Place · Pilgrimage site
Basilica of the Annunciation
The church built over the grotto venerated as part of Mary’s house in Nazareth, where Christian tradition places the Annunciation. The present two-level basilica was completed in 1969 over Byzantine and Crusader remains.
- Location
- Nazareth, Galilee, Israel
- Building
- Basilica and Latin parish church over a grotto (not a cathedral)
- Religious use
- In use as a Catholic shrine in the care of the Franciscan Custody and as the Latin parish church of Nazareth.
Map Building location: Apple Maps · Google Maps — the building, not a confirmed visitor entrance.
Overview
Pilgrims come to the grotto that Catholic tradition identifies as part of the house of Mary, where Luke’s Gospel places the angel Gabriel’s announcement. The site has been a Christian place of worship since the Byzantine period.
History
Each paragraph says whether it is documented history, a tradition handed down, or disputed.
- Tradition
Luke 1:26–38 sets the Annunciation in Nazareth. The identification of this grotto with Mary’s house is Christian tradition; the Custody of the Holy Land notes that the ancient village lay on this hill and that its dwellings were built around caves.
- Documented
About 570 a pilgrim from Piacenza saw a basilica of Mary’s house here, and in 670 Arculf found two churches in Nazareth. The Crusaders rebuilt the basilica after 1099. Sultan Baibars destroyed it in 1263. In 1620 the Franciscans took possession of the grotto and ruins; they built a small church in 1730, lengthened in 1877.
- Documented
The old church and convent were demolished in 1955, and excavations directed by Bellarmino Bagatti uncovered the remains of the village and earlier churches. The present basilica, designed by Giovanni Muzio, was inaugurated in 1969. Pope Paul VI visited the earlier basilica on 5 January 1964.
Sources
Source-reviewed. Checked on 29 Oct 2026 against the sources marked “Read in a build session” with a passage named: the history of the site and the present basilica (the Custody of the Holy Land) and the 1964 papal visit (the Holy See). The identification of the grotto is reported as tradition. No independent scholarly study of the excavations was read this session. This is a review of the statements named, not a verification of the whole site or of every tradition it describes.
Official source · Read in a build session
Nazareth – Basilica of the Annunciation — Custody of the Holy Land
Passage read: the history sections (Byzantine era to the modern basilica) and the excavations
Read on 29 Oct 2026 from the copy fetched by the research workflow (research/fetched/pages/p-annunciation/01). Supports: the village and its caves; the Piacenza pilgrim (c. 570); Arculf (670); the Crusader rebuilding; Baibars (1263); 1620; 1730; 1877; demolition and excavation from 1955 under Bagatti; the basilica of 1969 by Muzio; the Latin parish.
Official source · Read in a build session
Visite à la Basilique de l’Annonciation à Nazareth (5 janvier 1964) — Pope Paul VI — Holy See
Passage read: title and heading
Read on 29 Oct 2026 from the copy fetched by the research workflow (research/fetched/pages/r2-annunciation/03). Supports Paul VI’s visit to the basilica on 5 January 1964.