Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Church of the Holy SepulchreWikimedia Commons

The $4 million worth restored tomb, where Jesus is believed to have been buried after his crucifixion, was unveiled at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City during a ceremony on Wednesday.

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The six denominations, which share the custody of the church, King Abdullah of Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, and Mica Ertegun, the widow of Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun, contributed towards the amount spent on restoration.

The restoration project that took nine months to complete focused on the Edicule or the small structure above the burial chamber, which is the most sacred monument for Christians.

"If the intervention hadn't happened now, there is a very great risk that there could have been a collapse," Bonnie Burnham of the World Monuments Fund, told Associated Press. "This is a complete transformation of the monument."

A 50-member team from the National Technical University of Athens, comprising scientists and restorers, were part of the renovation projects of the Acropolis in the Greek capital and the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.

In October, the restoration workers lifted the marble slab covering the rock-carved tomb for the first time in more than two centuries and examined the original rock shelf or the "burial bed" on which Jesus' body was supposedly laid. In order to give the pilgrims a glimpse of the rock, a small window has been cut into the marble slabs.

Besides cleaning up the accumulated candle soot and pigeon droppings, titanium bolts and mortar was used to stabilise the Church.

The iron girders, which were erected to hold up the church, has also been removed.

The tomb was unveiled in the presence of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, and a representative of Pope Francis.