St. Catherine's Church Interior

The church of Saint Catherine was built in 1881 to replace an older Crusader Church that had been built over an even older Byzantine monastery.

Here the church has been prepared for a wedding ceremony.

St. Catherine of Alexandria Egypt was a female martyr.  Her connection with Bethlehem is not known, but she may have been honored here by Saint Paula—the benefactor of St. Jerome.  Saint Paula may have named the Byzantine monastery in honor of this other pious lady—both being examples of pious living and being faithful to death.