Remains of three Basilicas all destroyed by invasions of conquerors and barbarians
Shepherds' Tomb with Justinians pillars
In the life of the Saints (synaxaristes), it is mentioned that the angel who spoke to the shepherds was the Archangel Gabriel. Local Christians call the site by the name of "Kaniseter Rawat", which means "place of the shepherds' shelter", while in Greek the site is known simply as "Poemenion" meaning "the pasture". But, for centuries, the Holy Shrine has been known as the Synaxis of the Theotokos, "Glory to God in the Highest", Peace to the Holy Angels, and to the Shepherds' Field.This cave was one of many churches built by Saint Helena, only this cave church is the original one: all others have been destroyed (see History scenes)an rebuilt through the centuries. This cave functioned first as a shelter. Then, it became the tomb of the shepherds, and has been treated as such by christians since the forth century. Therefore, directly connected with Jesus, it has been venerated as a holy place from the earliest Christian times. It is mentioned that the Cave is precisely located in the itineraries of Christian pilgrims, the earliest being Aetheria, dating the second half of the itineraries, that the site of the Shepherds' Field is located to the east of Bethlehem and at a distance of about one kilometer from the Basilica of the Nativity. On the basis of archaeological evidence, it has been proved that the church dates to the early Byzantine Period, and that it is the earliest Christian structurebuilt on this site. Therefore the evidence of the excavation are in full agreement with the early Christian written sources, and the site of Kaniseter Rawat is infact the ruin of the Christian holy site of the Shepherds' Field.
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The Entrance of the Cave
Church