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The whole complex includes Greek and Armenian monasteries, the Church of Saint Catherine, the cloister of Saint Jerome, in the basement of the Basilica are monastic caves , and the Grotto of the Nativity.

The Church is built over a cave which is traditionally believed to be the Manger in which the Virgin Mother Mary gave birth to Jesus.

The main altar of the Church. In front of the High altar from the nave and congregation is the extravagant ‘iconostasis’. The high altar, where the choir stand, the nave and its aisles all fall under the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox denomination.

The 1,700 year old basilica showing its age: The lead-covered roof leaks, the ancient rafters are rotting and water drips onto the 12th-century mosaics of hovering angels. So bad is the decay that it was listed by the United Nations as an endangered world heritage site in 2012.

The three Christian denominations that share the joint custody of the pilgrimage site — the Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic churches and the Franciscan order of Roman Catholics — were persuaded by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to allow Italian craftsmen, working alongside structural engineers and wood scientists, to perform the first major documented restoration since Venetian carpenters rebuilt the roof in 1479.