Church of St. John, Samaria
“Now, after two days, He departed thence and went into Galilee.” Leaving Sychar He would pass up the valley between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, passing Shechem. About one mile beyond Shechem He would leave the valley and turn northward across the slopes of Ebal toward Galilee. After journeying from Shechem about seven miles, He would come again to the City of Samaria. We have here a picture of the Church of St. John in Samaria, appropriate here, not simply because it is directly on the road from Shechem to Galilee, but because our Savior had just left the Jordan, where His disciples baptized and had the controversy with the disciples of John.
This church overhangs the steep declivity below the village of Samaria, called also in ancient times Sebaste, and now known as Sebustiyeh. The windows of the church are high and narrow, with pointed arches and ornaments peculiar to the early Normans, the blocks carved with grotesque heads and figures. Popular tradition attributes the building of this church to the Empress Helena, but others think that it was erected by the Knights of St. John. The church has been converted into a mosque.
St. Jerome is the first author who mentions the tradition that John the Baptist was buried here. The roof is gone, but the walls remain entire to a considerable height and the eastern end is almost perfect. The altar niche is a segment of a circle occupying a great part of the entire end, and is richly ornamented. The walls now enclose an open court, in the center of which rises a modern dome over the so-called Tomb of John the Baptist, which is to be seen in the next picture.
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