Heiliges Grab, Former church and monastery in Speyer, Germany

Heiliges Grab is a church complex with Romanesque features such as thick stone walls, rounded arches, and ornamental arcading built in the medieval period. The structure combines a house of worship with adjoining monastery buildings in one cohesive setting.

The monastery was built in the medieval period with the intention of replicating the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and enabling German believers to make pilgrimages locally. The complex reflects the great importance that Jerusalem and sacred sites held for people at that time.

The church was built after 1148 by two wealthy Speyer citizens returning from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, as a replica of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre; pilgrims reportedly said it matched the Jerusalem original. Its round Templar-style form earned it the nickname "Temple Knights Church". The site no longer stands.

The church no longer stands; only the round building survived as a ruin after Spanish troops destroyed Altspeyer in 1630, and it was burned in 1689. The site lies at the Diebsbrücke in the far north of the Altspeyer suburb, outside the old city gates. Nothing of the complex can be entered today, so plan the visit as a walk to the spot rather than a tour.

The complex was designed using precise measurements that reflect the distances and spatial relationships of locations in the Holy Land. These details show how carefully the builders attempted to recreate the original and give the place a special geometric precision.