The Architectural History of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem: the Question of the Periodization of Melchior De Vogüé

Abstract

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem has been actively studied since the middle of the 19th century. At the same time, the opinion was formed that the building passed through four construction stages. This periodization was developed and first proposed by Melchior De Vogüé in 1859. Later, it was developed in the research works of L.-H. Vincent and F.-M. Abel (1914-1922), Ch. Couasnon (1974), V.C. Corbo (1981-1982). However, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre has undergone much more destruction and local restoration works, as reported by written sources. The goal of this paper is to get a more complete picture of the shrine history by analyzing the medieval descriptions of it.