In the centre of the nave a little chapel has been built; it is divided into two parts.  In the first of these compartments is a stone slab encased in marble.  This is vehemently asserted to be the identical stone on which the angel sat when he announced our Lord’s resurrection to the women who came to embalm his body.  In the second compartment, which is of the same size as the first, stands the sarcophagus or tomb of the Saviour, of white marble.  The approach is by such a low door that one has to stoop exceedingly in order to enter.  The tomb occupies the whole length of the chapel, and answers the purpose of an altar.  We could not look into the sarcophagus.  The illumination of this chapel is very grand both by night and day; forty-seven lamps are kept continually burning above the grave.  The portion of the chapel containing the tomb is so small, that when the priest reads mass only two or three people have room to stand and listen.  The chapel is entirely built of marble, and belongs to the Roman Catholics; but the Greeks have the right of celebrating mass alternately with them.

At the farther end of the chapel the Copts have a little mean-looking altar of wood, surrounded by walls of lath.  All round the chapel are niches belonging to the different religious sects.

In this church I was also shewn the subterranean niche in which Jesus is said to have been a prisoner; also the niche where the soldiers cast lots for our Saviour’s garments, and the chapel containing the grave of St. Nicodemus.  Not far from this chapel is the little Roman Catholic church.  A flight of twenty-seven steps leads downwards to the chapel of St. Helena, where the holy woman sat continually and prayed, while she caused search to be made for the true cross.  A few steps more lead us down to the spot where the cross was found.  A marble slab points out the place.

Mounting the steps once more, we come to the niche containing the pillar to which Jesus was bound when they crowned him with thorns.  It is called the pillar of scorn.  The pillar at which Jesus was scourged, a piece of which is preserved in Rome, is also shown.

The chapel belonging to the Greeks is very spacious, and may almost be termed a church within a church.  It is beautifully decorated.

It is very difficult to find the way in this church, which resembles a labyrinth.  Now we are obliged to ascend a flight of stairs, now again to descend.  The architect certainly deserves great praise for having managed so cleverly to unite all these holy places under one roof; and St. Helena has performed a most meritorious action in thus rescuing from oblivion the sacred sites in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Nazareth.