Church of Saint John the Baptist or Mosque of Yahya, Sebastia

Description of the site: a church built in the Byzantine period at the eastern end outside the Roman city walls. During that period, Sebastia became an episcopal center, which still reflects the episcopal rank of Sebastia to the present day. In the fourth century AD, Queen Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine, built many churches on the road that Jesus passed between Bethlehem and Galilee. Among them was this church that embraced the tomb of the Prophet Yahya to honor him and his status in Christianity. But this church was demolished by earthquakes and the Persian invasion of the city at the beginning of the seventh century AD; given the importance of the site and religious status, it was rebuilt by the Crusaders in the tenth century AD on the ruins of the Byzantine church.Description of the church from the Crusader era: - It is located in the historic town's center and to the park's eastern side. The floor of the outer churchyard is more than two meters below street level. It is accessed by a staircase that was added later, leading to the external churchyard, where its floor is paved with large stone tiles. This square reaches under the adjacent street from the west. The front facade of the church is still standing at its original height, and in the middle is the main gate, which leads to the inner courtyard of the church, which has a basilica plan. It is a rectangle in shape extending from east to west. It was divided into three open halls, separated by massive stone pillars.It was built of stones trimmed and placed orderly, and the building style reflects the Crusader style prevailing in that period. Some parts of the church, especially the southern region, were built on foundations dating back to Byzantine. Some residential and administrative annexes for the monks were added to it on the south side, while the John the Baptist or the Prophet Yahya shrine remained in the middle of the church. The shrine was renovated in subsequent periods, and a small mosque was built above it. Later in the Ottoman era, a mosque and a minaret were built on the ruins of the eastern part of the church, and three school rooms for children were recently converted into an antiquities museum.