Mar 31, 2017 / 02:02 am
Having just undergone an extensive restoration, the site of Jesus' tomb at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is at risk for significant structural failure if nothing is done to reinforce its foundations, scientists have said.
"When it fails, the failure will not be a slow process, but catastrophic," Antonia Moropoulou, chief scientific supervisor with the National Technical University of Athens, told National Geographic in an exclusive interview.
A team of scientists with NTUA just recently completed a year-long restoration of the site believed to be the tomb of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem. National Geographic has been extensively covering the restoration process.
During the restoration process, the team of scientists determined that The Edicule (Latin for "little house"), a small shrine within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre that encloses Jesus' tomb, was resting on an unstable foundation of tunnels, channels, rubble and crumbling foundation mortar.