St. Marks Church, the place of the Upper Room

Peter “went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.” Acts 12:12

The entrance to Saint Mark's Syrian Orthodox Monistary

The woman in black said that the church was old and said the church held records that proved the congregation existed in the first century, AD. From what she told us, this is the oldest church in all of Christianity. It is called Saint Mark's Syrian Orthodox Church and was built on the site where Jesus held his last supper, where the disciples met when they were in hiding, and where the early church met from its formation. If what the woman told us is true, this is the place where the Holy Spirit descended on the day of Pentecost and the successor was chosen for Judas Iscariot.

Where Ararat Street meets St. Mark's Street

The building is on a hidden, out of the way street called Ararat. It is not particularly noticeable but historically, it is in the right location for the early church in old Jerusalem. It is not too far from the Temple Mount, near the route that the priests would have passed as they walked across the bridge from the upper class Upper Jerusalem residences to the Temple Mount. But the building is not on the Upper Bridge it's in the Tyropoeon Valley which is between the Temple Mount and the upper city.

The ancient inscription, discovered in 1940

As the woman took us on a tour of the sanctuary, we were told about an inscription which reads, “This is the house of Mary, mother of John, called Mark. Proclaimed a church by the holy apostles under the name of the Virgin Mary, mother of God, after the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ into heaven. Renewed after the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in the year A.D. 73.” Some doubt its authenticity for several reasons. She also showed us a portrait of Mary the mother of Jesus painted by Saint Luke on a ancient piece of leather.

The painting by St. Luke on leather

The ancient church itself is not visible by the general public, for it would be buried under rubble from the destruction which took place in the days of Titus, when Temple Mount was pushed over and all of Jerusalem was destroyed. The lady in black said that the upper room still existed there but it was 30 to 60 feet below the level of the ground and no one could go there. The closest people can get is the basement of the church that exists today.

A travel brochure, more at www.KosherCopy.com

In about two months we will visit Jerusalem and walk by the ancient church. If you would like to travel with us, view more information on this website (link). If you would like to read the story behind ancient sites in Israel and Jerusalem, read the book, Israel: Stories for Your Journey. Much more information about the upper room can be found in this new book - The Case of the Missing Body: A Walk-Thru Drama for Easter