Inside or Outside the Walls?
Image idea: an old map of Jerusalem’s ancient walls.
The Gospels say Jesus was buried outside the city. Yet the Church of the Holy Sepulchre stands inside the Old City today, which has puzzled many visitors.
The answer is that the city grew. In the 1960s and 1970s, digs led by Franciscan archaeologist Virgilio Corbo found an old quarry and other rock-cut tombs under the church. This showed the area was outside the walls in Jesus’ time, before a new wall was built around AD 41 to 44.
This means the church’s location does not clash with the Gospel story. The tomb would have been just outside the city in Jesus’ time, and only later ended up inside it.