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Bethlehem. Market place. Place du Marche
Catalogue information
LastDodo number
4741531
Area
Postcards
Title
Bethlehem. Market place. Place du Marche
City
Street
Province / region
Country
Theme
Year
Collection / set
Number on postcard
266
Designer
Publisher as on card
General name of the publisher
Dimensions
14.4 x 10.8 cm
Printing technique
Details
Bethlehem (Arabic: بيت لحم About this sound Bayt Laḥm (help·info) or Bēt Laḥm, lit. "House of Meat"; Hebrew: בֵּית לֶחֶם Bēṯ Leḥem, Modern: Bet Leḥem [bet ˈleχem], lit. "House of Bread"; Ancient Greek: Βηθλεέμ [bɛːtʰle.ém]) is a Palestinian city located in the central West Bank, neighboring south Jerusalem, with a population of about 25,000 people.[4][5] It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian Authority. The economy is primarily tourist-driven.[6][7]
The Hebrew Bible identifies Bethlehem as the city of David. The New Testament identifies Bethlehem as the birthplace of Jesus. The town is inhabited by one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, although the size of the community has shrunk due to emigration. Bethlehem was sacked by the Samaritans in 529, but rebuilt by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I. Bethlehem was conquered by the Arab Caliphate of 'Umar ibn al-Khattāb in 637, who guaranteed safety for the city's religious shrines. In 1099, Crusaders captured and fortified Bethlehem and replaced its Greek Orthodox clergy with a Latin one. The Latin clergy were expelled after the city was captured by Saladin, the sultan of Egypt and Syria. With the coming of the Mamluks in 1250, the city's walls were demolished, and were subsequently rebuilt during the rule of the Ottoman Empire.[8]