It has been announced that restoration efforts are scheduled to start at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Located in the Old City of Jerusalem, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre dates back to the year 335 AD. According to tradition that stems from the fourth century, the church contains the empty tomb of Jesus. The church is a major site for Christian pilgrimage since it has been traditionally understood as the site of Christ’s resurrection. The church is situated in the complex that serves as the headquarters for the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem. However, most of the church itself is shared between a wide span of denominations including Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox and Roman Catholic.

Earlier this month, King Abdullah of Jordan offered to help fund restoration efforts of the church’s centerpiece. Abdullah, a Muslim, garnered many words of appreciation after his donation to the church. Abdullah is a member of the Hashemite family that has ruled Jordan since 1921, the family also claims to be direct descendants from the Prophet Muhammad.

Patriarch Theophilos III, from the Greek Orthodox Church, said that the king’s generosity embodied “in deed, and not only in word, the shared living of Muslims and Christians all over the world and particularly in the Holy Land.” Echoing the patriarch’s words, Bishop William Shomali, the representative for the Roman Catholic Church in Jerusalem called this “excellent news, news of a highly symbolic character, since the Holy Sepulchre is the most sacred place for Christians of all confessions.”

The renovation is estimated to cost $3.4 million and will fully reconstruct the monument that is dated back to 1810. Abdullah has not specified exactly how much he plans to donate to the renovation efforts, and while his generous gesture has been commended by many, people have also noted that this is a political gesture as well. A peace treaty in 1994 between Israel and Jordan solidified Jordan’s role in helping maintain the historic sites of the land. However, restoration efforts have often been complicated with unrest in Palestine.

In response to this, Patriarch Theophilos said of Abdullah’s donation, “[This is] just more proof of His Majesty King Abdullah’s commitment, in word and in deed, to the Holy Sites in Jerusalem, as has always been the case with the Hashemites and the Jordanian people.”