ Flauto 4 ′ Duodecima 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Decimaquinta 2 ′ Decimanona 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Piccolo 1' Ripieno V 1' Tromba 8th' Cromorne 8th' tremolo

III Recit C-g 3 Bordone 8th' Gamba 8th' Voce celeste 8th' Principals 4 ′ Flauto ottav. 4 ′ Duodecima 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Ottavino 2 ′ Piccolo 1' Ripieno V 2 ′ Cornetto V 8th' Tromba arm. 8th' oboe 8th' Clarino 4 ′ Voix humaine 8th' tremolo Campane Campanelli

Pedals C – f 1 Contrabasso 16 ′ Subbasso 16 ′ Quinta 10 2 ⁄ 3  ′ violoncello 8th' Flauto 8th' Flauto 4 ′ Bombarda 16 ′ Tromba 8th' Tromba 4 ′ Pedals (choir organ) C – f 1 Subbasso 16 ′ Principals 8th' Ottava 4 ′

• Coupling : II / I, III / I, III / II, I / P, II / P, III / P

literature

• Denys Pringle : The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. A corpus. Volume 1: A – K (excluding Acre and Jerusalem). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 1993, ISBN 0-521-39036-2 , pp. 145-150.

Web links

Commons : Katharinenkirche (Bethlehem)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ Church of St. Catherine, Bethlehem
2. ↑ Information on the main organ and the choir organ on the website of the builder company.

Coordinates: 31 ° 42 ′ 16.5 ″  N , 35 ° 12 ′ 27.5 ″  E