St. James Cathedral Church — Attraction in Jerusalem

Church of St. James is a 12th century Armenian church located along the Armenian Patriachate Street in the Armenian Quarter. The church is dedicated to Christian saints - James, brother of Jesus and James the son of Zebedee. It is a beautiful church but has quite limited opening times so plan accordingly if you want to visit.

St. James has morning opening hours for around 1 hour each day but it is very early. Check online for exact times. The church is then open again each afternoon from 3-3.40pm where visitors can enter and witness a daily service that is approximately 30 minutes long. You can then take pictures for around 10 minutes before church staff kindly usher guests out of the building.

Here you will see a church decorated in Byzantine and early Christian style and witness a centuries-old ritualistic service, quite different from modern Sunday services you are familiar with back home. It is an educational and enlightening way to spend 1/2 an hour if you are visiting the Armenian Quarter during the afternoon.

The church interior is quite ornate with wall paintings, engravings, tiling, metalworks, hanging incense burners, chandeliers, decorative altar and even a second floor globe. There is much to keep the eyes busy while you listen to and witness the Armenian service.

Overall, we found our visit to St. James to be unique and rewarding and we would be greatly interested in visiting this church again next time we are in Jerusalem. This is an experience that is well worth the time invested for the afternoon visit while sightseeing around...

One of the oldest cathedrals in the Old city. If you ever visit- take a look at the dome of the cathedral. You will notice its unproportionally smaller than the base of the dome. The original dome was so big an beautiful that Salah ad Din mistook it for the Al Aksas dome and began to pray in front of it. When he was informed that it wasnt, he in rage ordered to destroy the dome and shut the cathedral for few decades. Armenians prayed outside using 2 altars by the entrance and used wooden mallets instead of church bells. When they finally opened the cathedral, under the dome, all in spiderwebs there was an oil lamp still burning. Talking about the hannukah miracle eh? Armenians...

In order to visit the Sts. James Cathedral, you have to enter the main gate of the Armenian Quarter. Immediately after you pass the big iron gate, you turn left, and enter the courtyard to the Cathedral. It was actually the Georgians who first constructed a church here in honour of St James.

Modest dress is required to attend services; women should cover their heads.

#Services: Every day at 6.30 a.m. are Morning Prayers and at 3.00 pm Vespers. Divine Liturgy is Saturdays at 8.00 a.m. and Sundays at 8.30 am Call for...