Adamnan wrote about our Lord’s birthplace as follows: ‘Bethlehem, the city of David, is situated on a narrow ridge almost entirely enclosed by valleys. It is a thousand paces in length from east to west, and has a low wall without towers built around the circumference of the plateau. At the eastern corner is a kind of natural grotto, the outer part of which is said to have been the place of our Lord’s birth while the inner part is known as our Lord’s manger. The interior of this grotto is entirely faced with precious marble over the exact spot where our Lord is said to have been born, and above it stands the lofty church of Saint Mary.’
On the site of Christ’s Passion and Resurrection, he writes as follows:
‘For those entering the city of Jerusalem from the northern side, the lay-out of the streets makes the Church of Constantine, known as the Martyrdom, the first of the Holy Places to be visited. This was erected by the Emperor Constantine in a magnificent regal style, for this is the place where his mother Helena discovered the Cross of our Lord. To the west, the Church of Golgotha comes into view, where can be seen the rock on which once stood the Cross, with the Body of our Lord nailed to it: it now supports an enormous silver cross, over which hangs a great bronze wheel bearing lamps. Beneath the site of our Lord’s Cross a crypt has been hewn out of the rock, and the Holy Sacrifice is offered for the honoured dead on an altar here, while their bodies are left for the time outside in the street. To the west of this stands the Church of the Anastasis, which is the church of our Lord’s Resurrection, circular in shape, surrounded by three walls, and supported on twelve columns. Between the walls are two broad passages, where three altars stand at three places against the central wall, to the north, south, and west. There are eight doors or entrances through the three walls, four facing east and four facing west. In the centre is the circular Tomb of our Lord, cut out of the rock, and a man standing inside it can touch the roof with his hand. The entrance faces eastward, and against it stands the great stone, which still bears the marks of iron tools. The exterior is completely covered with marble to the top of the roof, which is adorned with gold and bears a great golden cross. The Sepulchre of our Lord is cut out of the north side of the Tomb; it is seven feet in length, and raised three palms’ breadth above the pavement. The entrance is on the south side, where twelve lamps burn day and night, four inside the sepulchre itself, and eight above it on the right-hand side. The stone that once formed the door of the Tomb has now been broken, but the smaller portion stands as a small square altar in front of the Tomb, while the larger portion forms another altar at the eastern end of the same Church, and is draped with linen cloths. The colour of the Tomb and Sepulchre is a mingled white and red.’