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Executive Summary Executive Summary View View of Looking Manger East Square Towards Church of the Nativity and the Its Ensemble

17 Executive summary Executive summary View View of looking east Square towards and the its ensemble

18 ment of the three Churches responsible for the Church of the the birth and life of . It is brought forward with the agree- rounding , particularly those related to of the story sur- and inside sites include will which nomination serial a of rightfor its own part the Worldfirst on the inscription also in is it HeritageList; valid a property of is nomination This Value Universal Outstanding of Statement Justification, sentially oftheHistoric CityofBethlehem. es- consists property proposed the around Zone Buffer The Square. Manger of side north the and Street VI Paul of part Street, Star by defined now long, m 712 total in Route, age Pilgrim- the west, the to and, east; its to immediately land of ciscan and the Armenian Convents, together with a small area tivity and the three Convents: the Greek Orthodox, the Fran- Na-the of Church the of ensemble architectural the east, the The defines boundary the proposed property, consisting of, to the of nominated property boundary(ies) the of Description Textual Longitude Latitude Geographical coordinates tothenearest second Bethlehem State, Province orRegion State ofPalestine State Party 35° 12’03’’ Eto35°12’35’’ E 31° 42’04’’ Nto31°42’32’’ N the east. Shepherds’ the Field,Sahour,to Beit Desert the in MarSabaMonastery and Sahour, Beit of Town Historic the as such cally the Buffer Zone, and further nominations could include Historic basi- Townthe here include Bethlehem, will of tion nomina- second The ensemble. architectural its and Nativity lished by the Treaty ofBerlin (1878). estab- Quo) Status (the partnership a in Church Armenian the , the Order of St Francis and the of members by overseen ensemble, architectural traordinary ex- an in embedded is it today result, a As monastic. mainly buildings, ecclesiastical other of complex a into incorporated increasingly been has Church the times medieval early Since in dailyuse. church Christian oldest the is It alterations. later many with ity, essentially of the mid-6th AD century (Justinian), though Nativ- the of Church present the by overlaid is church This nal eastern end surrounded, and provided of, a view the cave. octago- its that so arranged was ground,below survive which The original basilican church of 339 AD (St Helena), parts of spots inChristendom. marks the beginnings of and is one of the holiest be the Birthplace itself. In locating the Nativity, the to place believed both over traditionally is cave, built, was Church particular first the which One born. was Jesus where is stands Nativity,the nowof Bethlehem, Church the where place the that believed have people AD century 2nd the least at Since Justification

19 Christ 53/27, Bethlehem 2000; Annexes 2 and 3). 2000; Annexes Bethlehem and one of the most historic and significant sites on earth’ and one of the most (UN General Assembly, 53rd Session, Agenda item 157, Agenda Session, 53rd Assembly, (UN General ‘… the Palestinian City of Bethlehem is the birthplace of Jesus is the birthplace of Bethlehem of Jesus City ‘… the Palestinian Statement of Significance Statement It It is tempting to let the above quotation stand as the State- ment of Significance without further elaboration. appropriate some adding it, to gloss a provides merely lowing The fol- detail. The essence ofBethlehem is that it is the birthplacefounder ofof one the of the major world’s religions. As it has been for some two millennia, Bethlehem is a focus of belief and Christian worship; with , it is at the heart of Christian the world. , the most widely celebrated reli- birth Jesus’ storyof the on based is world, the in gious which occurred here. role Jesus’ as Issa, the divinely inspired prophet in Islamic belief, is also significant and underscores the sanctity of the place. For two thousand years, the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem has touched the beliefs of millions of people around the world, both Muslim and Christian. In addition, it drew the atten- tion of Christians to the little town that was privileged to be des- pilgrimage a became Bethlehem Nativity. the of place the tion) has been carried out in Bethlehem. A first nomination can, therefore, now be made from a position of knowledge .and strength Immediate Justification Immediate Theimmediate justification for inscription at is World Heri- the 2002 in recorded formally encouragement, Committee’s tage of the after Church the Nativity in its Budapest, 26th Session resolved Committee The action. military in involved been had with together that Bethlehem, this and Church the , cultural other major heritage ’s of sites assessment in and Palestine, survey should a be result, a better As - pro tected. and natural heritage in 2002–04, by part-funded UNESCO, led to the in publication 2005 by Ministry of the Palestinian - and Nat and Antiquities, of an Inventory of Cultural Tourism ural Heritage Sites of Value Outstanding Universal Potential in (to Palestine meet demand, reprinted in as well as in atmeeting its this received Committee The 2009). English, 2005. TheInventory ranked 20 propertiesby their potential first. came Bethlehem value; outstanding universal and support, much work (survey, assessment and conserva- For most of the last 1500 years, Bethlehem and the Church of Church the and Bethlehem years, 1500 last the of most For pilgrim a case, the much very still is as been, have Nativity the destination. The eastern end of the traditionalroute Je- from rusalem to the Church is along what is now officially called the Pilgrimage Route, that is, along Star Street, through the Damascus Gate, and along a short stretch of Paul VI Street and Manger Square. Thisroute is still followed ceremonially at their sev- Churches of the three the Patriarchs by each year eral . The Christian Christmas, centred onBeth- lehem, is the most widely-celebrated religious festival in the world. Since 2005, greatly encouraged by the interest Committee’s

20 Apart from route-related reasons, Star Street/Paul VI Street, VI Street/PaulStar reasons, route-related from Apart Church. what was formerly the atrium in front of the west of the PaulSquareMangerand of Streetenter VI to Streetpart and Star along processing Churches, Armenian and Eastern ern, West-the Patriarchsof the by celebrations year Christmas during each followed now is it Bethlehem; to Nazareth from way their on Joseph and Mary by followed traditionally that town,the into is and approachroute,to the same that of end ing to the town during Iron Age and earlier times. The eastern lead- route traceable only the is Bethlehem to approach That Bethlehem. of town the through Hebron to north inJerusalem, heading starts Land’ the ‘Holy to route pilgrims’ The AD. about themillenniumeithersideof1stcentury information of resource research scientific a as potential high area is included in this nomination in particular because of its the ground, below examined systematically yet Not Orders. three by,those owned still and with, associated traditionally land all is Church the of east area open The Armenian. and which look after the Holy place: Greek Orthodox, Franciscan Orders three the of spaces and buildings contains ensemble The Justinian. of the use, daily in still world the in including as it does parts of the oldest known church building unique, also Jesus’is of birth place the be to believed is what The ensemble of religious buildings above and clustered around tourist destination. major a to village agricultural small a from onwards, century mid-19th the from particularly changed, then and tination, been testedinpractice. management of historic Bethlehem and its surroundings have pleted and the recently agreed Guidelines (Annexe 12) for the and evaluation ofthehistoricfabricandurbanscapeare com- survey detailed current the once presented be will This tion. nomina- subsequent a in city historic the of parts propriate ap- include to intention the of expression an as nomination this in included also city,are historic the in streets principal www. bethlehem-whs.pna.ps E-mail: Fax: Tel: Address: Organization: agen Name and information of official local institution/ ing universal significance. outstand- of beliefs and events with associated directly are it, to Route Pilgrimage the Nativity, the and of Church The vi. century. the 4th–6th centuries AD and in later stages up to the present ensemble in history human in stage architectural significant a both illustrates which remarkable a in church early example an is anoutstanding of the Nativity of Church The iv. Criteria isnominated underwhichproperty cy: [email protected] + 972(0)22743753 + 972(0)22741581/2/3 Bethlehem, Palestine P.O. Box 534 of Ministry Tourism andAntiquities

21 Nomination boundaries and Buffer Zone boundaries and Buffer Nomination

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