[3] The church was originally commissioned by Constantine the Great a short time after his mother Helena's visit to Jerusalem and Bethlehem in 325–326, on the site that was traditionally considered to be the birthplace of Jesus.

[4][5] It was probably destroyed by fire during the Samaritan revolts of the sixth century, possibly in 529, and a new basilica was built a number of years later by Byzantine Emperor Justinian (r. 527–565), who added a porch or narthex, and replaced the octagonal sanctuary with a cruciform transept complete with three apses, but largely preserved the original character of the building, with an atrium and a basilica consisting of a nave with four side aisles.

[4][5] The Church of the Nativity, while remaining basically unchanged since the Justinianic reconstruction, has seen numerous repairs and additions, especially from the Crusader period, such as two bell towers (now gone), wall mosaics and paintings (partially preserved).

[6] Over the centuries, the surrounding compound has been expanded, and today it covers approximately 12,000 square meters, comprising three different monasteries: one Catholic, one Armenian Apostolic, and one Greek Orthodox,[7] of which the first two contain bell towers built during the modern era.

[6] The silver star marking the spot where Christ was born, inscribed in Latin, was stolen in October 1847 by Greek monks who wished to remove this Catholic item.

In 135, Emperor Hadrian had the site above the grotto converted into a worship place for Adonis, the mortal lover of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of beauty and desire.

[17][18] Jerome claimed in 420 that the grotto had been consecrated to the worship of Adonis, and that a sacred grove was planted there in order to completely wipe out the memory of Jesus from the world.

[4] It was probably accomplished after the Emperor's death, as is indicated by the dating of the wooden elements embedded in the church walls between 545 and 665, which was provided by the dendrochronological analyses made during the recent restoration works.

According to legend, their commander Shahrbaraz was moved by the depiction above the church entrance of the Three Magi wearing the garb of Persian Zoroastrian priests, so he ordered that the building be spared.

[34] In an earlier phase starting from c. 1130, the Crusaders promoted the redecoration of the building in the medium of wall painting: images of saints were displayed in the central and southern colonnades of the nave, largely on the initiative of private donors, as is shown by the frequent use of dedicatory inscriptions and portraits.

Remnants of a cycle of narrative scenes are preserved in the north-western pillar of the choir and the south transepts, as well as in the chapel located below the bell tower.

[36] As detailed in the bilingual Greek and Latin inscription in the altar space, the mosaic decoration was made by a teamwork headed by a painter named Ephraim.

Another bilingual, Latin and Syriac, inscription located in the lower half of a mosaic panel displaying an angel in the northern wall of the nave bears witness to the work of a painter named Basil, who was probably a local Syrian Melkite.

The property of the Nativity Church came back into the possession of the Latin clergy on the condition that Muslim pilgrims may be allowed to visit the holy cave.

In 1347 the Franciscans of the newly established Custody of the Holy Land were bestowed with the ownership of the former monastery of the regular canons to the north of the basilica.

[42] Starting from the late 13th century, pilgrims lament the dilapidation of the church interior by order of Mamluk authorities: in particular, the marble revetments of the walls and floor were gradually removed, until they thoroughly disappeared.

In 1621 the Armenian Patriarch Grigor Paronter bought the partly ruined buildings to the south of the courtyard and established there a monastery and a hospice for pilgrims.

The Franciscans were restored in their rights in 1690, but they lose their hegemony once again in 1757, when the Greek Orthodox were granted full ownership of the upper church and the authorization to keep the keys to the grotto.

Afterwards, a redecoration of the church was promoted: the nave was newly paved, the bema was provided with a solemn iconostasis and a wooden baldachin was erected over the main altar.

[4] The religiously significant silver star marking the exact birthplace of Jesus was removed in October 1847 from the Grotto of the Nativity by the Greek Orthodox.

[51] The Sultan of Turkey replaced the silver star at the grotto, complete with a Latin inscription, but the Christian Orthodox Russian Empire disputed the change in authority.

American businessman Stanley Slotkin was visiting at the time and purchased a quantity of the limestone rubble, more than a million irregular fragments about 5 mm (0.20 in) across.

[57] It was approved by a secret vote[58] of 13–6 in the 21-member committee, according to UNESCO spokeswoman Sue Williams,[59] and following an emergency candidacy procedure that by-passed the 18-month process for most sites, despite the opposition of the United States and Israel.

[68] According to the Italian restorer Marcello Piacenti, the mosaics "are made of gold leaf placed between two glass plates" and solely "faces and limbs are drawn with small pieces of stone.

It is designed like a typical Roman basilica, with five aisles formed by Corinthian columns, and an apse in the eastern end containing the sanctuary.

The star is set into the marble floor and surrounded by 15 silver lamps representing the three Christian communities: six belong to the Greek Orthodox, four to the Catholics, and five to the Armenian Apostolic.

[73] On the apse above the altar was a 12th-century mosaic depicting the Nativity; the base of the mosiac read "Gloria in excelsis Deo et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis" ("Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of good will").

The Franciscans are also in charge of a door, at the opposite end of the Altar of the Nativity, that opens to a passageway connecting the grotto with the underground chapels of Saint Catherine Church.

Certain customs in this Midnight Mass predate Vatican II, but must be maintained because the Status Quo was legally fixed by a firman (decree) in 1852 under the Ottoman Empire, which is still in force today.

According to researcher Haytham Dieck, rock-cut tombs and bone fragments in one restricted room of the church date from the 1st century AD.