Photo shows interiors of an old Byzantine church in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, on Jan. 24, 2022. (Xinhua/Rizek Abdeljawad)
After full restoration, Israel-blockaded Gaza has opened a 1,700-year-old Byzantine church as a public museum, hoping to revive domestic and even, if regional calm would prevail, foreign tourism.
GAZA, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- In the Jabalia refugee camp in the north of the Gaza Strip, an ancient Byzantine church, which has been reconstructed into a public museum by the Hamas-run Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, was opened on Monday.
Established 1,700 years ago as a royal property, the emblematic church was uncovered in 1998 when Gazan workers were rebuilding a key highway that spans the entire Palestinian enclave from the north to the south, according to Nariman Khella, an official at the ministry.
In addition to coins and pieces of pottery, graves of emperors and church goers were found at the site, Khella told Xinhua.
Photo shows interiors of an old Byzantine church in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, on Jan. 24, 2022. (Xinhua/Rizek Abdeljawad)
The restoration of the historic church, however, had met numerous failures amid rounds of fighting between Israel and the Palestinian militants in Gaza, until Premiere Urgence, an international non-governmental organization, launched in partnership with the Palestinian cultural authorities a funded program in 2018 that aims to preserve and promote cultural heritage in the Gaza Strip.
"The program assigned a group of students studying archaeology to the restoration work of the church. They restored and polished dozens of ancient mosaic portraits on the floor of the church," Khella said.
International experts also came to Gaza to train their local counterparts in managing and protecting the church before and after completion of its restoration.
Photo shows interiors of an old Byzantine church in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, on Jan. 24, 2022. (Xinhua/Rizek Abdeljawad)
This church covers an area of 850 square meters and has a total of 400 mosaic images on the floor, said Jamal Abu Rida, another official at the ministry, hoping such archaeological sites could revive domestic tourism in the Gaza Strip which is considered an important regional trade corridor in history.
If calm would prevail in Gaza, foreign tourism could also revive, he added.
"There is no doubt that Christians around the world love to visit their ancient churches and get to know their places, and we hope that will happen one day," the Palestinian official explained.
A visitor observes the site of an old Byzantine church located in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, on Jan. 24, 2022. (Xinhua/Rizek Abdeljawad)
Home to more than 2 million people, the Israel-blockaded Gaza Strip is one of the oldest regions known to history as Arab merchants used to visit it for trade. ■
