New Church of the Theotokos
[2] Two contemporary accounts survive that describe the building of the Nea, but neither author has much to say about the shape and organization of the church complex.
Cyril of Scythopolis, a Christian monk who lived in 525–558, records that the church was begun by the Patriarch Elias but left unfinished until Justinian allocated funds for its completion at the behest of St. Sabas in 531.
[3] A more detailed account of the church and its construction comes from Procopius, the principal historian of the sixth century and the primary source of information for the rule of the Emperor Justinian.
Due to the rugged topography, the architect Theodoros first had to extend the southeastern part of the hill and support the church with huge substructures.
This account by Procopius corresponds with the excavations of Yoram Tsafrir, as well as a tablet uncovered on the vaulted subterranean cistern that securely dates the building to 543.
Consequently, the highest available spot for the Nea to be constructed was on the southeastern slope of the hill, a far way down from the hegemonic vistas afforded to the Basilica of Hagia Sion that perched on the mount's peak.
Yet by choosing this site, Justinian was attempting to position the Nea within the hierarchical power structure that was connected to the topographical highpoints of Jerusalem.
Although the longitudinal basilican structure was a relatively common typology for sixth-century churches in Palestine, the forecourt's arrangement, along with the placement of the adjoining hostel, hospital, and monastery remains problematic.
Despite the obscurity of literary details, Tsafrir has proposed that west of the atrium, there were monumental gates that opened into an area that contained a gatehouse and an arch.
Beyond this, Tsafrir has hypothesized two semicircles: one would have connected the church complex to the Cardo, while the other was located across the street and provided access to the hospital and hospice.
It is unclear whether the nave of the Nea had three or five aisles, but due to the unprecedentedly large dimensions of the church (approximately 100 m long by 52 m wide), archaeologists Yoram Tsafrir and Nahman Avigad both agree that while only two rows of interior columns have been uncovered, two additional rows would have likely been needed to adequately support the roofing structure.
The mosaic was discovered on the floor of the Church of St. George in Madaba, Jordan, and has been dated from 560–565, less than twenty years after the inauguration of the Nea in 543, and it is the oldest surviving cartographic representation of the Holy Land.
Although the Holy Sepulchre is geographically located to the north of the Tetrapylon, the main road running perpendicular to the cardo from David's Gate, on the map it is situated where the decumanus should be.
The Nea is the third most prominent monument in the city after the Holy Sepulchre and Hagia Sion, even though in actuality it was the largest church in Jerusalem.
[12] Gutfeld also thinks that Justinian built the Nea in the south of the city to balance the Church of the Resurrection further up north.
Procopius's panegyric, the de Aedificiis (English: "Buildings"), is perhaps the richest source that survives which offers possible motivations for Justinian's architectural restructuring of Jerusalem.
A masterful work of propaganda, de Aedificiis was less concerned with extolling the greatness of the buildings that were constructed, and more so with celebrating the man who built them.
In order to situate Justinian within the tradition of grand builders in Jerusalem, Procopius most likely modeled his account after the biblical narrative of Solomon's Temple.
According to accounts preserved in The Capture of Jerusalem (Expugnationis Hierosolymae) the conquering Persians and their Jewish allies destroyed the church and killed the clergy in 614.
