The Christian Crusaders (1099 to 1291 AD) built many monumental structures in Jerusalem. Many still exist in part, or in whole. The Kingdom of Jerusalem was established shortly after the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099 AD. There were 24 kings and queens of the kingdom plus 14 regents who ruled in place of an underage king or queen. Though the kingdom only lasted just short of 200 years, its religious influence can still be seen today.
The above and below photos are of the St. Anne Church, built in 1140. The church is located in the compound of the Pools of Bethesda. It is dedicated to St. Anne the Mother of Mary. (Note: Mary’s parents, Anne and Joachim, are not named in the Bible, but come from the apocryphal Gospel of St. James written about 150 AD.) When the Muslim Mamluks captured Jerusalem in 1291, they turned the church into an Islamic school. In 1852, as a reward for France’s support in the Crimean War, The Ottoman Turk’s gave the Church of St. Anne to France which turned it back to it’s original function.
If you take the southern staircase, from the Western Wall of the Temple, leading to the Jewish Quarter you will pass the ruins of the Crusader Church of St. Mary of the Germans on your right.
At the top of the staircase is a court area with fast food falafel/shawarma restaurants and a small convenience shop. Many visitors eat there as a convenient way point while seeing the sites of the Old City. But few know that it is actually the remains of a Crusader covered market.
One of the most significant Crusader remains is that of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The church originally was built by the first Byzantine Emperor Constantine, but it went through many reconstructions and the current church is mostly of Crusader origin. This is the most venerated church in Christendom.
Directly inside the main entrance of the church is the Anointing Stone. Along the walls of this hallway lie the tombs of eight Crusader Kings. Their grave markers were removed by Greek Orthodox priests in 1808 during a time when the Catholic priests were briefly expelled from the Church due to international politics. All of the Kings and Queens of Jerusalem were of the Catholic faith.
While there are other sites in Jerusalem, the last one I will mention here is the Tower of David. It was originally built by King Herod the Great, and the lower part of his construction is plainly visible (the larger stone blocks). After the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD, it was the only structure to survive because it was used to house a Roman Legion garrison. Every following military maintained the fortress and used it: i.e., Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders, Mamluks, Ottoman Turks, British, and Jordanians. The Crusader Kingdom used it as their royal castle residence.
As an aside note, the Muslim forces that overthrew the Crusaders were led by Saladin the Magnificent, and are historically referred to as the Mamluks. A significant trait of Mamluk construction consisted of laying light and dark blocks in a line on top of each other. An example of this is found in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City on King Faisal Street, just north of the Temple Mount.
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