The Catholic Church of St. Anne is located in the Muslim Quarter, near the Lions' Gate. Christian tradition has it that there was a house of the parents of the Virgin Mary, the righteous Joachim and Anna.

Orthodox tradition indicates a slightly different place of birth of the Blessed Virgin: seventy meters away, where there is the Greek Orthodox Church of the Nativity of the Virgin. However, the household of a wealthy family of Joachim and Anna was great, and it is possible that it captured the territory of both churches.

In the canonical Gospels do not describe the circumstances of the birth of the Virgin. This can be read in the apocryphal Gospel of James, created in the II century. In pious Joachim and Anna for a long time had no children; not only others, but themselves wife took it as a sign of God's disfavor. However, the angel who appeared to Anna said that God heard her prayers, she will give birth, and this child, "they say in the world." Anna gave birth to a girl who was to become the mother of Christ.

The site on which stands the church, ancient history: the Romans there was a pagan temple in the Byzantine period it was replaced by Christian basilica. The current building was erected during the reign of the Crusaders of the legendary Queen Melisende between 1131 and 1138 years. Unlike many Christian churches, the church survived when in 1187 Sultan Saladin captured Jerusalem. Conqueror Housed in a madrasa. By XV century the Muslim school has become one of the most famous and prestigious in Jerusalem. Gradually, the authorities allowed for a fee of Christian pilgrims to visit the crypt in which, according to legend, the Virgin Mary was born. Over time, the building fell into disrepair, in 1856, Sultan Abdul-Majid I gave him in gratitude for French support Turkey in the Crimean War.

The French carefully restored temple. Now the church belongs to the French Government, its ministers to White Fathers (this small congregation whose members wear white robes leads missionary and educational activities in Africa).

The church - a great example of Romanesque architecture. Above the gates of the inscription in Arabic script, reminiscent of a time when there was located madrassas. Three chapels are separated by rows of tall columns with bases in the form of a cross. The magnificent marble altar created by sculptor Philip French Keppelin skillfully executed reliefs depict evangelical scenes: the Annunciation, the Nativity of Christ, Descent from the Cross. In the southern aisle is a staircase leading to the crypt of the temple - there is a grotto which tradition associates with the place of the Nativity of the Virgin.

High arches and perfect proportions of the building create a wonderful acoustics are wonderful sounds of Gregorian chants. You can often hear groups of pilgrims singing hymns.

The church is right next to the pool excavation - most likely, this is a Bethesda, in which, as John says, Jesus healed a paralytic (Jn. 5: 1-16). Immediately - ruins of a Byzantine basilica and the remains of a Roman pagan temple.