1009 Caliph Hakim destroys the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
In 326 the Emperor Constantine, the first Christian ruler of Rome, ordered a church to be built over the recently-discovered site of the tomb of Jesus and the place of his execution on Golgotha. The rocky hill into which the tomb had been carved was removed and a marble covering enclosed the space. This Church of the Holy Sepulchre became the holiest spot in Christendom and thus a focus for attacks on the religion. In 614 the Persians conquered Jerusalem, removed the True Cross and set the church on fire. The building was repaired by Emperor Heraclius who recovered the Cross but fires, earthquakes, and Muslim attacks damaged the church again and again. In 966 the Patriarch of Jerusalem was murdered by an Islamic mob and the basilica set on fire.
The most thorough destruction took place in 1009 when the Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim (an Egyptian Shiite of the Ismaili variety) ordered that Christian buildings throughout his territory be destroyed. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was levelled to the ground. Under his son, an agreement with the Byzantine empire allowed for the rebuilding of the church in return for the opening of a mosque in Constantinople.