 Click Photo for Larger Version
|
Image ToolbarPlease read before you download
Images and/or text from holylandphotos.org are NOT TO BE USED ON OTHER WEB SITES, NOR COMMERCIALLY, without special permission. To request permission contact us at holylandphotos@gmail.com. |
A photograph of the interior of the South Church. The central nave of the church leads up to the raised chancel area, and behind that is the large, well-preserved central apse of the church with its semi-dome. This side of the apse, on the left is a flat stone. This would have been the ambo, or preaching platform.
Each of the two aisles of the church lead up to two smaller apses called pastophoria. These were used for the storage of vestments or Eucharist elements. Note also the room above the apse on the right side.
The church was constructed in the fourth century AD and refurbished a number of times. There is even an inscription that dates to AD 640, just shortly after the Muslim conquest of the Negev.
