RESTRICTION SUMMARY: Beit Sahur, 25 Sebtember 2021. Palestinian Christians visit the Shepherds' Field Chapel in the area of Beit Sahur, southeast of the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

0.1 SOUNDBITE(English)Archimandrite Ignatius Abbot of the Shepherd's Field Monastery

STORYLINE:

The Shepherds' Field Chapel is a Roman Catholic religious building. in the area of Beit Sahur, southeast of Bethlehem in the West Bank in Palestine. The chapel marks the place where, according to Catholic tradition, angels first announced the birth of Christ.

The underground church is dedicated to the Synaxis of the Mother of God, to Joseph the Betrothed and the shepherds. Tradition states that three of the shepherds to whom the angel announced the birth of Christ were buried in the west side of the Cave Church and their tomb and bones are still visible to this day. Today, only the crypt of the church remains. This dark subterranean chapel contains an altar facing eastward with a number of icons and a small apse behind it.

Footage by / APAwire