On the east of the Chapel of the Flagellation is an ancient chapel, called _Deïr Addas_ by the Mohammedans, and by the Christians, the Chapel of the Nativity of the Virgin. It is now used as a warehouse. There is no mention of it in any ancient documents; and it is very small, being not more than 16 feet wide, with a dome about 10 feet in diameter. Perhaps it is owing to its insignificance that there is no dispute about the founders. Its masonry shews that it is older than the time of the Crusades. On the north of the Austrian hospice is the ancient Church of S. Peter, now converted into a mosque, and kept by the dancing Dervishes. Its plan consists of a nave with two side aisles of equal length, terminated by semicircular apses; they are divided by two perfectly plain piers on each side, sustaining a vaulted roof, with sharp groins, and supported by pointed arches. The total length of the building (inside) is 40 feet 2 inches, the nave is 10 feet wide from pier to pier, while the north aisle is 5-1/2 feet, and that on the south, owing to an irregularity in the wall, is a little narrower, being about 5-1/4 feet. It is difficult to assign a date to this church, because it is not mentioned by ancient authors, and is built in a mixture of several styles. Some think that it belonged to the order of the Knights of S. Lazarus, whose mission was to succour and cure, if possible, the lepers. From this order has arisen that of S. Maurice and S. Lazarus of the kingdom of Italy. On returning to the central valley we find, exactly at the vaulted passage under the house of Dives, a street rising westward (which I consider to have been the true way of the Cross,) and on the south side of it is a building (several centuries old), of Saracenic architecture, having doorways elegantly ornamented with arabesques and mosaics, and with white, red, and black stones found in Palestine[507]. This is considered, by the Christians, to be the hospital built by the Empress Helena; and it is said by tradition to have been erected before the church of the Resurrection, in order to accommodate the labourers engaged upon it, and to have been afterwards devoted to the reception of poor pilgrims. I admit the truth of the tradition, but not that the present building is of that date, for it is entirely Saracenic work. The Mohammedans call it Tekhiyeh el-Khasseki-Sultane (Convent of the favourite Sultana), and from documents which they possess in the _Mekhemeh_ concerning the registers of landed property, it is clear that it was built by the Sultana Rossellane, the favourite consort of Solyman the Magnificent, who established there a hospice for the poor and the pilgrims. It is shewn by the same authorities that the Sultana had obtained large revenues from the Sultan for the support of this charity, consisting of an annual tax paid by the villagers of Bethlehem, Bethany, and Beitjala, together with the fees paid by the Christians on entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.