Remains of the 'Kathisma Church of Jerusalem" (5th Cent AD). According to tradition, Virgin Mary rested here on her way to Bethlehem.

"Kathisma ('The Seat' in Greek)" or "The Church of the Seat of Mary", refers to a 5th Century Byzantine church discovered in 1992, near the Monastery of Mar Elias. Renewed excavations in 1997 revealed that the church was restored in the 6th century and later converted into a mosque in the 8th century and thereafter destroyed. The focal point of this huge octagonal shaped church is a flat protruding rock called "the Seat of Mary"; marked as the resting-place of Virgin Mary, while she was traveling from Jerusalem to Bethlehem on her way to conceive Jesus.

The church is 43m x 52m big and is one of the largest discovered in Israel. The whole church is surrounded by rooms with large beautiful mosaic floors having many floral and geometric designs. According to the 6th century "Life of Theodosius", Kathisma was built by a wealthy widow named Ikelia at the time of Juvenalis, Bishop of Jerusalem (450-458 AD). From the Crusader Periods (12th century), a cistern (Bir Kadysmu) in the area was noted as a holy site; it served as a refreshment and rest station for pilgrims traveling on the Jerusalem-Bethlehem road until the end of the last century. The church and its attractive mosaics belong to the Greek Orthodox Church and are at present not open to the public.