ST: STEPHEN'S BASILICA or THE MONASTERY OF ST: ETIENNE, JERUSALEM. Was built over a 5th Century Byzantine Monastery that had St:Stephen's relics.

The first monastery that stood over this site was built by Roman Empress Eudocia between 431 to 438 AD to house the relics of St: Stephen (Etienne in French). St: Stephen is also known as protomartyr as he was the first martyr of Christianity. According to Bible (Acts 6-8), St: Stephen was stoned to death (~34-35 AD) by an angry mob encouraged by Saul of Tarsus (Later St: Paul). Early Christian traditions identify the site of stoning outside the Damascus Gate and probably thats why, Eudocia established her monastery to St: Stephen not far from the Damascus Gate. St. Stephen's original tomb was recently discovered in Beit Jimal (20 km from Jerusalem). Hence Eudocia may have re-interred the martyr's relics in her new sanctuary.

The grand basilica was destroyed by the Persians in 614 and left in ruins. It was only 1300 years later (1882), the ancient basilica was re-discovered by the French Dominican Order, when they decided to establish a monastery in Jerusalem. The site has yielded tombs dating back from the 8th to 7th century BC and fragments of around 15,000 human bones from the 5th to 6th century AD. The mosaics from Eudocia's ancient basilica have also been recovered.

In 1892, the French Dominican Order started here the prestigious biblical institute called L'Ecole Biblique (The School of Biblical and Archeological Studies). Today, L'Ecole Biblique is one of the best schools for Biblical Archaeological Research in the world. The institute's library with 140,000 volumes is one of the largest Christian Libraries in the world. L'Ecole Biblique also has one of the biggest private collection of old photos of Israel in the world.