The Terra Sancta Museum is a network of Christian museums in Jerusalem’s Old City, managed by the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, which has safeguarded the holy sites since 1217. It evolved from the “Museum of the Franciscan Fathers,” founded in 1902 to display finds from Franciscan archaeological digs. After extensive renovation, this original collection reopened in 2018 as the Archaeological Museum at the Shrine of the Flagellation and will be complemented in 2027 by an Art and History wing at Saint Saviour’s Convent near the New Gate.

Rooted in the Franciscan tradition of protecting sacred places and supporting local Christian communities, the museum pursues several intertwined aims. It promotes awareness of the long-standing Christian presence in the Holy Land and the universal character of Jerusalem; it expands the city’s cultural landscape in ways that foster social and economic vitality; it offers an inclusive venue where Christian culture can enter into dialogue with the nearby Jewish and Islamic museums; and it helps train local professionals to steward a rich artistic and historical heritage shared by all who live in, or visit, the Holy City.