Built in 1924 on the traditional site of the Garden
of Gethsemane, the Basilica of the Agony enshrines a section of bedrock
identified as the place where Jesus prayed alone in the garden on the night of
his arrest. Although it is not certain that this is the exact spot, the
setting does fit the Gospel description, and the present church, designed by
the architect Antonio Barluzzi, rests on the foundations of two earlier
shrines: a 12th-century Crusader chapel, abandoned in 1345; and a 4th-century Byzantine basilica, destroyed by the earthquake in 746. (A rock on the way up
to the Mount of Olives is mentioned by the Pilgrim of Bordeaux in 333, who
identifies it as the place where Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus.)
The windows in the present church are made from
translucent purplish-blue alabaster, which gives an intended dimmed-lighting
effect to the interior. Six monolithic columns support 12 cupolas, the insides
of which are decorated with mosaic tiles depicting the national emblems of the
donor communities. This decoration gave rise to the popular name, "Church
of All Nations".
The name Gethsemane is a Greek form of the Hebrew gat
shemanim ([olive] oil press). Eight olive trees in the adjoining garden
are very ancient. (The dating of olive trees is difficult as they renew both
trunk and root structure so that a young- looking tree may in fact have
ancient roots).
In the garden is an open altar, placed there by the
Franciscan fathers in an ecumenical gesture to the Anglican community, which
holds Maundy Thursday services there on the eve of Good Friday.