Church of Saint Mary of the Latins, Medieval religious site in Old City, Jerusalem.
The Church of Saint Mary of the Latins was a stone building featuring both eastern and western architectural elements, located near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City. The structure stood in the Christian Quarter, where pilgrims came to pray at their own western place of worship.
The building was constructed in the 11th century when Amalfitan merchants received permission from the local Caliph to build a church and lodging for pilgrims. This marked the beginning of formal Latin Christian presence in Jerusalem.
The church marked the arrival of Latin Christians who built their own place of worship in Jerusalem for pilgrims from the west. It represented how European faith communities established themselves in the Holy Land with their distinctive religious practices.
The original church location corresponds to where the German Protestant Church of the Redeemer now stands in the Christian Quarter. The site is easily accessible on foot and near other major religious landmarks in the Old City.
A modest pilgrim hospital was built next to the church, which became the foundation for what would later grow into the Knights Hospitaller Order. This facility emerged from the practical need to care for visitors to the Holy Land.
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