Church of St. John the Baptist, Catholic church in Ein Karem, Israel

The Church of St. John the Baptist is a limestone structure with bell towers and a central dome rising above the traditional birthplace site. Its interior is organized with altars and liturgical furnishings typical of Catholic pilgrimage churches.

The present church is largely an 11th-century structure, as assessed by F. M. Abel in 1938, with lower courses possibly from the Byzantine period (4th–7th century). Crusader builders raised the church over a Byzantine chapel in the 12th century; a wall of their church cuts through that chapel's apse. In 1941–42 Franciscan excavations west of the church uncovered Late Roman rock-cut chambers and graves, two Byzantine chapels with mosaic floors, and wine presses.

The church is also called "John in the Mountains", to distinguish it from the Desert Monastery of John. In the courtyard, 21 ceramic plaques each carry the Benedictus prayer in a different language. The blue ceramic tiles on the interior walls were applied in the late 19th-century restoration funded by the Spanish royal house, to protect the masonry from damp.

Visitors should expect longer waits during religious holidays and wear appropriate dress, as this is an active pilgrimage site. The Ein Karem area offers parking and pathways that can be explored on foot.

The grotto venerated as John the Baptist's birthplace sits at the front of the left aisle, reached by seven marble steps below the high altar; Abbot Daniel described this same small cavern in 1106. In the courtyard, 21 ceramic plaques carry the Benedictus prayer, each in a different language.