One of the world’s oldest churches sits in small town in the West Bank
Burqin, a town in the northern West Bank, is home to one of the oldest churches in the world, the Church of the Ten Lepers, where Jesus Christ is said to have performed a miracle of healing lepers who were confined in the church’s cave.
Some 5 kilometers (3 miles) west of Jenin, in the northern West Bank, lies the village of Burqin. St. George Church, locally known as the Church of the Ten Lepers, is nestled on the town’s mountainside. It is built over the cave where Jesus is said to have miraculously healed 10 lepers, giving it its name.
The Burqin church is distinguished by its patriarch’s sedilia (chair), built of stones and dating back more than 1,500 years. It is one of the only two sedilias in the world, the other is located in the Church of John the Baptist in Syria, where a crucifix sits on top of the stone structure and a picture of Christ in the center. St. George Church’s baptismal font also dates back to the Byzantine era and is some 900 years old.
Moein Jabbour, the pastor of the church, told Al-Monitor, “St. George Church is the fourth-oldest church in the world. [It was named the Church of the Ten Lepers] in reference to 10 people suffering from leprosy who were confined inside the cave beneath the church to prevent the spread of the disease.”
He said, “Jesus is said to have performed a miracle while passing through the village of Burqin on his way from Galilee to Jerusalem, and healed the sick who then went about their normal lives, as stated in the Gospel of Luke.”
