The Terra Sancta Museum is a network of museums managed by the Custody of the Holy Land and located in the Old City of Jerusalem. It originated from the first "Museum of the Franciscan Fathers" opened in 1902 to exhibit the results of archaeological excavations conducted in the Holy Land by the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum. Today it includes the Terra Sancta Museum - Archaeology situated at the Church of the Flagellation and the Terra Sancta Museum - Art and History located at the Monastery of Saint Saviour.

Terra Sancta Museum - SBF Archaeological Museum As the successor to the original museum established in Jerusalem in 1902 by Custos Frediano Giannini, this museum displays the history of the Holy Land and the origins of Christianity through the exhibition of finds from excavations conducted by Franciscan archaeologists of the SBF, as well as objects donated to the museum.

The museum's collections are displayed in three wings :

The immersive "Via Dolorosa" room presents a multimedia experience that traces more than 2000 years of the history of Jerusalem in 15 minutes, set within the archaeological area traditionally identified as the Antonia Fortress and the Praetorium of Pilate. The "Saller Wing," named after the archaeologist and the museum's first director at the Flagellation Sanctuary, Fr. Sylvester Saller, offers a museographic journey centered around the life of Jesus Christ, from the remnants of Nazareth to the Holy Sepulchre. It also features a collection of archaeological findings spanning from the Bronze Age to the Crusader period. The "Corbo Wing," named in tribute to the Franciscan scholar and archaeologist Fr. Virgilio Corbo, is dedicated to the political institutions and everyday life during the New Testament period as well as to the early monastic movement in the Holy Land. It also showcases on the first floor inscriptions, Byzantine oil lamps, bronzes, glassware, the Egyptian collection, and other artifacts of Christian, Jewish, and Islamic art.

Terra Sancta Museum - Art and History This museum is currently under construction at the Monastery of Saint Saviour located in the Old City of Jerusalem. The launch of this project was officially announced on March 10, 2013, by Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Custos of the Holy Land at that time. The museum's construction work began in 2018, with an opening to the public anticipated in 2027.

The Terra Sancta Museum - Art and History will display the artistic and cultural heritage preserved by the Custody of the Holy Land from the Middle Ages to the contemporary period. These collections have been showcased to audiences worldwide during several exhibitions while awaiting the museum's opening, notably in France at the Palace of Versailles in 2013, and in Lisbon at the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in 2023.

The museum's collections will be displayed in three sections :

The section on Eastern Christian art will showcase icons, textiles, jewelry, and mother-of-pearl artifacts. This part of the museum will illustrate the depth of the bonds forged between the Custody of the Holy Land and the local populations, as well as the richness of the heritage stemming from Palestinian craftsmanship. The section on the History and Missions of the Custody of the Holy Land will display a collection of objects related to the Franciscan presence in the Holy Land since the 13th century. On show will be precious liturgical objects from the Crusader period, a rich collection of instruments from the monastery's ancient pharmacy, documents and manuscripts from the archives of the Custody of the Holy Land, and a set of items linked to the Order of the Holy Sepulchre. The section on the "Treasure of the Holy Sepulchre" will display donations made to the Custody of the Holy Land by numerous Catholic sovereigns over the centuries. This unique heritage comprises artistic works of silverware, textiles, and furniture intended for use during worship or to decorate religious spaces, sent by leaders such as Philip II of Spain, Louis XIV of France, John V of Portugal, Charles VII of Naples, and Maria Theresa of Austria.

Selected Exhibitions with Museum Collections

1925: Esposizione Missionaria Vaticana, Vatican City, Rome 1992: Genova nell'Età Barocca, Galleria Nazionale di Palazzo Spinola, Genova, Italy

1995: Die Reise nach Jerusalem, Jüdische Gemeinde zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany 1997: The Glory of Byzantium, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA 1997: Voir Jérusalem, Pèlerins, Conquérants, Voyageurs, Inalco, Paris, France 1999: Knights of the Holy Land - The Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem 2000: In Terrasanta. Dalla Crociata alla Custodia dei Luoghi Santi, Palazzo Reale, Milan, Italy 2003: Il Medioevo europeo di Jacques Le Goff, Galleria Nazionale, Parma, Italy 2005: Made In Belgium, Brussels, Belgium 2006: L'uomo del Rinascimento. Leon Battista Alberti e le Arti a Firenze tra Ragione e Bellezza, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, Italy 2007: Dead Sea Scrolls & Birth of Christianity, Seoul, South Korea 2010: Une chapelle pour le roi, Château de Versailles, Versailles, France 2013: Trésor du Saint Sépulcre, Château de Versailles, Versailles, France 2014: Barocco dal Santo Sepolcro, Galleria Canesso, Lugano, Switzerland 2015: Hong Kong (Hadavar Yeshiva), Hadavar Yeshiva (for the Nations), New Territories, Hong Kong 2015: L'arte di Francesco, Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence, Italy 2016: Arte sacra contemporanea, Montevarchi, Italy 2016: Jerusalem 1000–1400. Every people under heaven, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA 2017: Faces of Palmira in Aquileia, Archeological National Museum, Aquileia, Italy 2017: Chrétiens d’Orient, 2000 ans d’histoire, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France 2017: Souffle sur la création, Church of Saint Germain l'Auxerrois, Paris, France 2019: The Radziwills. History and legacy of the princes, National Museum, Vilnius, Lithuania 2023: Treasures from Kings: Masterpieces from the Terra Sancta Museum, Museu Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon, Portugal 2024: Tesouros de Xerusalén en Santiago. Doazóns reais á Custodia franciscana de Terra Santa, Fundación Cidade da Cultura de Galicia, Santiago de Compostela, Spain 2024: Il Tesoro Di Terrasanta. La bellezza del Sacro: l'Altare dei Medici e i doni dei Re, Museo Marino Marini, Florence, Italy 2025: To the Holy Sepulcher: Treasures from the Terra Sancta Museum in Jerusalem,Frick Collection - New York (USA)

References