Pater Nostre (Eleona)

Located atop the Mount of Olives a short walking distance from the Chapel of Ascension and the Russian Church of Ascension is the Pater Noster Church (Eleona) which is built on the traditional site of Christ teaching of the Lord’s Prayer. The original Basilica was built in the 4th Century AD by the Roman Emperor Constantine under the direction of his mother Queen Helena to commemorate the Ascension of Jesus Christ. In 614 AD during the Persian invasion, like many other churches in the area, it was the destroyed after a 21 day siege of Jerusalem. In 1099, the Crusaders took Jerusalem and in 1152 a new small Church was built by the Danish brothers Bishop Svein and Admiral Eskill Svensson. The Crusader Church was named Pater Noster commemorating the site where Jesus taught his disciples. During the early Arab period, the Church was partially damaged following the crusader defeat to Salah Edin in 1187. In 1345, similar to many other Churches in the Holy Land, it was totally destroyed by the Mamelukes who reigned here from 1267-1480 AD. During the Ottoman period, the Christians and Jewish populations were allowed to build new structures and the city expanded outside the Old City Walls. A Carmelite convent was established in 1872 and the present Church of today was built in 1874 on the north side of the ruined 4th century Eleona church (meaning Olives in Greek). It is managed by the Catholic Carmelite Cloistered Sisters. In 1915, the 4th century Church had been partially reconstructed but left unroofed providing a good sense of what the original church looked like. The dimensions are the same as the original and the Garden outside the three doors outlines the Atrium area. At the center of the Church, stair lead down to the Grotto where Christian traditions holds that Jesus revealed to his Disciples his prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem and Second Coming. The Church today is probably best known for his over 140 ceramic plaques depicting the Lord’s Prayers in different languages. There is a gift shop where you can buy postcards of each plaque, and the website of the Convent of Pater Noster offers translations into more than 1440 languages and dialects.