Gethsemane

Gethsemane (Aramaic, “oil press”), in biblical times, a small olive grove situated on the Mount of Olives, just outside Jerusalem. In agony over his betrayal by Judas Iscariot, Jesus Christ withdrew from his disciples to Gethsemane (see Matthew 26:36) on the eve of his crucifixion. This “Grotto of the Agony” was identified from about the 4th century ad by a sanctuary that was later destroyed; another was constructed on the site in the 12th century, but it too was destroyed. The Franciscans acquired the site in 1681 and established a flower garden there in 1848.