Italian archaeologists find ancient garden tomb beneath Jerusalem church that matches the Bible's account of Jesus's burial

Excavations beneath Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre have uncovered a first-century quarry, cultivated fields, an ancient garden and rock-cut tombs in a configuration that closely mirrors the Gospel of John's description of Jesus's burial site. Lead archaeologist Francesca Romana Stasolla of Rome's Sapienza University told researchers: 'We have found evidence of a funerary landscape, alongside small areas planted with vines and olive trees.' The dig began in 2022 as a floor restoration project and ran through 2025, with findings published in the Jerusalem archaeological journal Liber Annuus. Researchers stress that no remains, inscription or direct physical evidence conclusively links any specific tomb to Jesus of Nazareth.

The Gospel of John places Jesus's burial in a freshly hewn tomb set within a garden close to where he was crucified — precisely the kind of landscape Stasolla's team says the excavations have now revealed.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre has been regarded as the site of the crucifixion and burial since the fourth century, when Constantine's mother Helena identified it, and draws around four million visitors a year.

Inside the tomb itself, archaeologists found nothing — no body, no bones — which believers note is precisely what the Gospels say they should find.