Grotto of Gethsemane

The cave commonly known as the Grotto of Gethsemane (which in Aramaic means the place of the olive oil press) is located to the right of the Tomb of the Virgin, with its entrance at the end of a corridor. Since the fourth century, tradition has placed here the betrayal of Judas. After his agony in the Garden of Olives, Jesus came to meet the Apostles who were resting in the cave, where Judas arrived with the guards. The Franciscans took possession of the cave in 1361 and, in contrast to the Tomb of the Virgin, have continued to be its owners to the present day. Following a flood in 1955, the Custody of the Holy Land carried out excavations directed by Father Virgilio Corbo that permitted the investigation of the structure and led to a number of interesting discoveries. The cave, measuring approximately 19 x 10meters and 3.5 meters high, has continued to maintain a “natural” appearance despite the various transformations it has undergone. Initially it would have been used for agricultural purposes, with cisterns and drainage ditches for water and perhaps an olive press; beginning in the fourth century it became a rock church used for funerary purposes; in the Crusader period the vault of the cave was decorated with paintings of stars and scenes from the Gospels.