Looking up toward the southwestern skyline of Jerusalem from the Hinnom Valley or along the sixteenth-century Ottoman ramparts of the Old City, every traveler's eye is drawn to an unmistakable silhouette crowning the crest of Mount Zion like a medieval Rhenish fortress-abbey bathed in the warm golden light of Judea. A monumental circular church flanked by four octagonal corner turrets and a tall, detached conical-roofed bell tower combines the austere Romanesque geometry of Cologne and Aachen with alternating bands of cream and rose-red local Jerusalem limestone.
Crossing the tranquil stone courtyard immediately adjacent to David's Tomb and the Cenacle (Upper Room) and stepping inside the resonant rotunda filled with the scent of incense and the polyphonic chant of black-robed Benedictine monks, visitors enter the Abbey of the Dormition on Mount Zion (known in German as the Dormitio-Abtei and officially titled since 1998 the Abbey of Hagia Maria Sion). Built on land acquired by German Emperor Wilhelm II in 1898 and solemnly consecrated on April 10, 1910 as a sanctuary of the Catholic Church, this papal minor basilica rises directly over the foundations of the fifth-century Byzantine basilica of Hagia Sion to commemorate the Dormition (Falling Asleep) of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the conclusion of her earthly life in Jerusalem.
IThe Mystery of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary and the Ancient Tradition of Hagia Sion
In the ancient liturgical and theological heritage shared by both Eastern and Western Christianity, the passing of the Blessed Virgin Mary from this earthly life is honored by the poetic title of the Dormition (from the Latin Dormitio Beatae Mariae Virginis, corresponding to the Greek Koimesis tes Theotokou in Orthodox Christianity, meaning the Falling Asleep of the Mother of God). According to early Jerusalem Christian tradition attested by patristic writers including Saint John of Damascus (in his three famous Eighth-Century Homilies on the Dormition) and Saint Jerome, following Christ's Ascension from the Mount of Olives and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost in the Upper Room, the Virgin Mary spent her remaining years on Earth in the house of the Apostle John right here on the summit of Mount Zion.
When the hour came for her to depart this world, the Apostles were gathered around her couch on Mount Zion as Mary peacefully closed her eyes in a painless sleep untouched by bodily corruption, whereupon Christ Himself received her soul and raised her glorified body into heaven. When Pope Pius XII solemnly defined the dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Assumptio) in the Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus on November 1, 1950, the papal text carefully used the phrase having completed the course of her earthly life, thereby honoring and embracing the venerable Jerusalem tradition of Mary's Dormition on Mount Zion as the threshold of her bodily Assumption into heavenly glory.
On the centenary of the monastery's foundation in 1998, the Benedictine community restored the ancient title Hagia Maria Sion (Holy Mary of Mount Zion). In biblical theology, the Daughter of Zion (Bat Tzion) personifies the holy city of Jerusalem and the faithful covenant people awaiting the Messiah; in Christian typology, the Virgin Mary is venerated as the fulfillment of the Daughter of Zion, the living Ark of the New Covenant who bore the Incarnate Word and stood at the heart of the newborn Church at Pentecost on Mount Zion.
Because the crest of Mount Zion was associated simultaneously with the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper, the appearances of the Risen Christ to the Apostles, the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, the great fifth-century basilica of Hagia Sion erected on this site was revered in patristic literature and the ancient Jerusalem liturgy as the Mother of All Churches (Meter pason ton Ekklesion). Today, as the Benedictine monks chant the seven daily offices of the Liturgy of the Hours inside the Abbey of the Dormition, they carry forward a fifteen-hundred-year monastic tradition of continuous praise on Mount Zion.
The most vivid visual and archaeological testimony to the great predecessor church beneath the Abbey of the Dormition is preserved on the sixth-century Madaba Mosaic Map in Jordan and in the excavations conducted in 1899 by architects Heinrich Renard and Theodor Sandel. At the southern end of the colonnaded Cardo Maximus on the Madaba Map stands a prominent red-roofed basilica directly adjoining the smaller structure of the Cenacle: this is the five-aisled Basilica of Hagia Sion constructed between 390 and 415 CE by Bishop John II of Jerusalem. When foundation trenches were dug for the modern Abbey in 1899 and 1900, archaeologists uncovered directly beneath the present rotunda the massive ashlar walls and pier bases of both the fifth-century Byzantine Basilica of Hagia Sion and the twelfth-century Crusader Abbey Church of Saint Mary of Mount Zion (Sancta Maria in Monte Sion), a vast three-aisled church measuring some 72 meters long by 36 meters wide that once encompassed both the Dormition site and the adjacent Upper Room.
Pilgrims in Jerusalem often wonder why two major sanctuaries in the city commemorate the end of the Virgin Mary's earthly life: the Abbey of the Dormition crowning Mount Zion in the southwest, and the subterranean Church of the Sepulchre of Saint Mary (Tomb of the Virgin Mary) at the foot of the Mount of Olives in the Kidron Valley (next to the Church of All Nations and Gethsemane). Far from contradicting each other, the two sites form two halves of a single fifth-century Jerusalem liturgical narrative: the Abbey of the Dormition on Mount Zion marks the house where the Virgin Mary lived and peacefully fell asleep in the Lord surrounded by the Apostles; whereas the Tomb of the Virgin Mary in the Kidron Valley marks the rock-cut burial chamber to which the Apostles carried her body in solemn procession prior to her bodily Assumption into heaven.
IIFrom the Fifth-Century Basilica of Hagia Sion to Emperor Wilhelm II's Visit of 1898
Across Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the sanctuary on Mount Zion experienced dramatic cycles of splendor and destruction. Bishop John II's basilica of Hagia Sion (completed c. 415 CE) was burned during the Sasanian Persian sack of 614, rebuilt by Patriarch Modestus, and severely damaged again in 966 and under Caliph al-Hakim in 1009. After the Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099, they erected the monumental abbey and basilica of Sancta Maria in Monte Sion entrusted to the Augustinian Canons Regular, uniting the Chapel of the Dormition in its northern nave with the Cenacle in its southern wing. Following the Ayyubid recovery of Jerusalem in 1187 and the dismantling of the city's fortifications under Sultan al-Mu'azzam Isa in 1219, the great Crusader basilica was reduced to ruins (leaving only the two-story Cenacle and Tomb of David structure, which was cared for by the Franciscans in the fourteenth century before becoming an Ottoman mosque in 1524).
The turning point that gave rise to the modern Abbey of the Dormition occurred in October 1898 during the historic state journey to Jerusalem by German Emperor Wilhelm II and Empress Auguste Viktoria. On the morning of October 31, 1898, the Kaiser dedicated the Protestant Church of the Redeemer (Erlöserkirche) in the Muristan; that very afternoon, he rode up to the summit of Mount Zion to take formal possession of the al-Nabi Dawud plot beside the Cenacle, which he had purchased from the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II for 120,000 gold marks. Although a Lutheran himself, Emperor Wilhelm II presented this prized parcel of land to the German Association of the Holy Land (Deutscher Verein vom Heiligen Lande, headquartered in the Archdiocese of Cologne) so that his German Catholic subjects could build a basilica and abbey honoring the Virgin Mary on Mount Zion.
- 390 to 415 CEBishop John II of Jerusalem builds the Byzantine Basilica of Hagia SionThe monumental five-aisled basilica of Hagia Sion is erected on Mount Zion, depicted on the sixth-century Madaba Mosaic Map and venerated as the Mother of All Churches.
- 1100 to 1219 CECrusader Basilica of Sancta Maria in Monte Sion and its destructionCrusaders construct a 72-meter-long church encompassing both the Dormition site and the Cenacle; the church is demolished in 1219 under Sultan al-Mu'azzam Isa, leaving the northwestern plot in ruins for nearly seven centuries.
- Oct 31, 1898German Emperor Wilhelm II purchases the Mount Zion site and grants it to the German AssociationThrough diplomatic mediation with Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II, Kaiser Wilhelm II acquires the land beside the Cenacle for 120,000 gold marks and entrusts it to the German Association of the Holy Land (Cologne).
- Oct 7, 1900Foundation stone laid according to plans by architect Heinrich RenardFollowing 1899 archaeological excavations, Cologne diocesan architect Heinrich Renard designs the Neo-Romanesque rotunda, and Jerusalem architect Theodor Sandel directs construction from October 1900.
- Apr 10, 1910Solemn consecration of the Basilica and arrival of the Beuron Benedictine monksGerman Benedictine monks from Beuron Abbey take up residence in 1906; on April 10, 1910, Latin Patriarch Filippo Camassei solemnly consecrates the church.
- 1926 and 1957Elevation to an independent Abbey (1926) and Papal Minor Basilica (1957)Pope Pius XI elevates the monastery to the rank of an Abbey in 1926, and Pope Pius XII bestows the title of Papal Minor Basilica (Basilica Minor) in July 1957.
- 1964, 1973 to 2014Papal visits and founding of the ecumenical Theological Study YearIn 1973 Abbot Laurentius Klein establishes the ecumenical Theological Study Year in Jerusalem; the Abbey welcomes Pope Paul VI (1964), Pope John Paul II (2000), Pope Benedict XVI (2009), and Pope Francis (2014).
Diplomatic sensitivity in the placement of the bell tower by Heinrich Renard and Theodor Sandel. When Cologne architect Heinrich Renard (1868 to 1928) and Jerusalem supervising architect Theodor Sandel (1845 to 1902, a prominent member of the German Templer colony) laid out the Abbey of the Dormition in 1900, the building plot bordered immediately upon the complex of David's Tomb and the Cenacle (then administered as the revered Muslim shrine of Maqam an-Nabi Dawud by the Dajani family). Out of respect for their neighbors and in fulfillment of an explicit pledge made to the Ottoman authorities that the shadow of the new Christian bell tower would never fall upon the dome of the Tomb of David, Renard and Sandel detached the tall belfry from the main church rotunda and shifted it to the far southwestern edge of the property.
For more than a century, the Benedictine community of the Dormition Abbey has cared not only for the Mount Zion sanctuary but also for the monastic priory and the Church of the Multiplication at Tabgha on the Sea of Galilee. Since 1973, the Abbey has also hosted the celebrated Theological Study Year in Jerusalem (Theologisches Studienjahr Jerusalem), an intensive ecumenical program bringing Catholic and Protestant theology students from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland to Jerusalem to study Scripture, archaeology, Jewish studies, and Islamic studies directly with Jewish, Muslim, and Orthodox scholars.
IIIThe Neo-Romanesque Rotunda, the Golden Apse of Hagia Sion, and the Sleeping Mary of the Crypt
The architecture of the Abbey of the Dormition represents a masterful synthesis of German Rhenish Romanesque (inspired by the Carolingian Palatine Chapel of Aachen Cathedral and the Benedictine Abbey of Maria Laach) with traditional Levantine stone masonry. The basilica is designed as a monumental circular rotunda measuring roughly 34 meters in outer diameter, crowned by a tall conical lead-sheathed roof and framed at its four corners by four octagonal stair turrets. Across the exterior arches and walls, local Jerusalem masons employed the classic Mamluk ablaq technique of alternating courses of cream-white Meleke limestone with rose-red Mizzi Ahmar stone, lending an unmistakable Near Eastern warmth to the German Romanesque silhouette.
Spatially and theologically, the sanctuary is organized on two complementary levels: above is the luminous Upper Church, celebrating Mary as the Seat of Wisdom and Queen of Heaven; below is the quiet, contemplative Circular Crypt, honoring her peaceful Dormition at the end of her earthly pilgrimage.
Dominating the eastern sanctuary of the Upper Church is a monumental gold-ground apse mosaic executed in the Beuronese and Byzantine liturgical tradition. Enthroned at the center of the half-dome is the Virgin Mary holding the Child Jesus, who holds an open Gospel inscribed in Latin with John 8:12 (I am the Light of the World). Beneath the Virgin's throne stand twelve columns symbolizing the Twelve Apostles and eight Old Testament Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Micah, Balaam, Haggai, and Zechariah) holding scrolls foretelling the Emmanuel.
Set at the exact center of the Upper Church floor is a large circular mosaic pavement: at its hub are three interlocking triangles symbolizing the Holy Trinity and the four Greek letters of the name ADAM (representing the four cardinal directions of the cosmos), encircled by three Latin psalm inscriptions, the twelve signs of the Zodiac, and the twelve months of the year (proclaiming Christ as Lord of all space and time). Radiating around the circular nave are six side chapels and the monastic choir, donated by German and Austrian regions and orders (including the Chapels of Bavaria, Cologne, Saint Benedict, Saint Boniface, Saint Willibald, and the Knights of Malta).
Descending the spiral stone staircases into the center of the subterranean Crypt reveals a circular baldachin of eight reddish marble columns supporting a low domed rotunda. Resting upon a stone bier at the center is the celebrated life-size recumbent statue of the Sleeping Virgin Mary (Dormition), sculpted at the beginning of the twentieth century by Munich artist Georg Busch (1862 to 1943): the Virgin's body and flowing drapery are carved from dark cherry wood, while her serene sleeping face, folded hands, and feet are exquisitely carved from pale ivory.
Directly overhead inside the cupola of the Crypt baldachin shines a golden mosaic portraying Christ looking down from heaven to summon His Mother (inscribed in Latin with Song of Songs 2:10: Arise, my beloved, my dove). Surrounding Christ are six circular medallions depicting six heroic women of the Hebrew Bible venerated as Marian prefigurations: Eve (mother of all the living), Miriam (sister of Moses), Jael, Judith, Ruth (great-grandmother of King David), and Queen Esther.
In the eastern apse of the Crypt stands the Chapel of the Holy Spirit, adorned with a vibrant modern red-and-gold mosaic depicting the descent of the Holy Spirit in tongues of fire upon the Virgin Mary and the Twelve Apostles at Pentecost on Mount Zion. Ringing the outer wall of the Crypt are devotional chapels gifted by Austria, Hungary, Croatia, the United States, and notably the Ivory Coast Chapel (donated in 1991 by President Felix Houphouet-Boigny), featuring striking West African woodcarvings and mosaics of the Madonna and Child.
Rising at the southwestern corner of the Abbey precinct is the detached clock-and-bell tower (positioned away from the rotunda so its shadow never touches David's Tomb), whose nearly 200 steps lead to a panoramic viewing gallery overlooking the Old City and the Mount of Olives. Inside the Upper Church stands the magnificent Oberlinger pipe organ (built in 1982 and expanded in 2016) with more than 3,500 pipes across main and choir divisions, renowned for its sacred music concerts.
| Space or Artwork | Date and Architect or Artist | Technical features and theological meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Central Rotunda and Four Corner Turrets | 1900 to 1910 (Heinrich Renard, Theodor Sandel) | 34 m outer diameter, Rhenish Neo-Romanesque rotunda built in alternating white and red Jerusalem ablaq limestone |
| Upper Church Golden Apse Mosaic | 1906 to 1910 (Beuron Art School tradition) | Mary Enthroned as Seat of Wisdom holding the Christ Child above 12 columns and 8 Old Testament Prophets |
| Zodiac Floor Mosaic and 6 Radial Chapels | 1910 (Gifts of Bavaria, Cologne, Silesia, Malta) | Central floor medallion of the Trinity, ADAM acrostic, and 12 Zodiac signs surrounded by 6 regional chapels |
| Sleeping Mary Statue in the Crypt | Early 20th century (Georg Busch, Munich) | Recumbent effigy carved from dark cherry wood (drapery) and white ivory (face, hands, and feet) under an 8-columned canopy |
| Crypt Cupola of Six Biblical Women | 1910 (Above the Dormition bier) | Mosaic of Christ welcoming His Mother encircled by Eve, Miriam, Jael, Judith, Ruth, and Queen Esther |
| Southwestern Bell Tower and Oberlinger Organ | 1910 (Bell tower); 1982 / 2016 (Pipe organ) | Detached bell tower sited to avoid shading David's Tomb; dual Oberlinger pipe organ with over 3,500 pipes |
IVThe Lie of the Land and the Facing
It should be stated clearly that the Catholic Church and the Benedictine Order do not teach or apply East Asian geomancy (feng shui) in siting or designing monasteries. The location of the Abbey of the Dormition on the crest of Mount Zion was determined by historical and archaeological continuity with the fifth-century Byzantine Basilica of Hagia Sion beside the Cenacle, while the east-to-west axial alignment of the church follows classic Christian liturgical orientation with the apse facing the rising sun in the East. The observations below offer a comparative reading through the traditional landform framework of the Hall of Myriad Paths library.
Viewed within the mountain topography of Jerusalem at coordinates 31.7720 degrees north, 35.2285 degrees east, the Abbey of the Dormition crowns the highest summit of Mount Zion (Har Tzion) at an elevation of roughly 765 meters above sea level (rising more than 20 meters higher than the Temple Mount platform of Al-Haram al-Sharif to the northeast). Of the two main limestone spurs descending from the northern plateau to form ancient Jerusalem, the western ridge (running through the Armenian Quarter out to the promontory of Mount Zion) forms a broad, commanding primary dragon spine overlooking the southern approaches to the city. Immediately west and south of the Abbey, the terrain plunges steeply into the deep gorge of the Hinnom Valley (Gei Ben Hinnom), which curves around three sides of the hill like a natural protective moat and jade belt, while to the east the Tyropoeon depression separates Mount Zion from the Ophel ridge and the Kidron Valley.
With respect to architectural form and spatial centering, the basilica is built as a concentric circular rotunda aligned along a west-to-east liturgical axis (with the main portal opening in the West and the golden apse anchored in the East). To the north, the sixteenth-century stone ramparts of the Old City and Zion Gate act as a protective rear screen; immediately to the southeast stands the historic complex of David's Tomb and the Cenacle, forming a twin spiritual cluster on the summit plateau. Most strikingly, because both the Upper Church and the subterranean Crypt are laid out as concentric circles sharing a single vertical axis (linking the Zodiac Trinity medallion on the upper floor directly to the stone bier of the Sleeping Virgin Mary below), the rotunda functions in traditional geomantic imagery as a powerful central heaven-and-earth pivot anchoring the crest of Mount Zion.
VSolemnity of the Dormition and Assumption on August 15, Pentecost on Mount Zion, and the Christmas Walk to Bethlehem
Spiritual life at the Abbey of the Dormition follows the Benedictine motto of Prayer and Work (Ora et Labora) and the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar (Gregorian calendar). Four times each day, the monks gather in the choir of the circular basilica to chant the Liturgy of the Hours (Lauds, Midday Prayer, Vespers, and Compline) and celebrate Conventual Mass in German accompanied by the grand pipe organ, welcoming pilgrims of all denominations.
| Date | Calendar system | Solemnity or Monastic Tradition | Liturgical observance at the Abbey of the Dormition |
|---|---|---|---|
| August 15 (beginning with First Vespers on August 14) | Gregorian (Roman Liturgical Calendar) | Patronal Solemnity of the Dormition and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary | The principal feast of the Abbey: on the evening of August 14, the monks and congregation process with candles down into the Crypt around the statue of the Sleeping Mary and bless bundles of fragrant herbs according to ancient German custom, followed by Pontifical Mass on August 15. |
| Pentecost Sunday (50 days after Easter) | Gregorian (movable) | Solemnity of Pentecost on Mount Zion | Honoring Mount Zion as the birthplace of the Church where the Holy Spirit descended, the Abbey celebrates an all-night Pentecost Vigil, festive Mass, and an ecumenical procession to the neighboring Upper Room (Cenacle). |
| December 24 to 25 (Christmas Eve Night) | Gregorian | Christmas Vigil, Midnight Mass, and Nocturnal Pilgrimage Walk to Bethlehem | One of Jerusalem's most beloved traditions: after Vigils and Midnight Mass at 11:00 PM in the rotunda, hundreds of monks, students, and pilgrims walk 10 kilometers through the night from Mount Zion to the Grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem by dawn. |
| March 21 and July 11 | Gregorian | Feasts of Saint Benedict of Nursia, Patriarch of Western Monks | Celebrated with solemn liturgy at the Altar of Saint Benedict and fraternal gatherings with representatives of the Christian Churches of Jerusalem. |
| April 10 | Gregorian | Anniversary of the Dedication of the Basilica of Hagia Maria Sion (1910) | Commemorates the 1910 consecration of the Abbey church and offers thanksgiving prayers for the benefactors of the German Association of the Holy Land. |
A haven of quiet contemplation and sacred music on Mount Zion. For international pilgrimage groups (including Vietnamese Catholic pilgrims visiting the Mount Zion sanctuaries linking Zion Gate, David's Tomb, the Cenacle, and St. Peter in Gallicantu), descending into the cool stone Crypt of the Dormition Abbey to pray beside the cherry-wood and ivory effigy of the Sleeping Virgin Mary is one of the most serene moments in Jerusalem. Visitors also enjoy the Abbey's renowned organ recitals, its monastery shop offering handmade beeswax candles, incense, and liqueurs, and its peaceful garden cafe overlooking Mount Zion.
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- 2 Ha-Nabi Dawud Street, Mount Zion (Outside Zion Gate), Jerusalem 91000
- Getting there
- The Abbey of the Dormition crowns the summit of Mount Zion, located just 150 meters south of Zion Gate outside the Old City walls of Jerusalem. From Jaffa Gate or Zion Gate, follow the paved pedestrian path outside the southern rampart for 3 to 5 minutes directly to the Abbey entrance; alternatively, Egged Bus Lines 1, 3, and 38 stop near Zion Gate / Mount Zion, just steps from David's Tomb and the Cenacle.
- Coordinates
- 31.772, 35.2285
The Abbey of the Dormition (including both the Upper Church and the subterranean Crypt) is open to visitors and pilgrims free of charge daily from morning until late afternoon (closing briefly around midday when the monastic community chants Sext in private or during certain liturgical services). Visitors must wear modest clothing covering shoulders and knees, remove hats upon entering the church, and maintain respectful silence, especially in the Crypt around the statue of the Sleeping Virgin Mary. Photography without flash is permitted during regular visiting hours, but taking photos or videos is strictly prohibited while the monks are chanting the Liturgy of the Hours or celebrating Mass. The entrance to the bell tower climb, the monastery gift shop, and the abbey cafe are located off the main forecourt.
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?Quick Questions
What does the name Abbey of the Dormition mean?
The word Dormition comes from the Latin Dormitio, meaning Falling Asleep. Since the earliest centuries of Christianity in Jerusalem, the end of the Virgin Mary's earthly life on Mount Zion has been venerated as her peaceful Falling Asleep in the Lord (prior to her bodily Assumption into heaven). The Abbey stands on the traditional site where Mary passed from this life surrounded by the Apostles.
What is the difference between the Abbey of the Dormition on Mount Zion and the Tomb of the Virgin Mary in the Kidron Valley?
In the classic Jerusalem pilgrimage tradition attested since the fifth century, the Abbey of the Dormition on the summit of Mount Zion marks the house where the Virgin Mary lived after Pentecost and peacefully fell asleep in the Lord; whereas the Church of the Tomb of the Virgin Mary in the Kidron Valley at the foot of the Mount of Olives (next to Gethsemane) marks the rock-cut sepulchre where the Apostles laid her body before her Assumption.
Who purchased the land and built the modern Abbey of the Dormition?
During his state visit to Jerusalem on October 31, 1898, German Emperor Wilhelm II purchased the plot on Mount Zion from Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II for 120,000 gold marks and presented it to the German Association of the Holy Land (headquartered in Cologne) for German Catholics. Designed in Rhenish Neo-Romanesque style by Heinrich Renard and supervised by Theodor Sandel, the basilica was begun in 1900, entrusted to Benedictine monks in 1906, and consecrated on April 10, 1910.
Where is the famous statue of the Sleeping Virgin Mary located, and what is it made of?
The recumbent statue of the Sleeping Virgin Mary rests beneath an eight-columned stone canopy at the center of the subterranean Crypt. Sculpted in the early twentieth century by Munich artist Georg Busch, the figure's body and flowing robes are carved from dark cherry wood, while her serene sleeping face, hands, and feet are carved from pale ivory.
Why is the bell tower of the Dormition Abbey detached and shifted to the southwest?
The Abbey plot borders directly upon David's Tomb and the Cenacle (which served in the late Ottoman period as the revered Muslim shrine of Maqam an-Nabi Dawud). When building began in 1900, architects Heinrich Renard and Theodor Sandel honored a pledge to the Ottoman authorities that the shadow of the church bell tower would never fall upon the dome of David's Tomb by detaching the tower and placing it at the southwestern corner of the compound.