How Jerusalem Was Paganized by Hadrian and Reclaimed by Constantine: From Aelia Capitolina to the Holy City
Introduction
Jerusalem has long stood at the crossroads of faith, empire, and power. But few periods in its history are as striking—and as often overlooked—as the time when it was turned into a pagan Roman city under Emperor Hadrian and then transformed into a Christian center by Constantine the Great.
This post explores how the Romans sought to erase Jerusalem’s Jewish and Christian identity, how early Christians were affected, and how the Church reclaimed the Holy City in the fourth century.
Part I: Hadrian’s Pagan Transformation — Aelia Capitolina
🔥 Aftermath of the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132–135 A.D.)
The Bar Kokhba Revolt was a major Jewish uprising against Roman rule. It ended with the destruction of much of Judea, the massacre of thousands, and the total banning of Jews from entering Jerusalem.
Cassius Dio, Roman historian:
“Fifty of their most important outposts and 985 of their best-known villages were razed to the ground. 580,000 men were slain in the various raids and battles... the whole of Judea became a desert.”
— Roman History, Book 69
In the wake of the revolt, Emperor Hadrian (r. 117–138 A.D.) aimed to erase Jewish presence from the city completely.
🏛️ Renaming the City: Aelia Capitolina
Hadrian renamed Jerusalem Aelia Capitolina — Aelia from his family name, Capitolina to honor Jupiter Capitolinus, the supreme Roman god. He sought not only to rename the city but to redefine its very identity.
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Temple to Jupiter was built directly over the ruins of the Jewish Temple.
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A statue of Jupiter was erected on the Temple Mount.
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A statue of Hadrian himself was placed within the temple precincts.
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A shrine to Aphrodite (Venus) was constructed over Golgotha, the traditional site of Jesus’ crucifixion and burial.
Eusebius of Caesarea, early Church historian:
“They erected a temple to the lifeless idols of the demons over the place of the resurrection.”
— Demonstratio Evangelica, Book VI, ch. 18
🚫 Jews and Jewish-Christians Expelled
Hadrian issued a ban on all Jews entering Jerusalem, except on one day of the year (Tisha B’Av) to mourn the destruction of the Temple.
This also affected Jewish-Christians, who had long formed the backbone of the Jerusalem Church.
Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 4.5:
“The first fifteen bishops of Jerusalem were of Jewish origin, and were well-versed in the Hebrew language and scriptures.”
These bishops included figures like James the Just, referred to as "the brother of the Lord" (Galatians 1:19), who led the Church in Jerusalem in its earliest years (cf. Acts 15). These Jewish-Christian bishops maintained fidelity to Christ while honoring their Jewish heritage and customs.
After 135 A.D., that era came to an end.
Part II: The Rise of Gentile Leadership — Bishop of Aelia
With Jews expelled from the city, the Roman authorities allowed only Gentile Christians to remain. Thus began a new phase of the Jerusalem Church.
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The bishopric was transferred from Jewish to Gentile leadership.
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The bishop was no longer known as “Bishop of Jerusalem”, but “Bishop of Aelia.”
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The Church’s prestige in the city declined significantly.
St. Epiphanius of Salamis (4th century):
“From the time of Hadrian until the reign of Constantine, the succession of bishops in Jerusalem was Gentile, for all the Jews were prohibited from entering the city.”
— Panarion, 29.7
The Church of Jerusalem lost its earlier influence and was administratively placed under the Metropolitan of Caesarea, per the Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.).
Part III: Constantine and the Christian Rebirth of Jerusalem
🕊️ Constantine Legalizes Christianity
With the Edict of Milan in 313 A.D., Emperor Constantine and Licinius legalized Christianity throughout the empire. Constantine soon turned his attention to Jerusalem — not as a political capital, but as the spiritual heart of Christianity.
👑 St. Helena’s Pilgrimage
In 326 A.D., Constantine’s mother, St. Helena, undertook a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Guided by local Christians, she identified key sites associated with Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection.
St. Ambrose, writing about Helena:
“She sought the footprints of the Lord and found the places of His passion and resurrection. She adorned them with splendid churches.”
— On the Death of Theodosius, 46
🛕 Destruction of Pagan Shrines and Christian Churches Built
Constantine ordered the destruction of Hadrian’s pagan temples and initiated a large-scale Christian building project:
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Church of the Holy Sepulchre (335 A.D.)
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Built over Golgotha and the tomb of Christ, previously buried under Hadrian’s shrine to Venus.
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Eusebius records the dramatic uncovering of Christ’s tomb during excavation.
“The cave of the Savior was discovered, and the holy sepulchre revealed... the emperor ordered a magnificent house of prayer to be raised.”
— Life of Constantine, Book 3, ch. 28–30
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Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem
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Eleona Church on the Mount of Olives
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Church of the Ascension (later rebuilt by Christians)
Socrates Scholasticus, 5th-century Church historian:
“The emperor directed the bishop Macarius to erect a church on the site where the Savior had been buried... having razed to the ground the idol-temples.”
— Ecclesiastical History, Book 1, ch. 17
Part IV: Restoration of the Bishopric of Jerusalem
Jerusalem’s ecclesiastical status began to be restored in the fourth and fifth centuries:
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Council of Nicaea (325) granted the bishop of Aelia a position of honor but still subordinate to Caesarea (Canon 7).
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Council of Chalcedon (451) officially elevated Jerusalem to a patriarchate, recognizing its ancient roots and spiritual significance.
Conclusion: From Desecration to Resurrection
Hadrian tried to erase Jerusalem’s religious identity by turning it into a pagan Roman colony, banning Jews and Jewish-Christians, and erecting temples to false gods over holy places.
But two centuries later, Constantine reversed the desecration. With Helena’s help, the Church reclaimed the sacred geography of salvation history — not with weapons, but with faith, memory, and stone.
The transformation from Aelia Capitolina to Christian Jerusalem wasn’t just political. It was theological. The city that once rejected Christ was now being rebuilt in His name — and would remain the heart of Christian pilgrimage for the next 1,700 years.
📚 References & Further Reading
Primary Sources
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Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History, Life of Constantine, Demonstratio Evangelica
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Cassius Dio, Roman History, Book 69
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St. Epiphanius, Panarion
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St. Ambrose, On the Death of Theodosius
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Socrates Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History
Secondary Sources
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Robert Louis Wilken, The Land Called Holy
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Joan E. Taylor, Christians and the Holy Places
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W.H.C. Frend, The Rise of Christianity
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Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide
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Catechism of the Catholic Church §638–640
🏛️ Aelia Capitolina and the Temple Mount: A Pagan Outrage with Apocalyptic Echoes
Among the most provocative acts carried out by Emperor Hadrian was the erection of pagan shrines and statues on the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism and a place with deep theological significance to early Christians. This wasn’t merely a religious insult—it may have shaped how early Christians read the Book of Revelation and the writings of St. Paul about the end times.
🔺 The Temple Mount Desecrated
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Hadrian built a temple to Jupiter directly over the ruins of the Jewish Temple.
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A statue of Jupiter and likely a statue of Hadrian himself were erected on the site.
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This act was widely understood as a desecration of what had been the earthly dwelling place of the God of Israel.
Cassius Dio (Roman History, Book 69.12):
“He founded a city called Aelia Capitolina on the site of Jerusalem, and built a temple to Jupiter where the Jewish temple had stood.”
Eusebius of Caesarea, Demonstratio Evangelica VI.18:
“They planted idols upon the holy place, and built a temple to their own god [Jupiter] upon the ruins of the one God’s sanctuary.”
This dramatic replacement of the worship of God with the worship of man and idols would have reminded early Christians of vivid apocalyptic warnings.
🔥 Was This Seen as a Fulfillment of Prophecy?
📖 2 Thessalonians 2:3–4 – The Man of Lawlessness
“Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.”
— 2 Thessalonians 2:3–4
This prophecy, often interpreted by the Church Fathers as referring to the Antichrist, directly mentions someone standing in the temple of God and claiming divine status. For early Christians, Hadrian’s actions — especially the statue of himself in the Temple precinct — would have seemed alarmingly close to this description.
📖 Revelation 11:1–2 – The Outer Court Trampled by Gentiles
*“Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will *trample the holy city for forty-two months.”
— Revelation 11:1–2
The phrase “trample the holy city” by “the nations” (i.e., Gentiles) fits the image of Roman soldiers and architects rebuilding Jerusalem as a pagan city, with shrines to false gods and imperial idols.
St. Jerome, writing in the 4th century:
“Hadrian profaned the holy places with idols... setting up statues of Jupiter and himself on the site of the Temple.”
— Commentary on Matthew 24
🏺 Echoes of the "Abomination of Desolation"
Jesus Himself referred to “the abomination of desolation” (cf. Matthew 24:15), a phrase originally from Daniel 9:27, which early Christians believed pointed to both the destruction of the Temple and the defilement of sacred space.
“So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place...”
— Matthew 24:15
Hadrian’s act of putting pagan idols in the Temple area was seen by many Christians as a fulfillment or foreshadowing of that prophecy.
Origen, early Christian theologian (c. 185–253 A.D.), writes:
“The prophecy concerning the abomination of desolation was fulfilled when the Temple was profaned by the Romans... and again when the image of the emperor was set up in the holy place.”
— Against Celsus, Book VI
🧩 Conclusion: A Political Act with Theological Impact
Hadrian’s transformation of Jerusalem into Aelia Capitolina and the desecration of the Temple Mount weren’t just political — they were spiritual provocations. For the early Church, these acts were read through the lens of Scripture: not merely as anti-Jewish persecution, but as signs that resonated with the apocalyptic vision of Paul, Revelation, Daniel, and Christ Himself.
It is no surprise that, for centuries, Christians remembered Hadrian’s pagan city not just as a historical footnote — but as a symbol of the Antichrist’s rebellion, a warning of what happens when man tries to replace God with himself.
📚 Expanded References & Sources
Scripture:
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Daniel 9:27
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Matthew 24:15
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2 Thessalonians 2:3–4
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Revelation 11:1–2
Ancient Sources:
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Cassius Dio, Roman History
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Eusebius of Caesarea, Demonstratio Evangelica, Life of Constantine
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St. Jerome, Commentary on Matthew
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Origen, Against Celsus
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St. Epiphanius, Panarion
Modern Historians:
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Robert Louis Wilken, The Land Called Holy
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Joan E. Taylor, Christians and the Holy Places
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W.H.C. Frend, The Rise of Christianity
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Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide
The Nazarenes, the Desposyni, and the Lost Jewish-Christian Church of Jerusalem
Introduction
When people think of early Christianity, they often picture Paul’s missionary journeys, the martyrdom of Peter and Paul in Rome, or the dramatic spread of the Gospel across the Greco-Roman world. But what often gets overlooked is that the earliest followers of Jesus were Jewish, and nowhere was this more visible than in the Jerusalem Church, led by those closest to Christ — including His own family.
In this post, we explore the role of the Nazarenes and the Desposyni — two vital groups of Jewish-Christians — in the earliest Church, their leadership in Jerusalem, and how they were ultimately exiled after the Bar Kokhba Revolt, making way for Gentile bishops and a new phase of Church history.
Who Were the Nazarenes?
The Nazarenes were early Jewish followers of Jesus who:
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Accepted Him as the Messiah, Son of God, and risen Lord
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Continued to observe Torah, circumcision, Sabbath, and dietary laws
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Acknowledged both Old and New Testaments
They were not heretical by early Church standards — unlike the Ebionites, who denied the divinity of Christ and rejected Paul.
St. Epiphanius described them this way:
“They use not only the New Testament but also the Old, as the Jews do... They have no different ideas, but confess everything exactly as the law proclaims it and in the Jewish fashion—except for their belief in Christ.”
— Panarion, 29.7
These Jewish-Christians formed the backbone of the original Jerusalem Church, closely connected to the Apostles.
Who Were the Desposyni?
The Desposyni (from the Greek despotes, "Lord") refers to Jesus’ blood relatives — particularly through His extended family. The term is applied to men like James the Just, called the “brother of the Lord” (Galatians 1:19), who became the first bishop of Jerusalem.
The Desposyni were:
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Of the House of David, fulfilling messianic expectations
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Recognized leaders in the early Church
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Respected by both Jewish and Gentile believers
Eusebius of Caesarea, quoting the early Christian chronicler Hegesippus, wrote:
“After James the Just had suffered martyrdom... Simeon, the son of Clopas, was appointed the next bishop. He was a cousin of the Savior.”
— Ecclesiastical History, 4.22
The Desposyni provided stability, continuity, and a deeply Jewish expression of the Christian faith — one rooted in the Law, the Prophets, and the life of Jesus.
The First Fifteen Bishops of Jerusalem Were Jewish
Before the Roman exile of Jews from Jerusalem, the Church there was led by fifteen consecutive Jewish-Christian bishops. This list, preserved by Eusebius, includes:
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James the Just
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Simeon son of Clopas
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Justus
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Zacchaeus
... (and 11 others)
Eusebius wrote:
“Up to the siege of the Jews under Hadrian, there were fifteen bishops in succession, all of Hebrew origin, who received the knowledge of Christ in purity.”
— Ecclesiastical History, 4.5
These leaders likely came from or were closely connected to the Nazarenes and Desposyni, upholding Jewish-Christian identity in the Church’s most sacred city.
Exile After the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132–135 A.D.)
The Bar Kokhba Revolt was a massive Jewish uprising against Rome. After its brutal suppression, Emperor Hadrian took unprecedented measures:
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Renamed Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina
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Built a temple to Jupiter over the Temple Mount
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Erected statues of pagan gods and of himself
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Banned Jews from entering Jerusalem, including Jewish-Christians
This effectively expelled the Nazarenes and Desposyni from their home city.
St. Epiphanius recorded:
“From the time of Hadrian until the reign of Constantine, the succession of bishops in Jerusalem was Gentile, for all the Jews were prohibited from entering the city.”
— Panarion, 29.7
The Bishopric Passes to Gentiles
With Jewish-Christians exiled, the Church in Jerusalem changed forever:
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Marcus became the first Gentile bishop of Aelia (formerly Jerusalem)
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The bishopric’s name and prestige were downgraded
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It was placed under the authority of the Metropolitan of Caesarea
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The Jerusalem Church lost its Jewish-Christian heritage
Though the Nazarenes and Desposyni likely continued to live and worship in surrounding areas like Pella, their influence on the central Church was diminished.
St. Jerome noted:
“Certain of the Desposyni, relatives of our Lord according to the flesh, survived until the time of Emperor Domitian.”
— On Illustrious Men, 2
The Legacy of the Nazarenes and Desposyni
The loss of Jewish-Christian leadership in Jerusalem marked a turning point in Church history. Over time, Christianity became increasingly Gentile in expression and leadership, and its Jewish roots faded from memory in many quarters.
Yet the Nazarenes and Desposyni:
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Preserve the bridge between Judaism and Christianity
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Remind us of the Church’s original context and heritage
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Show that belief in Christ was not a betrayal of the Law, but its fulfillment (cf. Matthew 5:17)
Conclusion
The story of the Nazarenes and Desposyni is more than a footnote. It’s a forgotten chapter of the early Church that challenges us to remember our roots.
The Christian faith was not born in Rome or Athens, but in Jerusalem, nurtured by Jewish believers who followed Jesus as the promised Messiah. Their leadership, sacrifice, and exile laid the foundation for the worldwide Church, even if their names are too often forgotten.
📚 Sources & References
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Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, Books 4 and 5
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St. Epiphanius, Panarion, 29
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St. Jerome, On Illustrious Men, 2
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Robert Wilken, The Land Called Holy
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Joan E. Taylor, Christians and the Holy Places
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W.H.C. Frend, The Rise of Christianity
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Galatians 1:19, Acts 15, Matthew 5:17
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Epiphanius, Panarion
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Hegesippus (as quoted in Eusebius)
Timeline: The Transformation of the Jerusalem Church (30 AD – 451 AD)
c. 30-33 AD
Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus in Jerusalem. The early Christian movement begins among Jewish followers of Jesus.
c. 33 AD
James the Just, relative of Jesus, becomes the first Bishop of Jerusalem (Galatians 1:19).
33–100 AD
The Church in Jerusalem remains predominantly Jewish-Christian (Nazarenes and Desposyni). Leadership continues in the hands of Jesus' relatives and Jewish converts.
70 AD
Destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans. Many Christians flee Jerusalem to Pella in the Decapolis, preserving their faith and community.
c. 70–135 AD
Jerusalem Christians slowly return. Church led by a succession of 15 Jewish-Christian bishops, maintaining Jewish customs while proclaiming Christ.
132–135 AD
Bar Kokhba Revolt. Emperor Hadrian crushes the rebellion, bans all Jews from Jerusalem, and turns the city into a pagan colony: Aelia Capitolina.
135 AD
Hadrian builds a temple to Jupiter on the Temple Mount and places statues of pagan gods and possibly himself. Nazarenes and Desposyni are exiled with other Jews.
135–180 AD
Gentile bishops now lead the Church in Jerusalem (Aelia). Marcus becomes the first non-Jewish bishop.
313 AD
Edict of Milan. Christianity is legalized under Constantine the Great.
326–335 AD
St. Helena, Constantine's mother, visits the Holy Land. Constantine orders the destruction of pagan shrines and the construction of Christian churches, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
325 AD
Council of Nicaea grants the Bishop of Aelia special honor but keeps him under Caesarea.
451 AD
Council of Chalcedon restores the prestige of Jerusalem, elevating the Bishop to Patriarch of Jerusalem and restoring the city’s Christian identity fully.
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