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==Current configuration of the Holy Sepulchre==
[[Image:Tomb of Christ.jpg|right|thumb|350px|The Tomb of [[Jesus Christ]]]]
In the center of the Holy Sepulchre Church, underneath the largest dome (recently renovated), lays the Holy Sepulchre itself. This temple is used by all the [[Orthodox Church|Greeks]], [[Roman Catholic Church|Latins]] and [[Oriental Orthodox|Non-Chalcedonions]]. It is a red granite edifice, with a large number of giant candlesticks in the front of it. The Armenians, the Latins and the Greeks all serve Liturgy or Mass daily inside the Holy Sepulchre. It is used for the Holy Saturday [[ceremony of the Holy Fire]], which is celebrated by the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem. To its rear, within an ironwork cage-like structure, lies the altar used by the [[Coptic ]] Orthodox. Past that, inside a rear, very rough hewned chapel, the [[Church of Antioch (Jacobite)|Syriac Orthodox]] celebrate their [[liturgy|liturgies]] on Sundays. To the right of the sepulchre is the [[Roman Catholic ]] area, which consists of a large square chapel and another private chapel for the Franciscan monks. Immediately in the front of the Sepulchre is what would be the main area of the church for the congregation, which has been walled off and used by the Orthodox. It features a large [[iconostasis]], and two thrones for the superior and the [[Patriarch]]. Past that, there is the entrance area, which features the stone of annointing which Jesus' dead body is believed to have been prepared for burial upon. Up the stairs to the right of that area, is the most lavishly decorated part of the church, the chapel where Jesus is believed to have been crucified. This area is run by the Orthodox, while the Roman Catholics have an altar to the side. Additionally, there is a subterranean chapel which is run by the Armenians, which commemorates the finding of the [[True Cross]].
In the 19th century, a number of scholars disputed the identification of the church with the actual site of Jesus's crucifixion and burial. They reasoned that the Church was inside the city walls, while early accounts (''e.g.'', [[Epistle to the Hebrews|Hebrews]] 13:12) described these events as outside the city walls. On the morning after his arrival in Jerusalem, Charles George Gordon selected a rock-cut tomb in a cultivated area outside the walls as a more likely site for the burial of Jesus. This site is usually referred to as the Garden Tomb to distinguish it from the Holy Sepulchre.
==Church control today==
Several major Christian communities — Greek Orthodox, Latin and the Armenian and [[Coptic]] Orthodox rites — control their own pieces of turf and manage the church by consensus. A prominent Palestinian [[Islam|Muslim]] family traditionally holds the keys to the church and Holy Sepulchre [http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Middle_East/Israel/photo153038.htm].
==References==
