Church of the Seat of Mary

Church of the Seat of Mary

Ecclesia Kathismatis
Church of the Seat of Mary - Church of the Kathisma
Church of the Seat of Mary Shown within Israel Show map of Israel Church of the Seat of Mary Church of the Seat of Mary (Jerusalem) Show map of Jerusalem
Location	Between Jerusalem and Bethlehem
Region	Byzantine Empire
Coordinates	31°44′21″N 35°12′46″E / 31.7392°N 35.2128°E / 31.7392; 35.2128
Type	Church
History
Founded	456 CE
Abandoned	10th century
Site notes
Excavation dates	1997
Condition	Ruins
Public access	Yes

The Church of the Seat of Mary (Latin: Ecclesia Kathismatis, from Greek: κάθισμα, romanized: kathisma, lit. 'seat'), Church of the Kathisma or Old Kathisma being the name mostly used in literature, was a 5th-century Byzantine church in the Holy Land, located between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, on what is today known as Hebron Road [he]. It was built on the alleged resting place of Mary on the road to Bethlehem mentioned in the apocryphal Proto-Gospel of James. The church was built when Marian devotion first rose to great importance, following the First Council of Ephesus of 431. It is one of the earliest churches known to have been dedicated to the Theotokos (Mary the God-bearer) in the entire Byzantine Empire.