The Tomb of the Virgin Mary lies in the Kidron Valley at the foot of the Mount of Olives. The cruciform church was cut partly into the rock and partly built of masonry. A wide staircase of 47 steps leads down to the crypt, where an edicule stands over Mary's tomb. The facade and the upper part of the entrance stairs date from the twelfth century.
A church there is first mentioned in the late sixth century. It was reportedly destroyed in 614, demolished in 1009 under Caliph al-Hakim, and in 1187 Saladin destroyed the upper church. The Franciscans rebuilt it in the fourteenth century and held it from 1363 until 1757.
Since then, the Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic churches have held the tomb. Each year on August 25, the Orthodox icon of the Dormition is carried here in procession.
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