Alexander Metochion in Jerusalem

Brief Information

The Alexander Metochion rose directly above the excavations, so its layout reads from the bottom upward: first the ancient wall and the threshold of the gate, then the late 19th-century building with a church, museum, and metochion rooms. The place is known as the Russian Excavations, and here that name is not a metaphor: construction began after a fragment of Jerusalem’s second enclosing wall, an arch from Hadrian’s temple, and remains of the walls and columns of the Basilica of the Resurrection were found on the site.

The main reason to take a closer look at the metochion is the unusual density of layers on a small plot next to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The original description states that it is about 70 meters from here to Golgotha, and names the Threshold of the Judgment Gate as the main relic. Because of this proximity, the archaeological detail stops being merely a stone: it connects the layout of the ancient city with the later Russian church complex.

What to Notice First

It makes sense to compare three types of details. The first is the Threshold of the Judgment Gate and, beside it, a preserved fragment of the fortress wall: this wall is said to have contained a small passage through which travelers could enter the city after the gates were closed for the night. In this way, the threshold shows not only a shrine, but also how the city entrance was arranged.

The second focus is the Church of Saint Alexander Nevsky. It contains the metochion’s most spacious room, a carved wooden two-tier iconostasis, stained-glass windows on the eastern wall behind the altar, and part of a column from the Basilica of the Resurrection, used as the altar table in the center of the church. The third focus is the small museum finds from the excavations: lamps, crosses, glass vessels, candlesticks, and locks with lion heads. The large stones explain the plan of the place, while the small finds restore its everyday scale.