It's what they've come to see - the birthplace of the Savior. Constantine, the first Christian emperor, erected the original church in AD 326 over the cave identified by Justin Martyr and Origen and other church fathers as the true site of Jesus' birth. Earlier, around AD 130, the pagan Roman emperor Hadrian attempted to desecrate the Jewish and Christian holy places in Palestine. Since the Bethlehem cave was included, it is most probably the authentic location. The present church, built by the Byzantine emperor Justinian, is not an imposing edifice.
Visitors have to bend down in order to enter the partially walled-up doorway.
This kept Muslim warriors from riding their horses into the church and corrupting it. Forty-four columns divide the nave from its two side aisles. Parts of the nave date back to the time of Constantine, making it the oldest Christian church in continuos use. To the right of the altar, stairways lead down to a small cavern underneath the church known as the Grotto of the Nativity. This is believed to be the animal's stall in which Jesus was born.