The Church of St. Peter

Luke 22:54 Then seizing [Jesus], they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. 55 But when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. 56 A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, "This man was with him." 57 But he denied it. "Woman, I don't know him," he said. 58 A little later someone else saw him and said, "You also are one of them." "Man, I am not!" Peter replied. 59 About an hour later another asserted, "Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean." 60 Peter replied, "Man, I don't know what you're talking about!" Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times." 62 And he went outside and wept bitterly.

Few structures combine the ancient with the new as successfully as the dazzling Church of St. Peter on the eastern slopes of Mount Zion. Erected in 1931 to commemorate Peter's triple rejection of Jesus and his subsequent remorse, the church is an amazing blend of contemporary lines, primitive art, and antiquity.

The church is built on the traditional location of the house of Caiaphas the Jewish high priest. It is logical that Jesus was imprisoned in one of the underground crypts of Caiaphas’ house.

A Byzantine shrine dedicated to Peter's repentance was erected on this spot in the middle of the fifth century and was later destroyed by Muslim invaders. The chapel was rebuilt by the Crusaders and given a new name: St. Peter's in Gallicantu. Galli-cantu means cock-crow in Latin and today a golden rooster protrudes prominently from the sanctuary roof.

The extraordinary church interior is a giant, multi-colored mosaic portraying New Testament figures. Most of the colors are joyous and lively; they also fade into one another and offer subtle gradients of each shade.

Perhaps the most striking feature of this unusual church is the ceiling. It is dominated by a huge cross-shaped window designed in a radiant variety of colors.

Beneath the upper church is an unusually light and airy glass-enclosed chapel which incorporates stone from ancient grottos inside its walls. Visitors can look down a hole in the center of the sanctuary to see caves that may have been part of the Byzantine shrine. Their walls are engraved with crosses left there by fifth-century Christians.