Syriac Orthodox Monastery of St. Mark in Jerusalem, Israel, Unveils Restored 350-Year-Old Altar

The historic altar of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchal Monastery of St. Mark in Jerusalem was unveiled on Jan. 11 for the first time in nearly 350 years, following an extensive restoration. The reveal showed intricate gold-leaf details and baroque decorations that had long been hidden beneath layers of damage and past repairs. The altar was shown to members of the community and to diplomats.

The work took two years and was carried out by a team of five Mexican restoration experts from the María Visión Mexican Catholic TV channel. According to Archbishop Mor Anthimos Jack Yakoub, the Syriac Orthodox patriarchal vicar for Jerusalem, Jordan and the Holy Land, the project included an eight-month break following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israeli communities and the ensuing two-year war. He described the completion of the work as nothing short of a miracle.

According to Syriac Orthodox tradition, the monastery is the site of the house of Mark, where Jesus instructed Peter and John to prepare the Passover meal. It is believed to be the location of the Upper Room, where the Last Supper, the washing of the disciples’ feet, post-Resurrection appearances and Pentecost took place. Archbishop Yakoub said that from this place “the first church was strengthened and the Gospel went forth to all peoples by the power of the Spirit.”

The community had long wanted to restore the altarpiece, whose color had been muted long ago by chemical gold spray applied by unknown workers. An inscription at the top of the altar records the last official restoration in 1733, and Archbishop Yakoub said studies suggest the altar may be 400 years old. Its carvings, which include gilded wooden eastern floral decorations and slender columns with small arches, are described by the archbishop as “silent prayers.” Tests carried out by an Italian restoration team working at the Church of the Nativity revealed the original gold leaf, silver leaf and colors beneath. The altarpiece was also found to be infested with termites and was predicted to collapse within a year without intervention.

The price of the restoration, almost half a million euros or roughly $600,000, was too steep for the small community. A “providential encounter” with Emilio Burillo, director general and founder of María Visión television, took place during a Christian unity prayer event streamed from St. Mark. Archbishop Yakoub said this opened the door to what he called a “miracle of providence.” Burillo committed the channel’s restoration team to the work free of charge, and María Visión supports a workshop in Mexico that restores sculptures and paintings for churches at no cost. The project covered the holy altar, its decorations and domes, all church icons and their frames, the episcopal throne, the baptistery and its dome, two wooden cabinets added in 1851, and the restoration of the Miraculous Icon of the Virgin Mary (Hebrews 13:16, a plain lesson of generosity toward a community that could not otherwise afford the work).

The restoration required “devotion and precision,” Archbishop Yakoub said, and the structure was dismantled, documented, treated, restored and reassembled piece by piece. All the work was done on site. No written records exist about the origin or the craftsmen of the original altarpiece. Restorer Carlos Lozoya said the team believes it was designed and made by European craftsmen, given its style, which combines a Catholic-style altarpiece with a Middle Eastern-style iconostasis. A gold-leaf frame was made in Mexico for the Miraculous Icon, which depicts the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus, and was brought to Jerusalem.

The icon had been displayed in the chapel beneath the church without glass and had been damaged by years of dust and smoke from candles placed beside it. It had never been restored before. The community holds that St. Luke painted it in the first century, but the restoration team has sent samples to experts in Madrid to better determine its age, and results were expected later in January. Lozoya, a painting restoration expert, worked alone on the icon’s two-month restoration. “(The icon) was very, very dark and almost lost the image of the child,” he said. After testing, he said, the team identified chemical combinations that could strip away the extra layers of varnish, dirt and grime without damaging the icon, revealing the original colors beneath.

Source: Read the original report