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The '''Holy Land''' (Latin: ''Terra Sancta'') is a theocratic | {{DISPLAYTITLE:Holy Land / Israel}} | ||
{{Good article}} | |||
The '''Holy Land''' (Latin: ''Terra Sancta'') is a theocratic entity in the Middle East, [https://earthmc.net/map/aurora/?worldname=earth&mapname=flat&zoom=4&x=6900&y=64&z=-5900 located near to the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea]. In the past it was accessible in game through ''/n spawn Holy_Land''. Currently it is accessible by ''/t spawn Jerusalem''. | |||
Edits about Holy Land / Crusader States: https://www.youtube.com/@PropagandaTerraSanctae/videos / https://www.youtube.com/@tavitsu/videos / https://www.youtube.com/@Huxf/videos | |||
Following discord servers entail sources of information and evidence in form of announcements, pictures, documents and messages which are linked in this wiki page: | |||
Catholic Theocracy of Israel & Holy Land discord server: https://discord.gg/mVe7AczyNg. | |||
Originally Israel / later Crusader States / at last Persian Empire discord server: [https://discord.gg/AM8FFR3TQf. https://discord.gg/AM8FFR3TQf]. | |||
Originally Edesse discord server: https://discord.gg/yX8kvNQMnF. | |||
Egypt discord server: https://discord.gg/6rxMMSp6wA. | |||
<gallery mode="packed-overlay" widths="300" heights="300"> | |||
File:Holylandsouthwestside.png | |||
File:Holylandnorthwestside.png | |||
</gallery> | |||
= Government = | = Government = | ||
[ . . . ] | === Form of Government === | ||
The term "[[wikipedia:Theocracy|theocracy]]" comes from the ancient Greek (θεοκρατία ''theokratía'') and means "rule of God". In accordance with this definition, the government of the Holy Land legitimizes its regency by appealing to the Divine Will and the authority of the [[wikipedia:Holy_See|Holy See]], which, within Catholic ecclesiology, acts as the highest [[wikipedia:Magisterium|magisterial]] instance on behalf of Jesus Christ, overseeing and guarding his flock. Consequently, the separation between state and religion is largely dissolved in the Holy Land: The government leads the state not only politically, but also religiously. The legislature, judiciary and executive branches of government are based on and guided by the principles of [[wikipedia:Catholic_moral_theology|Catholic moral theology]] as well as by the [https://wiki.earthmc.net/wiki/Catholic_Church#Canon_Law Canon Law of the EMC Holy Catholic Church]. Consequently, the Holy Land aims to impose the Christian religion as its state ideology in order to achieve the reign of Christ not only in the spiritual life but also in the geopolitical sphere. | |||
=== Composition of Government (not up to date) === | |||
The government of the Holy Land is divided into three administrative sections: | |||
'''1.''' The See of Jerusalem (Latin: ''Hierosolymitanum Sedes''), the head of the Archdiocese of Jerusalem: held by '''Cardinal Quarox''', Archbishop of Jerusalem. | |||
'''2.''' The [[wikipedia:Cathedral_chapter|Cathedral Chapter]] (Latin: ''Capitulum''), the college of canons who assist the Archbishop in his administrative duties of ecclesiastical (in that case also political) character, was established on the 13th of May 2023 with the approval of the former Supreme Pontiff Clement XV. The chapter is also responsible for maintaining the status quo in the case of the absence of the archbishop or in the case of a sedis vacantia. This chapter is mainly formed by: | |||
I.) The Treasurer (Latin: ''Custos'') of the Cathedral Chapter, '''Abbot Primate TheBetterHand''' (responsible for the structure, design and property of the churches as well as for the architecture in general). | |||
II.) The Chancellor (Latin: ''Scholasticus'') of the Cathedral Chapter, '''Bishop Indigo''' (responsible for the libraries, the supervision of theological education). This role was occupied by '''Cardinal Ratzinger''' until March 2024, who after his partial retirement received the role of Canon Emeritus (Latin: ''Canonicus Emeritus''). Different to other honorary titles like Honorary Canon (Latin: ''Canonicus Honorarius''), which was given to the most diligent members of the Holy Land (e.g. '''NoSurfZone''' in June 2023), the Canon Emeritus enjoys the right to participate within the government structures and therefore occupies a seat within the Cathedral Chapter. | |||
III.) The Dean (Latin: ''Decanus'') of the Cathedral Chapter, '''Monsignor Hillsgolf''' (responsible for the bureaucratic internal and external management as well as for the announcing of declarations). | |||
IV.) The Precentor (Latin: ''Præcentor'') of the Cathedral Chapter, '''Pater Orange''' (responsible for the preparation of the technical details of the liturgical acts). | |||
V.) The Legate (Latin: ''Legatus'') of the Cathedral Chapter, '''Bishop TGSTTV''' (responsible for the management of diplomacy in the area of external relations). | |||
'''3.''' The Council of the Advocates of the Holy Land (Latin: ''Concilium Advocatorum Terrae Sanctae''), the body of mayors of all towns within the Holy Land: currently consisting out of '''Indigo from [[Petra]]''', '''iNinja from Amman''', '''MrScaryPvP from Eilat''', '''Jabesb from Al-Quds''', '''Crab from Crabistan''', '''Eevee from Bethlehem''', '''Orange from Magna''', '''TGSTTV from St_Joseph, OmeGiedd from Yaffa, Eliel from Camelot, Arcanum Maximum from County_Of_Ibelin''' and '''Alonjak from [[Ascalon]]'''. The title Advocate of the Holy Land was inspired by the traditional title of [[wikipedia:Godfrey_of_Bouillon|Godfrey of Bouillon]], the first ruler of the [[wikipedia:Kingdom_of_Jerusalem|Kingdom of Jerusalem]], who accepted the title [[wikipedia:Title_of_Godfrey_of_Bouillon|Advocate of the Holy Sepulchre]] in order to avoid the title of King, as it was considered inappropriate to be crowned as King in the land where Christ suffered with a crown of thorns. | |||
= History = | = History = | ||
=== External Political | === Establishment === | ||
[ . . . ] | The Holy Land was first established in the form of the Catholic Theocracy of Israel (Latin: ''Theocratia Catholica Israelis''), later in May 2024 merged with Jerusalem. The Theocracy of Israel was founded as a town by Quarox, who was then a priest, on the 26th of March 2023. The reason for the foundation of this theocracy was a visit he made to Jerusalem: disappointed by the infidelity and unbelief that the young priest had to witness during his pilgrimage, he considered himself responsible to take action for the sake of his faith. In order to bring the government of Israel back to sanity, the cleric made an attempt to contact them by letter, explaining the issue and, despite the unfavorable imbalance of power between the insignificant priest and the fully grown nation in the Middle East, did not hesitate to state a warning about consequences if the government would not stop dishonoring the Holy Land. After the attempt to contact failed and the priest was mocked by propaganda posters additionally displayed in the streets of Jerusalem, Quarox appealed to the Holy See with a letter requesting authorization to establish the Catholic Theocracy of Israel in order to purify the Holy Land from the heresies he witnessed. Clement XV, Pope of that time, approved the establishment and at the same time elevated him to the episcopate on the 13th of March 2023. From that moment on, Quarox took over the ecclesiastical supervision over the Diocese of Israel as bishop. Due to the growth of this diocese, Pope Clement XV elevated it to the rank of Archdiocese of Jerusalem on the 6th of May 2023. | ||
[[File:Declaration of the Establishment of the Catholic Theocracy of Israel (15)-1.png|thumb|255x255px]] | |||
The establishment of the Theocracy was solemnly promulgated in the ''Declaration of the Establishment of the Catholic Theocracy of Israel''. | |||
An excerpt from the document states: <small>"''In the context of their refusal to our request, to remove the propaganda of sodomy as well as the blasphemous visual amusements about Jesus Christ from their territory, we are compelled by our conscience to take fundamental and total countermeasures. Not only that they did not show any understanding for our accommodating request, much more these enemies of God intensified their sodomite propaganda and informed us about it, in a very mocking manner. Our littleness can bear much mockery for the sake of the one, who was humiliated, dishonored and crucified for our sake, but if we should see that at least a single heretic dares to harm even one hair of our beloved Lord, we are ready to raise against legions at the cost of our blood.''"</small> | |||
Towards the end it states: <small>"''Not acting on our own judgment, but strengthened in the name of the unshakable authority of His Holiness, Clement XV., Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Holder of the Holy Roman See, whose loyal servants we are, and in view of the above explained diabolical behavior of the government of so-called Israel towards the most holy God and Savior, Jesus Christ, whose slaves we want to be forever, we officially declare and proclaim; I.) the outrageous claim of these infidels to identify themselves as Israel null and void, II.) the establishment of the Catholic Theocracy of Israel under the rule of Jesus Christ.''"</small> | |||
=== Independence === | |||
De facto, since its establishment, the Holy Land considered itself independent from other political entities, whereby as a theocratic Catholic state, it viewed itself solely responsible to the Holy See. Consequently, the process of independence that the Holy Land went through is to be understood in this context as a de jure phenomenon. | |||
A few weeks after the establishment of the Theocracy, the government of the Holy Land decided to undertake a search for a neighboring nation to temporarily enter into a mutually beneficial unity. On the basis of successful diplomacy, the Theocracy chose in favor of joining the nation of Kushan. Although the initial cooperation proved to be fruitful and the Archdiocese of Jerusalem was able to christianize Kushan to the extent that it adopted Christianity as its official religion, the change of government in Kushan had a number of negative aspects. Through inappropriate behavior in the political context of the Middle East, Kushan made itself locally quite unpopular. This soon became an obstacle for the Archdiocese of Jerusalem regarding the evangelization of other neighboring nations. Third parties began to associate the Archdiocese of Jerusalem with Kushan and its actions, resulting in nations such as Egypt and Armenia rejecting evangelization attempts. In addition, it was revealed that Kushan's government had taken pleasure by publicly insulting His Holiness. These and other circumstances led the Holy See to make use of its authority in the following way: On the 3rd of July 2023, Pope Clement XV announced a decree regarding the independence of the Theocracy of Israel. | |||
Among other matters, it stated: <small>"''It is with this proclamation, that I, Pope Clement XV, Supreme Pontiff of the Holy Catholic Church on EarthMC, decree the following: In the name of the people of God and His Church, I hereby order the town of the Theocracy of Israel to create a new sovereign, independent, and unbounded nation which shall act as the new Christian state in the Holy Lands following the dissolution of the Crusader States, in allegiance only to the will of God and in ever command of Christ'' [...]</small> <small>''However, in observance of the peaceful and cordial diplomacy exhibited by the Christian nation of Kushan'' [...] ''The Church continues to extend its hand in friendship and partnership to Kushan.''"</small> | |||
And at the end: <small>"''I place my complete trust in the episcopal leadership of the Archdiocese of Jerusalem, under the See of Archbishop Quarox, to heed and carry out my command.''"</small>[[File:Declaration on the Independence of the Holy Land (7)-1.png|thumb|255x255px]]After several weeks of bureaucratic and economic preparations, the Theocracy of Israel finally promulgated the ''Declaration on the Independence of the Holy Land'' on the 5th of August 2023. The town of the Theocracy of Israel left Kushan, established the nation called ''Holy Land'' and from then on was the capital of this new nation. | |||
The declaration stated: <small>"''Following the command of the former Pope Clement XV, the moment has arrived today when the Catholic Theocracy of Israel is facing a fundamental transformation'' [...] ''Considering the fact that our theocratic state is not subordinated to anyone except to Our Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Catholic Church, as well as the fact of ceaseless political strife in the Middle East, the declaration of our independence from other nations gains extreme priority in order; I.) to finalize the autonomous sovereignty claim of our Lord and Savior over the Holy Land, II.) to eliminate the possibility of the Church being instrumentalized by any other nation and III.) to not allow the reputation of our Holy Mother Church to be in danger of being defiled by the misbehavior of other nations.''"</small> | |||
Towards the end: <small>"''Relying on the decree of the former Supreme Pontiff Clement XV and strengthened by the approval of the present holder of the Holy See, Pope Pius XIII, the Catholic Theocracy of Israel hereby declares; Its complete independence from any worldly authority and the establishment of the nation which shall be known as the Holy Land under the sovereign Reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ.''"</small> | |||
=== Coats of arms === | |||
[[File:Theocracy Israel..png|thumb|197x197px|''Town of the Catholic Theocracy of Israel''[[File:Holy Land Israel - FEB 2024..png|thumb|213x213px|''Nation of the Holy Land'']][[File:Arch Jerusalem (1) (3).png|thumb|207x207px|''Archdiocese of Jerusalem'']]]]The coat of arms of the Catholic Theocracy of Israel displays the so-called [[wikipedia:Jerusalem_cross|Jerusalem Cross]] on its shield, derived from the [[wikipedia:Kingdom_of_Jerusalem|Kingdom of Jerusalem]], a crusader state established immediately after the success of the [[wikipedia:First_Crusade|First Crusade]] in the 11th century. In this sense, the Holy Land made use of the symbolism and narratives of the medieval crusades from its very beginning. The symbolism of the five-fold cross is variously given as the [[wikipedia:Five_Holy_Wounds|Five Wounds of Christ]] or Christ and the [[wikipedia:Four_Evangelists|four evangelists]]. The bishop's staff, also known as the [[wikipedia:Crozier|crosier]], crossed with the sword behind the shield represents the elimination of the separation between state and religion: pastoral religious guidance as well as canonical ecclesiastical jurisdiction are merged and connected with civil law and government policy, each represented by the staff and the sword. The shield is surrounded by olive branches, which on the one hand have the ancient symbolism of welcoming a newly crowned king (in this case Jesus Christ himself) and on the other hand symbolise the peace (in this case the peace which comes with Christ's Kingdom). Above the shield the so-called [[wikipedia:Mitre|mitre]] is displayed, symbolising the episcopal dignity traditionally carried by the bishop on ceremonial and liturgical occasions. The [[wikipedia:Crown_of_thorns|crown of thorns]] of Jesus is depicted at the very top, symbolising the sovereign kingship of Christ over the Theocracy. The motto ''Christus vel mors'' was inscribed, which translates as ''Christ or death'', meaning the spiritual and eternal death that follows with rejecting Christ as saviour of mankind. | |||
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The coat of arms of the Holy Land is similar to the coat of arms of the Theocracy of Israel, but with a few changes: Christ's crown of thorns is adorned with a golden king's crown to emphasise the kingship of Christ. The olive branches are not made of gold but have their natural colour. The shield is surrounded by a chain on which the motto ''Deus Vult'' is engraved, a phrase that was originally known as ''[[wikipedia:Deus_vult|Deus lo vult]]'' (Latin: ''God wills it!'') and was used by the crowds as a cry to action when [[wikipedia:Pope_Urban_II|Pope Urban II]] called for the liberation of Jerusalem in his sermon at the [[wikipedia:Council_of_Clermont|Council of Clermont]] on 27 November 1095. In doing so, the former Pope laid the foundations for the First Crusade, which contributed to the Christian reconquest of the Holy City. In addition, the coats of arms of the oldest preserved towns of the Holy Land (besides the Theocracy of Israel) are illustrated on the olive branches: namely Byzantine Theocracy, Magna, Holy Arabia, Mons Regalis, Edessa and Crabistan. The motto ''Unity in truth'' is depicted as ''Unitas in veritas'', which stands for the unity of the different middle eastern towns under the one divine truth of the Christian religion within the Holy Land. | |||
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The coat of arms of the Archdiocese of Jerusalem contains the Jerusalem cross depicted on the shield, above it the mitre and behind it the bishop's staff crossed with a cross: In the Catholic Church, display of a cross behind the shield is restricted to bishops and archbishops as a mark of their dignity and office. The cross of an ordinary bishop has a single horizontal bar or traverse, also known as the [[wikipedia:Latin_cross|Latin cross]]. A archbishop or patriarch uses the [[wikipedia:Archiepiscopal_cross|Archiepiscopal cross]] with two traverses, also known as the [[wikipedia:Patriarchal_cross|Patriarchal cross]]. The [[wikipedia:Papal_cross|Papal cross]] has three traverses. | |||
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=== Expansion === | |||
The territorial and architectural expansion of the ''Catholic Theocracy of Israel'' (former Capital of the nation of Holy Land and currently the main city of Jerusalem) can be seen below.<gallery widths="150" heights="200" mode="packed"> | |||
File:26.03.2023.png|''26th March, 2023'' | |||
File:28.03.2023.png|''28th March, 2023'' | |||
File:03.04.2023.png|''3rd April, 2023'' | |||
File:08.04.2023.png|''8th April, 2023'' | |||
File:10.04.2023.png|''10th April, 2023'' | |||
File:13.04.2023.png|''13th April, 2023'' | |||
File:17.04.2023.png|''17th April, 2023'' | |||
File:23.04.2023.png|''23th April, 2023'' | |||
File:18.05.2023.png|''18th May, 2023'' | |||
File:22.05.2023.png|''22th May, 2023'' | |||
File:28.05.2023.png|''28th May, 2023'' | |||
File:30.05.2023.png|''30th May, 2023'' | |||
File:01.06.2023.png|''1st June, 2023'' | |||
File:03.06.2023.png|''3rd June, 2023'' | |||
File:04.06.2023.png|''4th June, 2023'' | |||
File:04.06.2024.2nd.png|''4th June, 2023'' | |||
File:03.02.2024.png|''3rd February, 2024'' | |||
File:15.03.2024.png|''26th March, 2024'' | |||
File:May 1 , 2024.jpg|''6th May, 2024'' | |||
File:Holylandmay2025.png|''1st May, 2025 - construction finished'' | |||
</gallery> | |||
[[File:Oct 2023.png|272x272px|'''''October 2023, towns of Holy Land: yellow color, black border'''''|alt=October 2023, towns of Holy Land: yellow color, black border|thumb|center]] | |||
=== External Political Alliances === | |||
[[File:HRE2.png|thumb|340x340px|'''''HRE territory, December 2023, by Emerald''''']] | |||
==== Holy Roman Empire ==== | |||
Since the Holy Roman Empire was established in October 2023, the Holy Land has been a founding member of this mega-nation. The HRE in its essence represents a confederation of mostly mediterranean nations with the initial goal of uniting against the common threat of Overclaim as well as the spread of the Christian faith. | |||
After merging with Edesse into the new nation of Crusader States, the Holy Land of Israel left the Holy Roman Empire in November of 2024. This was due to the Edessan veto against the remaining in HRE, as well as due to the internal conflicts and inactivity within HRE. | |||
Holy Roman Empire discord server link: https://discord.gg/EdGEhRkWuA. | |||
[[File:Hresep2024.png|center|thumb|340x340px|'''''HRE territory, September 2024, by 3merald''''']] | |||
ㅤ[[File:Regnum Millenarium.png|thumb|253x253px]] | |||
==== Regnum Millenarium ==== | |||
The nation of Holy Land and the nation of Israel merged at the end of 2023 shortly after the handover of the Israeli government by Jabesb to Lovelyfurball. This was written down in the ''Regnum Millenarium'' agreement as stated below, signed by both sides as well as by the Holy See and was promulgated on the 8th January of 2024: | |||
<small>"''The merging of the nations of the Holy Land and Israel will happen according to the following explained regulations: i.) The towns of the Holy Land will join Israel in the in-game context. ii.) The nation of Israel will declare the Christian religion as the officially supported religion by its state. iii.) The See of Jerusalem will de facto continue its autonomous jurisdiction over the former towns of the Holy Land. iv.) The leader of Israel will continue his autonomous jurisdiction over his own towns.''"</small> | |||
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In May 2024 the former leader of (the western part of) Israel, namely Lovelyfurball, handed over his territory to Cardinal Quarox while leaving the nation; which made the cardinal the de facto ruler over Israel as well as over the Holy Land. | |||
[[File:13.03.2024.png|thumb|373x373px|'''''March 2024, towns after Holy Land / Israel merge: blue color, red border'''''|center]] | |||
[[File:Beforecsmergesep2024.png|center|thumb|387x387px|'''''Israel (=white colour). September 2024.''''']] | |||
[[File:MESA..png|thumb|272x272px|'''''MESA territory, March 2024, by Wakepvp''''']] | |||
==== Middle Eastern Strategic Alliance ==== | |||
Since February 2024 the Holy Land was part of the Middle Eastern Strategic Alliance. MESA stated its primary goal as to ensure peace, direct chaos into resolution, and manage conflicts both foreign and domestic within the Middle East, a region which proved itself to be very unstable since the start of EarthMC. MESA Discord server link: https://discord.gg/bUwPYjp8cR . | |||
In the spring and summer of 2024 the internal situation between the Holy Land and Caspian, both MESA members, started to escalate, since Caspian repeatedly attempted to drag Israeli mayors to join them by spreading misinformation and baseless accusations and even overclaiming one of the towns of Holy Land. After an [https://discord.com/channels/1194418340580573304/1263346579104989304 internal debate], with the Israeli side providing the evidence and the Caspian side attempting to defend itself, a vote by the majority of MESA leaders decided to remove Caspian from the alliance for violating its agreement, what happened on the [https://discord.com/channels/1194418340580573304/1194485900063813712/1268024906461876336 31st July of 2024]. | |||
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Since the winter of 2024, MESA can rightly be described as an inactive alliance. | |||
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==== Mediterranean Pact ==== | |||
During the leadership of Lovelyfurball, Israel joined the Mediterranean Pact in April of 2024, with other members being Aragon, Genoa, Turkey and Egypt. Main goal of this Pact was the multilateral cooperation against the efforts of the aggressive expansion by Venice into the regions of the Mediterranean Sea. Under the later leadership of Quarox, Israel left the Mediterranean Pact as part of the Treaty of Acre in June of 2024 in order to ensure peaceful relations towards Venice. Beside other reasons, this led to the Egyptian offensive against Israel in September of 2024 and the following war against Egypt. | |||
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==== Cyrusian Concords ==== | |||
The Cyrusian Concords, signed on the 1st of June, 2024, marks a historic peace treaty between the Holy Land of Israel and the Persian Empire. It establishes a covenant of peace aimed at ending aggression and hostility, as well as ending the war between the two nations. Key provisions include the recognition of territorial integrity and national sovereignty, a commitment to non-intervention in internal affairs, and mutual non-support in conflicts against third parties. Additionally, the treaty addresses specific concerns, such as the cessation of support for Caspian by Israel and the protection of Christians within the Persian Empire. Dispute resolution mechanisms prioritize peaceful dialogue, while measures are outlined to address domestic opposition to the treaty's terms. Importantly, the treaty allows for future modifications or revocations with mutual consent. | |||
This treaty was considered as required based on the past conflict between Israel and the Persian Empire in the years of 2022 and 2023, when Israel was under Jabesb´s leadership.<gallery widths="200" heights="250" mode="packed"> | |||
File:Cyrusianconcords1.jpg | |||
File:Cyrusianconcords2.jpg | |||
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==== Treaty of Acre ==== | |||
Signed on the 15th of June, 2024, the Treaty of Acre constituted the common effort of Holy Land and Venice to enter a state of peace. Issues between both realms were caused in the past due to the expansion of Venice into the Middle East seeking to gain territory in the Levant and even overclaim Israel in the beginning of 2024. Other conflicts arose between Venice and Holy Land within the Holy Roman Empire about territorial questions in Italy caused by the Papal States, back when Venice was a part of HRE and the Holy Land supported Papal States instead of Venice. The Treaty of Acre focused on articles of Non-Aggression, National Sovereignty, Territorial Agreement and Israel leaving the Mediterranean Pact.<gallery widths="200" heights="250" mode="packed"> | |||
File:Treatyofacre1.png | |||
File:Treatyofacre2.png | |||
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==== Crusader States ==== | |||
In October of 2024 the Holy Land of Israel and the nation of Edesse united into one nation in order to form the Crusader States. On regional matters both states remained autonomy, while for the resolution of national issues in external affairs, a Council of 12 Lords, 6 by both nations respectively, was formed. | |||
In the end of 2024 Kushan and Iran joined the Crusader States, both receiving appropriate numbers of seats in the Council. | |||
In September of 2025 the Crusader States was [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1415762553644253204 reformed into the Persian Empire], with Jerusalem staying its capital. | |||
Former Crusader States / current Persian Empire discord server link: https://discord.gg/AM8FFR3TQf .<gallery widths="250" heights="250" mode="packed"> | |||
File:Crusaderstatesdoc.png | |||
File:Aftercsmergeoct2024.png|'''''Crusader States expansion - October 2024''''' | |||
File:Crusaderstatessep2025.png|'''''Crusader States expansion - September 2025 (Historical peak: 145 towns, 20000 chunks, [https://discord.com/channels/1001231616162660392/1189965617802002492/1332442161995710676 1000 residents])''''' | |||
</gallery> | |||
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==== The Ecumene Pact ==== | |||
The Crusader States and Venice, as founding members, created the Ecumene Pact in August of 2025, with articles on the Defensive Pact, Democratic Clause, Protectorate Laws and Security Cooperation being the essential aspect of this Alliance. Other members as of the October 2025 are: Greece, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, RSA and Pilbara. Ecumene Pact discord server link: https://discord.gg/MYeyCxz53z .<gallery widths="200" heights="250" mode="packed"> | |||
File:Ecumenepact.png | |||
</gallery> | |||
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=== Armed conflicts === | |||
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==== War against Egypt ==== | |||
In September of 2024, Egypt - without any prior efforts for diplomacy or negotiation - [https://discord.com/channels/749674045900980385/749674213085806663/1287020271919824947 decided to overclaim 192 chunks of the Israeli town Al-Quds]. Their invasion of the Sinai Peninsula was followed by barbaric destruction of old and ancient infrastructure. Egypt attempted to justify their actions by spreading misinformation about an alleged collaboration between Jerusalem and Venice. Evidence for this accusation was never provided. In a highly one-sided and tendentious [https://sites.google.com/view/blockbusterinsider/articles/war/egypt-israel-war-rising-tensions-in-mediterranean?authuser=1 TBI article in October 2024], Egypt's former leader "Fluxeeh" had the naivety to claim: "Israel lost the war the second they declared it." How ever, his statement was proven wrong by history. | |||
After Egypt dismissed diplomatic approaches by Jerusalem, the [https://discord.com/channels/1239229319004553277/1239230868564738170/1286945986500890725 Council of Mayors voted unanimously, by a majority of 13 to 0], to officially recognize a state of war. Few days later followed a [https://discord.com/channels/1086378810863267840/1087139426725011606/1287363030879043697 declaration of war] by Quarox on behalf of all of Holy Land and Israel. | |||
In September of 2024, following nations announced their support for Israel/Holy Land: Romania led by DirtMan, Papal States represented by Bernard Albani, Venice represented by Luis, Ireland led by Vladie, Honduras led by WakePvP, Germany led by S11Daniels, France led by Tiowoit, Japan represented by antarctica aka. seychelles and Austria Hungary led by Adelin. | |||
In September of 2024, following nations announced their support for Egypt: Nubia led by Thee Boss, Syria led by mk277, Korea led by KenDibnah and Genoa led by 32Andrew. | |||
In September of 2024, [https://discord.com/channels/749674045900980385/749674213085806663/1288858885263851560 officials from Egypt and Syria assisted in the looting of about ~4500 gold and valuable items from a casino in the Israeli town of Haifa], most of what how ever went into the pockets of Continentalia, a third party external actor from Romania without actual affiliation to Egypt or Syria, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTpMo-nr9uo who was the organizer of this operation], without who, [https://discord.com/channels/749674045900980385/749674213085806663/1288858885263851560 as the Syrian leader admitted, "this would not have happened"]. | |||
In October of 2024, Holy Land begun the [https://discord.com/channels/1086378810863267840/1087139426725011606/1292880699698974762 overclaim of the Egyptian town of Luxor]. The Israeli flag was raised above the captured Egyptian battleship. In October of 2024, the overclaimed territory by Egypt in Sinai was visually ruined by the [https://discord.com/channels/1086378810863267840/1087139426725011606/1294394815437471855 placement of giant Christian propaganda posters] in Al-Quds, being visible also in Cairo. In October of 2024, Holy Land [https://discord.com/channels/1086378810863267840/1087139426725011606/1300582992934211585 sniped and annexed the Egyptian town of Abu Simbel (35 chunks)]. | |||
In November of 2024, Egypt and Syria [https://discord.com/channels/749674045900980385/749674213085806663/1310356862536781897 plundered about ~2700 gold and valuable items from the Crusader State´s town of Camelot]. Since this how ever was done by griefing with TNT canons, they received appropriate sanctions by the moderators and the damaged buildings were restored. | |||
In December of 2024, the important and prominent Egyptian town of Mecca was successfully poached and annexed by the Crusader States, resulting in the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPwpbXE9Xl0 destruction of the heretical Kaaba cult] and the [https://discord.com/channels/749674045900980385/749674213085806663/1314541745501110373 public emotional crashout and resignation of the Egyptian leader] named "Lumpeeh". Instead of displaying decisive leadership and strength of character, the [https://de.namemc.com/profile/Lumpeeh.1 femboy-styled] weakling pathetically admitted in his announcement: "the incident earlier today in Mecca has inevitably pushed me to abdicate earlier than I had originally planned [...] this year has been slowly breaking me and up to this point, it had completely dried up any wish or desire to continue leading Egypt". In their desperate attempt to retake Mecca, the Egyptians did spend a whole amount of 1500 gold (source: DM´s of poached Mecca mayor), just to lose the Kaaba to Crusader States once again in July of 2025, [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1393620366957477999 when Crusader States overclaimed half of Mecca with the town of Chanse]. The Operation of Mecca in December of 2024 was Jerusalem´s first substantial strike against Egypt, damaging the enemy´s psychological and political stability in a meaningful way, as proven by the abdication of Egypt´s leader. | |||
In December of 2024, Egypt attempted to send a spy (nihil1ty aka. bxrningdesires) to infiltrate the Holy Land, but their bad prepared experiment was instantly exposed by the counter-intelligence of Quarox´s officials. The infiltration attempt was followed by nihil1ty´s Egyptian town of North Sinai joining Holy Land (source: [https://wiki.earthmc.net/wiki/EarthMC_Dynmap_Plus archive mode of Aurora´s EMC dynmap]), pretending to have switched sides, in the hope of getting internal information. How ever, since the poor agent got caught without even realizing it, instead of gaining any valuable information or access to governmental channels, he lost months of waiting time and additionally pushed Jerusalem´s propaganda, while damaging Egypt´s image. | |||
In February of 2025 (source: [https://wiki.earthmc.net/wiki/EarthMC_Dynmap_Plus archive mode of Aurora´s EMC dynmap]), the Crusader States successfully poached the Egyptian town of Marsa Matrooh (136 chunks) to leave Egypt and join Crusader States instead, as well as overclaimed the Egyptian towns of Asyut (~20 chunks) and South Sinai (~15 chunks). | |||
In April of 2025, the forces of Crusader States did [https://discord.com/channels/1086378810863267840/1087139426725011606/1363637740582863090 overclaim the Egyptian town of Luxor for another ~100 chunks]. | |||
In May of 2025, the Crusader States [https://discord.com/channels/1086378810863267840/1087139426725011606/1377769960218300516 annexed the rest of Luxor (187 chunks), overclaimed the Egyptian town of Tukrah (~30 chunks), and sniped and annexed the Egyptian towns of Lijiang (64 chunks) and El-Bayda (114 chunks)]. | |||
Since the winter and spring of 2025, there has been a growing tendency toward inactivity within Egypt. Their recruitment, overall activity, nation bonus (from 100 to 60) and military initiatives decreased with every month, while overclaim-shield costs did increase and burden the Egyptian treasury more and more. Alone for their overclaim-shield, Egypt was forced to spend more than 10000 of gold across 2024 and 2025, to be some what safe against the perpetual overclaim threats created by Israel and later Crusader States. Even this how ever, did not save their towns from being ripped apart. | |||
In June of 2025, Egypt lost its geopolitical autonomy and national independence by joining Nubia and accepting the vassal status in the Third Nubian Empire, in order to gain a higher nation bonus (-> to reduce overclaim-shield costs) and to gain military support. This was a direct result of their inability to withstand the pressure from Jerusalem´s forces any longer on their own, and did very well illustrate the poor and desperate state the Egyptian officials led their nation into, as the Egyptian mayor of the town of Suez, [https://discord.com/channels/749674045900980385/970901301082857503/1464352142507905189 LlamaGorg admitted in a public announcement]: "I am eternally grateful for Nubia helping us out when we had nowhere to go and needed a nation of refuge [...] due to its higher nation bonus which we may need to prevent being overclaimed in times where we have low resident counts". | |||
In July of 2025, the Egyptian town of El-Alamein (199 chunks) was purchased and annexed by Crusader States (source: [https://wiki.earthmc.net/wiki/EarthMC_Dynmap_Plus archive mode of Aurora´s EMC dynmap]). | |||
In August of 2025, Egypt/Nubia poached the Crusader States´s town of Al-Quds (160 chunks) to join their nation (source: [https://wiki.earthmc.net/wiki/EarthMC_Dynmap_Plus archive mode of Aurora´s EMC dynmap]). The traitorous and foolish mayor of Al-Quds named jabesb2 has joined those who have overclaimed and destroyed his city 10 months ago. | |||
In September of 2025 (source: [https://wiki.earthmc.net/wiki/EarthMC_Dynmap_Plus archive mode of Aurora´s EMC dynmap]), the Crusader States sniped and annexed the Egyptian town of Tukrah (75 chunks) and overclaimed the Egyptian town of Sinai (60 chunks). | |||
In October of 2025 (source: [https://wiki.earthmc.net/wiki/EarthMC_Dynmap_Plus archive mode of Aurora´s EMC dynmap]), the Crusader States sniped and annexed the Egyptian town of Sinai (114 chunks) and, after the 42 day´ed Egyptian town of South Suez left empty space, established the town of Mount Sinai (104 chunks) on the Sinai Peninsula. | |||
In January of 2026, the Egyptian towns of [https://discord.com/channels/1086378810863267840/1087139426725011606/1463613318840455219 Tobruk (266 chunks) and West Cairo (351 chunks) were purchased, annexed and disbanded] . | |||
Luxor (~250 chunks of pure builds) and Tobruk (~200 chunks of pure builds), two coastal Egyptian cities distinguished by their impressive architecture and extensive urban development, were completely obliterated by Quarox´s forces. Not a single building was spared. This occurred in retaliation for Egypt’s grief inflicted upon Al-Quds´s infrastructure. | |||
Not only on the battlefield but also in terms of propaganda did Holy Land show significant results: [https://www.youtube.com/@PropagandaTerraSanctae/videos 8 shorts and 1 video were released]. Egyptian propaganda meanwhile [https://discord.com/channels/749674045900980385/749674520276893706 was rather simple and of low quality]. | |||
<gallery widths="250" heights="250" mode="packed"> | |||
File:Egyptsep2024.png|'''''Egypt, September 2024''''' | |||
File:Egyptsep2025.png|'''''Egypt, September 2025''''' | |||
</gallery>ㅤ | |||
==== Victory over Syria ==== | |||
Syria, led by mk277, aligned itself with Egypt and took part in the raids against the Israeli cities of [https://discord.com/channels/749674045900980385/749674213085806663/1288858885263851560 Haifa (4,500g) in September 2024] and [https://discord.com/channels/749674045900980385/749674213085806663/1310356862536781897 Camelot (2,700g) in November 2024]. | |||
In December of 2024 the Crusaders installed [https://medal.tv/games/minecraft/clips/jfChihXJ46e0tDPPF?invite=cr-MSxqUWYsMjExODAyNzYxLA melody mashines next to the Syrian spawn and shop], causing crashes and freezes for mk277´s laptop and making his shop a very unwelcoming place for visitors. | |||
During 2025 Lebanon paid round about 12000g for its overclaimshield. | |||
In July 2025 Crusader States [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1394052141550927962 overclaimed Lebanons Shop and looted] it for ~30000g worth of items and 4700 gold ingots. | |||
In October 2025 the Persian Empire [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1463491055738683609 overclaimed further into Lebanon and looted] additional 15 dubs of heads. | |||
In November 2025 the Persian Empire [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1463491055738683609 overclaimed fruther 45 chunks] from Lebanons coastline. | |||
In January 2026 the [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1463491055738683609 Persian Empire annexed the Syrian capital of Lebanon (269 chunks) while disbanding the nation of Syria], consequently winning its war against the enemy. | |||
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==== Victory over Jeddah ==== | |||
The nation of Jeddah, led by Nexus, had ties with and sympathies for Syria. The [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ijkq_2RRJuE Edessan forces of Crusader States succeeded in destroying the hostile entity] in January of 2025. | |||
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==== Victory over Saudi Arabia and KSA ==== | |||
In December of 2024, Saudi Arabia led by glitchyfartz ('''not''' glitchy fart) declared war on Crusader States, claiming that Crusader States just wants "to kick small nations out of the entire middle east". This totally unfair defamation was answered by the Crusaders with [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YrgbRSTG9U a powerful overclaim of the Arabian capital, sniping and disbanding of the Arabian sub-nation KSA, erasing the cult of the Sigmar "religion" and ruthless bombing of the Arabian capital´s infrastructure with TNT in January of 2025]. [https://youtu.be/I3PPDRzhcbI?t=76 Saudi Arabia was likewise disbanded by the Crusader forces]. | |||
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==== Victory over Caspian ==== | |||
MrX, the former leader of Caspian, together with other Caspian officials begun their public hostility against Israel starting from March 2024, ignoring the shared MESA Alliance of which both nations were part of. The Caspian leader expressed his desire for invading Holy Land verbally in March and April of 2024. Diplomatic requests in April of 2024 were not taken seriously by the Caspian diplomats. Israeli towns of Madinah and Arar were successfully poached to join Caspian in April and May of 2024. In June of 2024 Caspians attempted to poach another 4 Israeli towns. | |||
After [https://discord.com/channels/1086378810863267840/1087139426725011606/1488580866585133128 documenting all Caspian violations of the MESA agreement against Israel in a 20 page portfolio], Israel submitted it for internal review among the MESA council members and succeeded in getting the Caspian nation kicked from the alliance after an extensive debate was hosted and the Caspian side had full ability to defend its actions. This [https://youtube.com/watch?v=W8FW_TC3Eq0&t=2117&is=0BpcUB0Qu3SHD9Jv portfolio also played a role in the Orthinian Trials] in March of 2025. | |||
After Quarox taking over Israel in May 2024, Israel started implementing sanctions against the hostile nation. Part of it were the Cyrusian Concords in June 2024 which established peace between Israel and Persia and stopped Israels support for the Caspian nation [https://wiki.earthmc.net/wiki/War_of_the_One in its war against Persia]. Additionally, Israel allowed Persian towns of Gilan and Mazanadaran to join for nation bonus, preventing Caspian towns to overclaim them. | |||
With essential participation of forces from Kushan and Iran, which joined Crusader States in the end of 2024, [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1288426839332749323/1488965784582754394 the Caspian nation was decisively conquered in January of 2025]. Its former leader MrX and few other Caspian officials were exiled and sought refuge in Nubia. | |||
After annexing the former Caspian territories, the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpYC0YjEL10 Crusaders started the systematic destruction of the Caspian cult of "the One"]. Statues, buildings and archives were erased for ever. | |||
[https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1288426839332749323/1379817165167005696 After the defeat of Caspian, the Crusader States held a series of trials in March of 2025] known as the [https://wiki.earthmc.net/wiki/Orthinian_Trials Orthinian Trials] where captured Caspian officials were put under the conditions of a war court. On the first day of trials the prosecuted war criminal was Caspian's fourth and final leader, who elected himself to power and attempted to retake New Orthinia after its conquest by the Crusader States, named AngelMan1029. After failing to defend his case, he was held accountable for cultism, forced conversion, crimes against civilians, engineered famine and other barbaric actions by execution with an anvil. [https://youtu.be/W8FW_TC3Eq0?t=4595 Before being executed, he was offered the chance to confess his sins to a priest, but he refused by praising "the One"]. On the third day of trials, the Caspian official named Popos6969 was granted clemency, since he was found not guilty regarding most of the accusations. How ever, [https://youtu.be/M5s-EpXAMqg?t=3323&is=lE5Es3NwqYdZQjPC after receiving this judgement, he for incomprehensible reasons started to disrespect the head judge Arcanum_Maxinum, claiming that his voice sounds like the voice of a "Pakistani"]. After accusing the head judge of such a thing, the head judge changed his verdict to death penalty and Popos6969 was executed by an anvil right aftwards. | |||
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<gallery widths="200" heights="250" mode="packed"> | |||
File:Caspian1.png|'''''Caspian, October 2024''''' | |||
File:Caspian2.png|'''''Caspian, February 2025''''' | |||
</gallery>ㅤ | |||
==== Victory over Timurid ==== | |||
After Timurid established its nation in Iran, made egregious territorial claims, and failed to engage in proper diplomacy, [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1361062784556601746 the Crusader States declared war] in April of 2025. This happened also because Timurid was part of the Middle Eastern Alliance (MME), which was striving to establish an Arabian counter-axis in opposition to the Crusader States in the region, with Syria being one of its founding member. | |||
After being convinced by means of force, the [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1288426839332749323/1488841440632242206 Timurid leader decided to leave MME and become a vassal state in Crusader States] in April of 2025. From now on [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1362329263394656356 Timurid enjoyed limited autonomy and full protection by the Crusader States]. | |||
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==== Crusader States Civil War ==== | |||
The capital of Crusader States was since October 2024 located in the Edessan region, what was not seen as an issue by the other Crusader regions, since Huxf provided competence and activity while leading the Edessan region. How ever, after Huxf left the leading role in the Edessan region of Crusader States in February of 2025, his place was taken by Bobbobster. How ever, Bobbobsters passiveness and inactivity caused the representatives of Israel, Kushan and Iran to initiate extensive debates and votes among the Crusader States council in March/April of 2025, advocating to relocate the capital from Edesse to a rather active and growing region or to vote somebody else more active into the leading role in the Edessan region. With a majority of 11 to 6, the council of Crusader States voted in favor of electing somebody else into the position held by Bobbobster. Instead of following the majority´s decision, [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1358143158847930378 Bobbobster sought his personal interest and tried to usurp powers which did not belong to him]. He attempted to dissolve the Crusader States by renaming both the in-game nation and the discord server of Crusader States to Edesse, while stripping all council members of their legitimate discord ranks who voted in approval of a new election. How ever, the regions of Kushan, Iran and Israel led by Tavi, Sepraf and Quarox respectively were far from giving up their nation and remade Crusader States on the next day, with Jerusalem being its new capital from now on. In the same days, the Edessan anarchy inspired the Arabian regions to similar separatism à la domino effect: Hasbrown created Saudi Arabia and Salomon created the Emirates. | |||
[https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1358972277743685776 An announcement by Tavi], leader of the Kushan region, tells us more about what happened in the following days: "To avoid any accountability for his actions, Bobster has announced (not even two days after his treason) that he is stepping down and selling Edesse to the highest bidder. This is obviously because he understands how doomed Edesse is without the help of the rest of the Crusader States, who were doing all of the heavy lifting for him anyways before his treason. All he had to do was agree for a revote, which is what the council overwhelmingly asked for, and he wouldn't need to shamelessly flee from his very town now." How ever, Bobbobster was reasonable enough, or pressed enough in his own midst, to not sell Edesse to a random bidder. Instead, he gave Edesse into the hands of SaolGhra, an Edessan official. SaolGhra, shortly after coming into the office and seeking to appease Nubia, [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1361199205040783360 accepted and implemented the Nubian request to kick one of the southern Israeli towns, to make it possible for Nubia to overclaim] into the Israeli region. The Israeli town was not fast enough to switch nations and lost its nation bonus, and was overclaimed by the Nubians. By effectively backstabbing old comrades like this, SaolGhra proved himself being even more treacherous than his predecessor. SaolGhra, due to lack of competence or motivation to lead Edesse any further, announced very soon Hashbrown to be the new leader of Edesse. Hashbrown used this chance to successfully annex most of the former Edessan towns into his nation of Saudi Arabia. | |||
Saudi Arabia declared war on Crusader States in April of 2025. In response, the Crusaders swiftly annexed the Saudi towns of [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1361436730921717870 Kurdistan (43 chunks)], [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1362885574968610976 Damascus (40 chunks)] and[https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1363927867666202887 Kuwait (140 chunks)]. Crusader States sent multiple [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1364339118959628318 infiltrators into Saudi Arabia to empty its treasury by getting financial funds] for making fake Saudi towns, which later joined Crusader States. The [https://youtu.be/qZSJCvBUBRI?t=97 Saudi siege town against Porolissum was overclaimed by the Kushan forces], humiliating the Saudi campaign in public embarrassment. Revolting against the Saudi leadership of Hashbrown, the last Edessan usurper named [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1358086502088704181/1364350902219309116 Davegam tried to revive Edesse as a nation in end of April 2025]. He successfully poached most of the original Edessan towns to leave Saudi Arabia and re-join Edesse. Saudi Arabia, after facing intensive military pressure from Crusader States and revolts from Edesse, [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1365369007766765658 surrendered to the Crusader States in the end of April 2025 and its capital got annexed by the Crusaders]. In May of 2025, [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1367979195396915251 the remaining former Saudi towns like EMC (59 chunks), Shajwa (114 chunks), Chanse (75 chunks) and BillyCrogan (107 chunks)] got likewise annexed by Crusader States. Dubai (612 chunks), the capital of the Emirates was [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1373241940425838612 purchased and annexed by Crusader States] in May of 2025. The former Emirate towns of [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1376277913581650061 Turkey (886 chunks) and Anay (205 chunks)] were soon annexed too. In June of 2025 the former Emirate town of [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1388840421936861194 Abu_Dhabi (151 chunks) was annexed], with the Crusader States achieving full control over the Persian Gulf. | |||
In April of 2025, [https://youtu.be/OEVhbCV0C5I?t=17 Crusader agents managed to extract 7500 gold ingots from the Edessan treasury] as well as [https://youtu.be/OEVhbCV0C5I?t=21 21 spawners from the Edessan /n spawn], what happened due to Bobbobsters poor permission management. Since May of 2025, Crusader States begun the active liberation of the Edessan region from Davegam´s illegitimate rule. In May of 2025, the Edessan towns of [https://youtu.be/qZSJCvBUBRI?t=37 Assyria (118 chunks), Poland (170 chunks)], [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1368329645652443207 Brighton (474 chunks)], [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1369063220647694437 Hama (112 chunks), Syria (112 chunks)], [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1367979195396915251 Islam (322 chunks), Ana (58 chunks), Dzisna (60 chunks)], [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1371565495555330090 Hdaj (52 chunks) and Basra (74 chunks)] were conquered by the Kushan forces of Crusader States, while [https://youtu.be/qZSJCvBUBRI?t=56 430 gold ingots were plundered from the town of Hadj]. In May of 2025, the [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1372683992553230448 Edessan capital was overclaimed by 115 chunks and valuable items worth ~2000g] were plundered. In June of 2025, the Edessan towns of [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1383584149859864696 Megaton (48 chunks), Ctesiphon (191chunks) and Spain (205 chunks)] were annexed by Crusader States. In July of 2025, the Edessan towns of [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1393699683842658384 Indonesia (176 chunks)] and [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1397028622329708564 Albania (297 chunks)] were annexed, with 500 gold ingots and many dubs of heads being plundered from Albania. In August of 2025, the [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1408498830382731355 town of Saudi_Arabia (53 chunks) and most importantly the capital of Edesse (345 chunks) was conquered by the Crusader States], while the nation of Edesse was disbanded. | |||
This was the end of the Crusader States Civil War: [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1408498830382731355 "After half a year of fighting, Saudi Arabia was taken down within a month. Emirates were integrated into Crusader States within around 2-3 months. Most of Edesse was taken over 4 months in."] | |||
See here for the dynmap evolution of the civil war through the months: https://youtu.be/qZSJCvBUBRI?t=105 . | |||
<gallery widths="250" heights="270" mode="packed"> | |||
File:Cscivilwarapril2025.png|'''''April 2025, peak of Civil War''''' | |||
</gallery>ㅤ | |||
==== Victory over Parthia ==== | |||
Parthia, a nation in southern Iran lead by ThaEternalKiwi, conspired with and was supported by Saudi Arabia led by Hashbrown during the civil war era. The [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1362885574968610976 Crusader States managed to exile the Parthians and annex their capital] in April of 2025. | |||
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==== | ==== Victory over Iraq, Kurdistan and Bahrain ==== | ||
[ . . | As a preventive measure, smaller nations like [https://youtu.be/I3PPDRzhcbI?t=76 Iraq, Kurdistan and Bahrain were eliminated by the Edessan forces] of Crusader States in the end of 2024. | ||
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==== | ==== War against Uzbekistan ==== | ||
[ . . . ] | After breaking its border agreement with Crusader States multiple times in March/April 2025 and after failing to sanction its [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1371917067954946119 officials who sexually harassed Crusader States citizens], Uzbekistan did face appropriate actions by Crusader States. In June of 2025 the Uzbek town of [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1381305422622883901 Sky_Haven was overclaimed by 48 chunks and later fully annexed] with its remaining ~100 chunks by Crusader forces. In August of 2025 the [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1411073792255725681 Uzbek towns of Fergana (424 chunks) and Andijan (123 chunks) were taken over] by Crusader States. In October of 2025 the Crusaders [https://discord.com/channels/970395454292492338/1246587081912881193/1428096706242805842 acquired the town of Serenity, what broke the Nubian chain of towns to the Far East, preventing Uzbekistan to join Nubia and benefit from its nation bonus] for some time. | ||
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[ . . . | ==== War against Babylon ==== | ||
Babylon had decided to side with Egypt and Syria, joining the hostile Middle Eastern Pact, and was therefore targeted by Crusader States in 2025. By the Crusader towns of RedStoners, Medina and Kirkuk it was overclaimed by around 130 chunks. Its Ziggurat and other ancient architecture were plundered and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BAe9F4uRYo destroyed], cleansing its land from paganism. | |||
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= Architecture = | = Architecture = | ||
[ . . . ] | The architecture of the Holy Land is mostly inspired by the so-called [https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780190922467/obo-9780190922467-0032.xml#:~:text=Historicism%20in%20architecture%20often%20entails,eclecticism%2C%20revivalism%2C%20and%20relativism. historicism], in the context of art history, a common phenomenon in the late 19th and early 20th centuries during which architects and artists preferred to use architectural designs from previous centuries. The chief architect of the Holy Land is the Abbot TheBetterHand, who, inspired by the desire to express the beauty of God not only in the liturgy, but also in architecture, is responsible for the construction of the majority of Holy Lands architecture. | ||
=== Saint James the Less Cathedral Basilica === | === Saint James the Less Cathedral Basilica === | ||
==== | ==== Purpose ==== | ||
The Saint James the Less Cathedral Basilica (Latin: ''Ecclesia Cathedralis Basilicae Sancti Iacobi Fratris Domini'') contains the See of the Archbishop of Jerusalem and therefore represents the spiritual and ecclesiastical center of the Archdiocese of Jerusalem. As the principal and mother church of the archdiocese, it is the place from which the local Archbishop exercises the duties of evangelization, liturgical service and pastoral supervision related with his office. | The Saint James the Less Cathedral Basilica (Latin: ''Ecclesia Cathedralis Basilicae Sancti Iacobi Fratris Domini'') contains the See of the Archbishop of Jerusalem, Cardinal Quarox, and therefore represents the spiritual and ecclesiastical center of the Archdiocese of Jerusalem. As the principal and mother church of the archdiocese, it is the place from which the local Archbishop exercises the duties of evangelization, liturgical service and pastoral supervision related with his office. | ||
==== Construction ==== | ==== Construction ==== | ||
The construction of the cathedral was completed in April 2023. It is constructed according to the model of the real-life existing [[wikipedia:St._Peter's_Church,_Jaffa|St. Peter's Church (located in Jaffa, Tel Aviv District, Israel)]] in the style of [[wikipedia: | The construction of the cathedral was completed in April 2023. In August 2023 a Benedictine Chapel was added on the left side of the cathedral, at the same time the [[wikipedia:Sanctuary|sanctuary]] was renovated. It is constructed according to the model of the real-life existing [[wikipedia:St._Peter's_Church,_Jaffa|St. Peter's Church (located in Jaffa, Tel Aviv District, Israel)]] in the style of [[wikipedia:Baroque_Revival_architecture|New Spanish Baroque]]. In August 2023, a Benedictine chapel was added to the left wing of the cathedral. This was supposed to symbolize, appreciate and honor the importance and impact of the [[wikipedia:Benedictines|Benedictine order]] for the Holy Land. In December 2023, a cemetery was completed on the left outside of the cathedral where memorials and graves are placed to honor and remember notable figures of the past, which had essential impact on the Holy Land: Among others, Canonicus Hononarius Diaconus NoSurfZone for his contribution to the construction of the city (May-December 2023), Monsignor Canonicus Hillsgolf for his great financial support (March-September 2023) and Pater Justice for his self-sacrificial military service (March-June 2023). | ||
==== Consecration ==== | |||
[ . . . ] | The cathedral has in total eight altars and has a traditional ''[[wikipedia:Ad_orientem|ad orientem]]'' direction. It contains a high altar, six side altars and one altar in the Benedictine chapel. The high altar is consecrated to [[wikipedia:James_the_Less|St. James the Less]] (also known as [[wikipedia:James,_brother_of_Jesus|James, brother of the Lord]]), thus the name of the cathedral. He was one of the Apostles and [[wikipedia:Early_bishops_of_Jerusalem|according to early Christian tradition first Bishop of Jerusalem]]. Four of the six side altars are dedicated to important saints from each of the four eastern patriarchates of the ancient church [[wikipedia:Pentarchy|pentarchy]]: '''[1]''' ''[[wikipedia:John_Chrysostom|John Chrysostom, Patriarch of Constantinople]].'' '''[2]''' ''[[wikipedia:Ignatius_of_Antioch|Ignatius, Patriarch of Antioch]].'' '''[3]''' ''[[wikipedia:Athanasius_of_Alexandria|Athanasius, Patriarch of Alexandria]].'' '''[4]''' ''[[wikipedia:Cyril_of_Jerusalem|Cyril, Patriarch of Jerusalem]].'' The four patriarchal side altars are positioned in the cathedral according to the direction of the respective geographical location of the four patriarchal seats. The two other side altars are dedicated to two important figures of the Catholic faith: One is dedicated to the [[wikipedia:Mary,_mother_of_Jesus|Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of God]], while the other is dedicated to the [[wikipedia:Saint_Peter|first Roman Pope, St. Peter the Apostle]]. The altar in the chapel is dedicated to the [[wikipedia:Benedict_of_Nursia|father and founder of the Benedictine order, St. Benedict]]. | ||
==== Consecration and Honors ==== | |||
The cathedral was personally consecrated by Pope Clement XV in April 2023 as part of the [https://youtu.be/_8QzvUq592E?si=3TAK-JJjs7Ll5Ku2 Pilgrimage to the Holy Land]. In June 2023, Pope Clement XV granted the cathedral the honorary title of a basilica. | |||
==== Coat of Arms ==== | |||
The cathedral has a characteristic coat of arms for a basilica with the so-called [[wikipedia:Umbraculum|''umbraculum'']]. The coat of arms depicts two angels venerating the eucharistic host with the inscription JHS (Latin: ''Jesus Hierosolymae Salvator'', 'Jesus, Saviour of Jerusalem') in a monstrance. The depicted saw serves as symbol for St. James the Less: It represents the method of his martyrdom. The Jerusalem cross is placed on the lower half. | |||
The coat of arms of the Archbishop of Jerusalem, Cardinal Quarox is structured as following: On top is the ecclesiastical hat as a distinctive part of arms of a Catholic cleric, also called a [[wikipedia:Galero|galero]]. The galero is ornamented with tassels on both sides, also called fiocchi. The color of the hat and number of tassels indicate the cleric's place in the ecclesiastical hierarchy. Generally, priests, abbots and ministers have a black hat with cords and tassels, the number depending upon their rank. Bishops generally use a green hat with green cords and six green tassels on each side, archbishops have likewise a green hat with green cords and ten green tassels on each side, and cardinals have a red hat with red cords and fifteen red tassels on each side. The coat of arms also contains the archiepiscopal cross behind the shield. The shield is decorated with symbols that are directly or indirectly connected with the Holy Land. As with the other coats of arms, the Jerusalem cross is visible. The sand and the castle are intended to refer to the local natural and urban infrastructural conditions of the Middle East. On the blue background, which is meant to represent the sky, the [[wikipedia:Star_of_Bethlehem|Star of Bethlehem]] is depicted, which, according to biblical tradition, was visible at the birth of Christ. The praise C''hristus imperat'', taken from the famous [[wikipedia:Laudes_Regiae|Laudes Regiae]], serves as motto of the cardinal's coat of arms and translates as ''Christ commands''. | |||
==== Gallery ==== | ==== Gallery ==== | ||
<gallery> | <gallery mode="packed"> | ||
File:St. James | File:St. James Cathedral Coat of Arms.png|''Coat of Arms: St. James Cathedral'' | ||
File:St. James the Less Cathedral Basilica..png|''inside view, St. James Cathedral | File:Quarox arms12 (1).png|''Coat of Arms:'' ''Archbishop of Jerusalem, Cardinal Quarox'' | ||
File:St. James the Less Cathedral Basilica...png|''inside view, St. James Cathedral | File:2024-03-08 18.28.25.png|''frontside view, Central Square'' | ||
File:2024-03-08 18.28.53.png|''frontside view, Central Square'' | |||
File:St. James the Less Cathedral Basilica..png|''inside view, St. James Cathedral'' | |||
File:2024-03-15 20.34.52.png|''inside view, Side Altars'' | |||
File:2024-03-15 20.35.29.png|''inside view, Side Altars'' | |||
File:St. James the Less Cathedral Basilica...png|''inside view, Organ'' | |||
File:2024-02-05 14.19.23.png|''inside view, St. James Cathedral'' | |||
File:Benedictine Chapel.png|''inside view, Benedictine Chapel'' | |||
File:Benedictine Chapel..png|''inside view, Benedictine Chapel'' | |||
File:Benedictine Chapel...png|''inside view, Benedictine Chapel'' | |||
File:2024-02-15 19.35.37.png|''side view, St. James Cemetery'' | |||
File:2024-02-15 20.13.18.png|''side view, St. James Cemetery'' | |||
File:2024-02-18 23.19.52.png|''side view, St. James Cemetery'' | |||
File:2024-02-15 19.59.50.png|''side view, St. James Cemetery'' | |||
File:2024-02-18 23.19.28.png|''side view, St. James Cemetery'' | |||
File:2024-02-05 17.36.58.png|''frontside view, Central Square'' | |||
</gallery> | </gallery> | ||
=== Crypt of the Noble Army of Martyrs === | === Crypt of the Noble Army of Martyrs === | ||
[ . . . ] | |||
==== Purpose ==== | |||
The [[wikipedia:Crypt|crypt]], also known as the under-church, is a place used for liturgical purposes and for storing the tombs of saints, relic shrines, altars and other valuable objects of sacred origin. According to early Christian custom, the crypt originally contained the relics of a martyr. Based on this and with reference to the early Christian prayer ''[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Te_Deum Te Deum]'', the crypt of the Cathedral of St. James was named the Crypt of the Noble Army of Martyrs (Latin: ''Crypta Nobilis Martyrum Exercitus''). | |||
==== Construction ==== | |||
As is usual for crypts, it is located under the altar room and has a curved roof with a large number of pillars. The entrance to the crypt is located at the left outside of the cathedral in the cemetery. It contains an altar dedicated to the Noble Army of Martyrs, a statue of St. Mary, a statue of St. Joseph and statues in the sanctuary depicting the martyrs. Among these martyrs are saints who shed their blood for Christ on the ground of the Holy Land, including the [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_of_the_Innocents Holy Innocents], [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Stephen St. Stephanus], [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_the_Baptist St. John the Baptist], [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James,_brother_of_Jesus St. James the Less], [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_the_Great St. James the Great], [[wikipedia:Simeon_of_Jerusalem|St. Simeon of Jerusalem]] and [[wikipedia:Alexander_of_Jerusalem|St. Alexander of Jerusalem]]. The exact year of construction has not been preserved to the present day. | |||
==== Gallery ==== | |||
<gallery mode="packed"> | |||
File:2024-02-05 17.55.55.png|''inside view, Crypt of the Noble Army of Martyrs'' | |||
File:2024-02-05 18.01.01.png|''inside view, Crypt of the Noble Army of Martyrs'' | |||
File:2024-02-05 18.08.11.png|''inside view, Crypt of the Noble Army of Martyrs'' | |||
File:2024-02-05 18.09.14.png|''inside view, Crypt of the Noble Army of Martyrs'' | |||
File:2024-02-05 18.04.17.png|''inside view, Crypt of the Noble Army of Martyrs'' | |||
File:2024-02-05 18.03.16.png|''inside view, Crypt of the Noble Army of Martyrs'' | |||
File:2024-02-05 17.59.20.png|''inside view, Crypt of the Noble Army of Martyrs'' | |||
File:2024-02-05 17.57.08.png|''inside view, Crypt of the Noble Army of Martyrs'' | |||
File:2024-02-05 18.06.38.png|''inside view, Crypt of the Noble Army of Martyrs'' | |||
</gallery> | |||
=== Cathedral Chapter === | === Cathedral Chapter === | ||
[ . . . ] | |||
==== Purpose ==== | |||
The purpose of this building complex is the housing of the Cathedral Chapter described in the [https://wiki.earthmc.net/wiki/Holy_Land#Composition_of_Government Composition of Government] section. | |||
==== Construction ==== | |||
The Cathedral Chapter consists out of two principal buildings; the old chapter building and the newer version of the chapter house. Both were built next to each other and are connected by corridors. Altogether they contain one throne hall, two council halls, two meeting rooms, a parliament-like hall and several office rooms. In front of the newer chapter house is a garden with statues of important figures from the history of the medieval crusades, such as [[wikipedia:Baldwin_IV_of_Jerusalem|Baldwin IV.]] King of Jerusalem and [[wikipedia:Godfrey_of_Bouillon|Godfrey of Bouillon]], the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The construction of the Chapter started in May 2023 and was finished in April 2024. | |||
==== Coat of Arms ==== | |||
The Chapter coat of arms is similar to the coat of arms of the St. James Cathedral, although additionally surrounded by olive branches and decorated with the latin motto ''Christus vel mors'' which was already used for the coat of arms of the Catholic Theocracy Israel. | |||
<gallery mode="packed"> | |||
File:Cathedral chapter Smooth (2).png|''Coat of Arms: Cathedral Chapter'' | |||
File:Cathedral chapter1.png|''outside view, Garden Area'' | |||
File:Imaged1.png|''outside view, Garden Area'' | |||
File:Imageddd.png|''outside view, Garden Area'' | |||
File:Imagedddddddddddd.png|''outside view, Garden Area'' | |||
File:Imageqqqqqqqq.png|''outside view, Garden Area'' | |||
File:Imagevvvvvvvvvvv.png|''outside view, Garden Area'' | |||
File:Imagennnnnnnnn.png|''outside view, Garden Area'' | |||
File:Imagesssssssssss.png|''inside view, Entrance Hall'' | |||
File:Imagexff.png|''inside view, Entrance Hall'' | |||
File:Imagevvv.png|''inside view, Entrance Hall'' | |||
File:Imagevvvvvvvvvv.png|''inside view, Entrance Hall'' | |||
File:Imagebbbbbbb.png|''inside view, Entrance Hall'' | |||
File:Image11111.png|''inside view, Throne Hall'' | |||
File:Imagessssssssssssssss.png|''inside view, Throne Hall'' | |||
File:Imagessssssssssssssssssssss.png|''inside view, Throne Hall'' | |||
File:Imageqqqqqqqqqqqqqq.png|''inside view, Council Hall'' | |||
File:Imagedasdsa.png|''inside view, Council Hall'' | |||
File:Image64ed.png|''inside view, Corridor'' | |||
File:Image112344.png|''inside view, Parliament Hall'' | |||
File:Imageddddf2.png|''inside view, Parliament Hall'' | |||
File:Image111123.png|''inside view, Meeting Room'' | |||
File:Imagepppi.png|''inside view, Meeting Room'' | |||
File:Image1111111111w.png|''outside view, Main Square'' | |||
File:Image11111111111111111111.png|''outside view, Main Square'' | |||
File:Image11111111111112.png|''inside view, Entrance Hall'' | |||
File:Image111111211.png|''inside view, Entrance Hall'' | |||
File:Image1111122221.png|''inside view, Entrance Hall'' | |||
File:Image------1.png|''inside view, Meeting Room'' | |||
File:Image-----3.png|''inside view, Office Room'' | |||
File:Image.........png|''inside view, Council Hall'' | |||
File:Image--------7.png|''inside view, Council Hall'' | |||
File:Image......6.png|''inside view, Council Hall'' | |||
File:Imagehhhhhhhh.png|''inside view, Council Hall'' | |||
File:Image.......9.png|''backside view, Street Area'' | |||
File:Imageffffffffffffs.png|''backside view, Wall Area'' | |||
File:Imagedwdwww.png|''backside view, Wall Area'' | |||
</gallery> | |||
=== Primatial Abbey of Mount Nebo === | |||
==== Purpose ==== | |||
The monastery of Mount Nebo is used by [[wikipedia:Benedictines|benedictine]] monks under the governance of an abbot, therefore it is called [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbey abbey]. [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbot Abbot] (Latin: ''abbas'') is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery. Abbeys usually provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks. Abbeys are often self-sufficient while using any abundance of produce or skill to provide care to the poor and needy, refuge to the persecuted, education to the young and offer accommodation to people who are seeking spiritual retreat. The abbey of Mount Nebo is called primatial abbey because it stands under the supervision of the Abbot Primate TheBetterHand. The [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbot_Primate abbot primate] (Latin: ''abbas primas'') fulfills the function of representing the whole Benedictine Order. The roots of this order are going back to [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedict_of_Nursia St. Benedict of Nursia] who founded the first benedictine monastery, at Monte Cassino in Italy (529), which was the seed of Roman Catholic monasticism in general, and of the Order of Saint Benedict in particular. The ''Constitution of all Benedictines of the EMC Holy Catholic Church'' describes the purpose of the EMC Benedictine Order as following: <small>"''The Benedictines serve the Holy Catholic Church as artisans and workers. As such they gather materials, construct churches and other buildings, create map art as well as other related tasks for the glory of God and his Church, following the motto “ora et labora” (lat. pray and work). At the core of their mission is the task of furthering the glory of the Church by shaping the map with the fruits of their labour and making the Church and the commitment to her values visible.''"</small> | |||
==== Construction ==== | |||
This benedictine monastery is built upon the [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Nebo Mount of Nebo] within the Catholic Theocracy of Israel. This mountain is mentioned in the Bible as the place where Moses was granted a view of the Promised Land before his death. The local Benedictines connect this symbolically, into the present, insofar that they view this monastery as a place where God grants them a first view of the heaven, especially in the liturgical acts and the asceticism. The monastery is built on the basis of the in real life existing [[wikipedia:Austrian_Pilgrim_Hospice_to_the_Holy_Family|Austrian Pilgrim Hospice to the Holy Family (located in the Old City of Jerusalem, Israel)]]. The front of the monastery is landscaped with a garden area and is separated from the rest of the town by a medium-high wall. The monastery has a [[wikipedia:Saint_Boniface|St. Boniface]]'s Church (for the monks) and right above it a Marian Chapel (for the nuns). In addition to the many offices, there are seven rooms for monks, one of which is reserved for the abbot. It has a richly decorated gathering room and an impressive library for theological, historical and other valueable works. The monastery has a large underground basement for the storage and production of materials. The construction was finished in September of 2023. | |||
==== Coat of Arms ==== | |||
The monastery itself possesses a coat of arms with a shield showing the cross with an olive branch (symbolizes the Holy Land) and a pastoral staff (symbol for the Prophet Moses). A mitre is depicted above the shield and a bishop's staff behind the shield. Although abbots do not enjoy the episcopal ordination, they still have a special right regarding these [[wikipedia:Pontifical_vestments|pontificals]]. | |||
Characteristically for abbot primates, the Abbot Primate of the Monastery of Mount Nebo has a black-colored galero with the appropriate twenty tassels. Behind the shield, a bishop's staff is visible, whereby a combination of several symbols can be recognized on the shield: the Jerusalem cross as a sign of local affiliation, a patriarchal cross with the PAX as a widespread symbol of the Benedictine Order and the letters A and M decorated with jewel and steel standing for the famous ''[[wikipedia:Hail_Mary|Ave Maria]]'' prayer. | |||
==== Gallery ==== | |||
<gallery mode="packed"> | |||
File:Primatal Abbey of Mount Nebo1.png|''Coat of Arms: Primatial Abbey of Mount Nebo'' | |||
File:Abbot Primate Hand OSB2.png|''Coat of Arms: Abbot Primate TheBetterHand'' | |||
File:2024-03-05 21.15.32.png|''outside view, Primatial Abbey of Mount Nebo'' | |||
File:2024-03-05 21.46.46.png|''outside view, Primatial Abbey of Mount Nebo'' | |||
File:2024-03-05 21.46.20.png|''outside view, Primatial Abbey of Mount Nebo'' | |||
File:2024-03-05 21.31.18.png|''outside view, Primatial Abbey of Mount Nebo'' | |||
File:2024-03-05 21.24.49.png|''inside view, St. Boniface Church'' | |||
File:2024-03-05 21.28.34.png|''inside view, St. Boniface Church'' | |||
File:2024-03-05 22.15.33.png|''inside view, St. Mary Chapel'' | |||
File:2024-03-05 21.38.23.png|''inside view, Gathering Room'' | |||
File:2024-03-05 22.28.30.png|''inside view, Office of the Abbot Primate'' | |||
File:2023-09-16 11.28.03.png|''inside view, Library'' | |||
File:2024-03-05 22.12.59.png|''inside view, Storage and Worker Basement'' | |||
File:2024-03-05 21.31.18.png|''outside view, Primatial Abbey of Mount Nebo'' | |||
</gallery> | |||
=== Archiepiscopal Residence === | === Archiepiscopal Residence === | ||
[ . . . ] | |||
==== Purpose ==== | |||
While the cathedral is being the place where the archbishop performs his public episcopal office, his residence mostly serves as the internal workplace for him and his archdiocese. This complexly structured building also serves for representative and protocol purposes, for example during papal, state and diplomatic visits. In addition to this, the [[wikipedia:Ordinariate|ordinariate]], the diocesan administration, the cathedral chapter, including the office and secretariat of the archbishop, as well as other guests are housed there. It also contains the archbishop's treasury and other ecclesiastical property of the archdiocese. Last, but not least, it also serves as the primary place where the Archbishop of Jerusalem resides. | |||
==== Construction ==== | |||
In the medieval times, bishops usually lived in the "Bishop's courtyard" next to their cathedral. In accordance with this tradition, the residence of the Archbishop of Jerusalem is located right next to the St. James Cathedral Basilica. This made it possible to move the cathedral's sacristy into the residence. On the first floor, in addition to the entrance hall, various corridors and the sacristy, there are seven rooms for clerics and other guests. On the second floor there is the archbishop's office, his personal library, his private room, a drawing room, a gathering hall, a waiting room and four balconies. In the center of the building is a garden area with a water pond, similar to the Roman [[wikipedia:Impluvium|impluvium]] and the Greek [[wikipedia:Peristyle|peristyle]]. Additionally there is a large storage area in the basement. Due to multiple renovations and modifications the construction of the residence was not completed until February 2024. The exterior design for the residence is based on the real existing [[wikipedia:Abbey_of_the_Dormition#Modern_building|Greek Hagias Zion Convent (located on Mount Zion, Jerusalem, Israel)]]. | |||
==== Gallery ==== | |||
<gallery mode="packed"> | |||
File:2024-03-10 16.11.50.png|''frontside view, Central Square'' | |||
File:2024-03-11 13.41.06.png|''inside view, Entrance Hall'' | |||
File:2024-03-11 13.41.20.png|''inside view, Entrance Hall'' | |||
File:2024-03-10 16.34.40.png|''inside view, Corridor'' | |||
File:2024-03-11 11.23.49.png|''inside view, Archiepiscopal Office'' | |||
File:2024-03-10 16.18.55.png|''inside view, Library'' | |||
File:2024-03-10 16.19.55.png|''inside view, Drawing Room'' | |||
File:2024-03-10 16.22.19.png|''inside view, Gathering Room'' | |||
File:2024-03-11 11.25.12.png|''inside view, Waiting Room'' | |||
File:2024-03-10 16.45.08.png|''inside view, Garden Area'' | |||
File:2024-03-10 16.39.08.png|''inside view, Garden Area'' | |||
File:2024-03-10 16.45.27.png|''inside view, Garden Area'' | |||
File:2024-03-10 16.40.07.png|''inside view, Cathedral Sacristy'' | |||
File:2024-03-10 16.41.30.png|''inside view, Storage Basement'' | |||
File:2024-03-10 16.28.00.png|''frontside view, Central Square'' | |||
</gallery> | |||
=== Church of Our Lady, Queen of Heaven === | |||
==== Construction and Consecration ==== | |||
[[File:Consecration 1.png|thumb|179x179px|''Consecration on the 10th March 2024'']] | |||
The construction of the Church was finished in January 2024. The architecture was inspired from the in real life existing Church within the [[wikipedia:Stella_Maris_Monastery|Stella Maris Monastery]] (located on the Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel). It contains two side altars and was consecrated on the 10th March of 2024 in the name of [[wikipedia:Queen_of_Heaven|Our Lady, Queen of Heaven]]. | |||
==== Gallery ==== | |||
<gallery mode="packed"> | |||
File:2024-03-22 17.27.22.png|''frontside view, Market Square'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 17.59.47.png|''frontside view, Market Square'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 17.28.26.png|''frontside view, Market Square'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 17.28.03.png|''frontside view, Market Square'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 17.31.19.png|''inside view, High Altar'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 17.31.35.png|''inside view, High Altar'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 17.32.02.png|''inside view, High Altar'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 17.32.33.png|''inside view, Dome'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 17.33.03.png|''inside view, Dome'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 17.34.00.png|''inside view, Side Altar'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 17.48.11.png|''inside view, Dome'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 17.34.47.png|''inside view, Side Altar'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 17.48.55.png|''inside view, Dome'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 17.35.34.png|''inside view, Entrance'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 17.35.52.png|''inside view, Organ'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 17.50.55.png|''inside view, Dome'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 17.18.05.png|''backside view, Market Square'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 17.19.37.png|''side view, Market Square'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 17.26.49.png|''side view, Market Square'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 17.26.27.png|''side view, Market Square'' | |||
</gallery> | |||
=== Church of the Holy Family === | |||
==== Construction and Consecration ==== | |||
[[File:-.png|thumb|188x188px|''Consecration on 4th June of 2023.'']]The original model for the construction of the Holy Family Church was the [[wikipedia:Church_of_the_Flagellation|Church of the Flagellation]] (located in Jerusalem, Israel). The construction of the Church was finished in May 2023. It contains several huge paintings and was consecrated on the 4th June of 2023 to the [[wikipedia:Holy_Family|Holy Family]]. | |||
==== Gallery ==== | |||
<gallery mode="packed"> | |||
File:2024-03-22 16.41.51.png|''frontside view, Street Area'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 16.50.11.png|''frontside view, Street Area'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 16.49.16.png|''frontside view, Street Area'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 16.50.30.png|''frontside view, Street Area'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 16.45.32.png|''backside view, Street Area'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 16.45.02.png|''backside view, Street Area'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 16.44.30.png|''backside view, Street Area'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 16.53.37.png|''inside view, High Altar'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 16.53.49.png|''inside view, High Altar'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 16.54.22.png|''inside view, Dome'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 16.54.54.png|''inside view, Dome'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 16.56.08.png|''inside view, Paintings'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 16.56.15.png|''inside view, Paintings'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 16.56.38.png|''inside view, Paintings'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 16.56.47.png|''inside view, Paintings'' | |||
File:2024-03-22 16.57.41.png|''inside view, Entrance'' | |||
</gallery> | |||
“''What is History,''” said Napoleon, “''but a fable agreed upon?''” | |||
[[Category:Nations (Aurora)]] | |||
[[Category:Middle east]] | |||
[[Category:Religions]] | |||
[[Category:Wars (Aurora)]] | |||
[[Category:Battles (Aurora)]] | |||
{{DEFAULTSORT:aurora:Holy Land / Israel}} | |||
Latest revision as of 16:15, 2 April 2026
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The Holy Land (Latin: Terra Sancta) is a theocratic entity in the Middle East, located near to the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. In the past it was accessible in game through /n spawn Holy_Land. Currently it is accessible by /t spawn Jerusalem.
Edits about Holy Land / Crusader States: https://www.youtube.com/@PropagandaTerraSanctae/videos / https://www.youtube.com/@tavitsu/videos / https://www.youtube.com/@Huxf/videos
Following discord servers entail sources of information and evidence in form of announcements, pictures, documents and messages which are linked in this wiki page:
Catholic Theocracy of Israel & Holy Land discord server: https://discord.gg/mVe7AczyNg.
Originally Israel / later Crusader States / at last Persian Empire discord server: https://discord.gg/AM8FFR3TQf.
Originally Edesse discord server: https://discord.gg/yX8kvNQMnF.
Egypt discord server: https://discord.gg/6rxMMSp6wA.
Government
Form of Government
The term "theocracy" comes from the ancient Greek (θεοκρατία theokratía) and means "rule of God". In accordance with this definition, the government of the Holy Land legitimizes its regency by appealing to the Divine Will and the authority of the Holy See, which, within Catholic ecclesiology, acts as the highest magisterial instance on behalf of Jesus Christ, overseeing and guarding his flock. Consequently, the separation between state and religion is largely dissolved in the Holy Land: The government leads the state not only politically, but also religiously. The legislature, judiciary and executive branches of government are based on and guided by the principles of Catholic moral theology as well as by the Canon Law of the EMC Holy Catholic Church. Consequently, the Holy Land aims to impose the Christian religion as its state ideology in order to achieve the reign of Christ not only in the spiritual life but also in the geopolitical sphere.
Composition of Government (not up to date)
The government of the Holy Land is divided into three administrative sections:
1. The See of Jerusalem (Latin: Hierosolymitanum Sedes), the head of the Archdiocese of Jerusalem: held by Cardinal Quarox, Archbishop of Jerusalem.
2. The Cathedral Chapter (Latin: Capitulum), the college of canons who assist the Archbishop in his administrative duties of ecclesiastical (in that case also political) character, was established on the 13th of May 2023 with the approval of the former Supreme Pontiff Clement XV. The chapter is also responsible for maintaining the status quo in the case of the absence of the archbishop or in the case of a sedis vacantia. This chapter is mainly formed by:
I.) The Treasurer (Latin: Custos) of the Cathedral Chapter, Abbot Primate TheBetterHand (responsible for the structure, design and property of the churches as well as for the architecture in general).
II.) The Chancellor (Latin: Scholasticus) of the Cathedral Chapter, Bishop Indigo (responsible for the libraries, the supervision of theological education). This role was occupied by Cardinal Ratzinger until March 2024, who after his partial retirement received the role of Canon Emeritus (Latin: Canonicus Emeritus). Different to other honorary titles like Honorary Canon (Latin: Canonicus Honorarius), which was given to the most diligent members of the Holy Land (e.g. NoSurfZone in June 2023), the Canon Emeritus enjoys the right to participate within the government structures and therefore occupies a seat within the Cathedral Chapter.
III.) The Dean (Latin: Decanus) of the Cathedral Chapter, Monsignor Hillsgolf (responsible for the bureaucratic internal and external management as well as for the announcing of declarations).
IV.) The Precentor (Latin: Præcentor) of the Cathedral Chapter, Pater Orange (responsible for the preparation of the technical details of the liturgical acts).
V.) The Legate (Latin: Legatus) of the Cathedral Chapter, Bishop TGSTTV (responsible for the management of diplomacy in the area of external relations).
3. The Council of the Advocates of the Holy Land (Latin: Concilium Advocatorum Terrae Sanctae), the body of mayors of all towns within the Holy Land: currently consisting out of Indigo from Petra, iNinja from Amman, MrScaryPvP from Eilat, Jabesb from Al-Quds, Crab from Crabistan, Eevee from Bethlehem, Orange from Magna, TGSTTV from St_Joseph, OmeGiedd from Yaffa, Eliel from Camelot, Arcanum Maximum from County_Of_Ibelin and Alonjak from Ascalon. The title Advocate of the Holy Land was inspired by the traditional title of Godfrey of Bouillon, the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, who accepted the title Advocate of the Holy Sepulchre in order to avoid the title of King, as it was considered inappropriate to be crowned as King in the land where Christ suffered with a crown of thorns.
History
Establishment
The Holy Land was first established in the form of the Catholic Theocracy of Israel (Latin: Theocratia Catholica Israelis), later in May 2024 merged with Jerusalem. The Theocracy of Israel was founded as a town by Quarox, who was then a priest, on the 26th of March 2023. The reason for the foundation of this theocracy was a visit he made to Jerusalem: disappointed by the infidelity and unbelief that the young priest had to witness during his pilgrimage, he considered himself responsible to take action for the sake of his faith. In order to bring the government of Israel back to sanity, the cleric made an attempt to contact them by letter, explaining the issue and, despite the unfavorable imbalance of power between the insignificant priest and the fully grown nation in the Middle East, did not hesitate to state a warning about consequences if the government would not stop dishonoring the Holy Land. After the attempt to contact failed and the priest was mocked by propaganda posters additionally displayed in the streets of Jerusalem, Quarox appealed to the Holy See with a letter requesting authorization to establish the Catholic Theocracy of Israel in order to purify the Holy Land from the heresies he witnessed. Clement XV, Pope of that time, approved the establishment and at the same time elevated him to the episcopate on the 13th of March 2023. From that moment on, Quarox took over the ecclesiastical supervision over the Diocese of Israel as bishop. Due to the growth of this diocese, Pope Clement XV elevated it to the rank of Archdiocese of Jerusalem on the 6th of May 2023.

The establishment of the Theocracy was solemnly promulgated in the Declaration of the Establishment of the Catholic Theocracy of Israel.
An excerpt from the document states: "In the context of their refusal to our request, to remove the propaganda of sodomy as well as the blasphemous visual amusements about Jesus Christ from their territory, we are compelled by our conscience to take fundamental and total countermeasures. Not only that they did not show any understanding for our accommodating request, much more these enemies of God intensified their sodomite propaganda and informed us about it, in a very mocking manner. Our littleness can bear much mockery for the sake of the one, who was humiliated, dishonored and crucified for our sake, but if we should see that at least a single heretic dares to harm even one hair of our beloved Lord, we are ready to raise against legions at the cost of our blood."
Towards the end it states: "Not acting on our own judgment, but strengthened in the name of the unshakable authority of His Holiness, Clement XV., Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Holder of the Holy Roman See, whose loyal servants we are, and in view of the above explained diabolical behavior of the government of so-called Israel towards the most holy God and Savior, Jesus Christ, whose slaves we want to be forever, we officially declare and proclaim; I.) the outrageous claim of these infidels to identify themselves as Israel null and void, II.) the establishment of the Catholic Theocracy of Israel under the rule of Jesus Christ."
Independence
De facto, since its establishment, the Holy Land considered itself independent from other political entities, whereby as a theocratic Catholic state, it viewed itself solely responsible to the Holy See. Consequently, the process of independence that the Holy Land went through is to be understood in this context as a de jure phenomenon.
A few weeks after the establishment of the Theocracy, the government of the Holy Land decided to undertake a search for a neighboring nation to temporarily enter into a mutually beneficial unity. On the basis of successful diplomacy, the Theocracy chose in favor of joining the nation of Kushan. Although the initial cooperation proved to be fruitful and the Archdiocese of Jerusalem was able to christianize Kushan to the extent that it adopted Christianity as its official religion, the change of government in Kushan had a number of negative aspects. Through inappropriate behavior in the political context of the Middle East, Kushan made itself locally quite unpopular. This soon became an obstacle for the Archdiocese of Jerusalem regarding the evangelization of other neighboring nations. Third parties began to associate the Archdiocese of Jerusalem with Kushan and its actions, resulting in nations such as Egypt and Armenia rejecting evangelization attempts. In addition, it was revealed that Kushan's government had taken pleasure by publicly insulting His Holiness. These and other circumstances led the Holy See to make use of its authority in the following way: On the 3rd of July 2023, Pope Clement XV announced a decree regarding the independence of the Theocracy of Israel.
Among other matters, it stated: "It is with this proclamation, that I, Pope Clement XV, Supreme Pontiff of the Holy Catholic Church on EarthMC, decree the following: In the name of the people of God and His Church, I hereby order the town of the Theocracy of Israel to create a new sovereign, independent, and unbounded nation which shall act as the new Christian state in the Holy Lands following the dissolution of the Crusader States, in allegiance only to the will of God and in ever command of Christ [...] However, in observance of the peaceful and cordial diplomacy exhibited by the Christian nation of Kushan [...] The Church continues to extend its hand in friendship and partnership to Kushan."
And at the end: "I place my complete trust in the episcopal leadership of the Archdiocese of Jerusalem, under the See of Archbishop Quarox, to heed and carry out my command."

After several weeks of bureaucratic and economic preparations, the Theocracy of Israel finally promulgated the Declaration on the Independence of the Holy Land on the 5th of August 2023. The town of the Theocracy of Israel left Kushan, established the nation called Holy Land and from then on was the capital of this new nation.
The declaration stated: "Following the command of the former Pope Clement XV, the moment has arrived today when the Catholic Theocracy of Israel is facing a fundamental transformation [...] Considering the fact that our theocratic state is not subordinated to anyone except to Our Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Catholic Church, as well as the fact of ceaseless political strife in the Middle East, the declaration of our independence from other nations gains extreme priority in order; I.) to finalize the autonomous sovereignty claim of our Lord and Savior over the Holy Land, II.) to eliminate the possibility of the Church being instrumentalized by any other nation and III.) to not allow the reputation of our Holy Mother Church to be in danger of being defiled by the misbehavior of other nations."
Towards the end: "Relying on the decree of the former Supreme Pontiff Clement XV and strengthened by the approval of the present holder of the Holy See, Pope Pius XIII, the Catholic Theocracy of Israel hereby declares; Its complete independence from any worldly authority and the establishment of the nation which shall be known as the Holy Land under the sovereign Reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ."
Coats of arms



The coat of arms of the Catholic Theocracy of Israel displays the so-called Jerusalem Cross on its shield, derived from the Kingdom of Jerusalem, a crusader state established immediately after the success of the First Crusade in the 11th century. In this sense, the Holy Land made use of the symbolism and narratives of the medieval crusades from its very beginning. The symbolism of the five-fold cross is variously given as the Five Wounds of Christ or Christ and the four evangelists. The bishop's staff, also known as the crosier, crossed with the sword behind the shield represents the elimination of the separation between state and religion: pastoral religious guidance as well as canonical ecclesiastical jurisdiction are merged and connected with civil law and government policy, each represented by the staff and the sword. The shield is surrounded by olive branches, which on the one hand have the ancient symbolism of welcoming a newly crowned king (in this case Jesus Christ himself) and on the other hand symbolise the peace (in this case the peace which comes with Christ's Kingdom). Above the shield the so-called mitre is displayed, symbolising the episcopal dignity traditionally carried by the bishop on ceremonial and liturgical occasions. The crown of thorns of Jesus is depicted at the very top, symbolising the sovereign kingship of Christ over the Theocracy. The motto Christus vel mors was inscribed, which translates as Christ or death, meaning the spiritual and eternal death that follows with rejecting Christ as saviour of mankind.
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The coat of arms of the Holy Land is similar to the coat of arms of the Theocracy of Israel, but with a few changes: Christ's crown of thorns is adorned with a golden king's crown to emphasise the kingship of Christ. The olive branches are not made of gold but have their natural colour. The shield is surrounded by a chain on which the motto Deus Vult is engraved, a phrase that was originally known as Deus lo vult (Latin: God wills it!) and was used by the crowds as a cry to action when Pope Urban II called for the liberation of Jerusalem in his sermon at the Council of Clermont on 27 November 1095. In doing so, the former Pope laid the foundations for the First Crusade, which contributed to the Christian reconquest of the Holy City. In addition, the coats of arms of the oldest preserved towns of the Holy Land (besides the Theocracy of Israel) are illustrated on the olive branches: namely Byzantine Theocracy, Magna, Holy Arabia, Mons Regalis, Edessa and Crabistan. The motto Unity in truth is depicted as Unitas in veritas, which stands for the unity of the different middle eastern towns under the one divine truth of the Christian religion within the Holy Land.
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The coat of arms of the Archdiocese of Jerusalem contains the Jerusalem cross depicted on the shield, above it the mitre and behind it the bishop's staff crossed with a cross: In the Catholic Church, display of a cross behind the shield is restricted to bishops and archbishops as a mark of their dignity and office. The cross of an ordinary bishop has a single horizontal bar or traverse, also known as the Latin cross. A archbishop or patriarch uses the Archiepiscopal cross with two traverses, also known as the Patriarchal cross. The Papal cross has three traverses.
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Expansion
The territorial and architectural expansion of the Catholic Theocracy of Israel (former Capital of the nation of Holy Land and currently the main city of Jerusalem) can be seen below.
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26th March, 2023
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28th March, 2023
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3rd April, 2023
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8th April, 2023
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10th April, 2023
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13th April, 2023
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17th April, 2023
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23th April, 2023
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18th May, 2023
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22th May, 2023
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28th May, 2023
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30th May, 2023
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1st June, 2023
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3rd June, 2023
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4th June, 2023
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4th June, 2023
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3rd February, 2024
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26th March, 2024
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6th May, 2024
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1st May, 2025 - construction finished

External Political Alliances

Holy Roman Empire
Since the Holy Roman Empire was established in October 2023, the Holy Land has been a founding member of this mega-nation. The HRE in its essence represents a confederation of mostly mediterranean nations with the initial goal of uniting against the common threat of Overclaim as well as the spread of the Christian faith.
After merging with Edesse into the new nation of Crusader States, the Holy Land of Israel left the Holy Roman Empire in November of 2024. This was due to the Edessan veto against the remaining in HRE, as well as due to the internal conflicts and inactivity within HRE.
Holy Roman Empire discord server link: https://discord.gg/EdGEhRkWuA.

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Regnum Millenarium
The nation of Holy Land and the nation of Israel merged at the end of 2023 shortly after the handover of the Israeli government by Jabesb to Lovelyfurball. This was written down in the Regnum Millenarium agreement as stated below, signed by both sides as well as by the Holy See and was promulgated on the 8th January of 2024:
"The merging of the nations of the Holy Land and Israel will happen according to the following explained regulations: i.) The towns of the Holy Land will join Israel in the in-game context. ii.) The nation of Israel will declare the Christian religion as the officially supported religion by its state. iii.) The See of Jerusalem will de facto continue its autonomous jurisdiction over the former towns of the Holy Land. iv.) The leader of Israel will continue his autonomous jurisdiction over his own towns."
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In May 2024 the former leader of (the western part of) Israel, namely Lovelyfurball, handed over his territory to Cardinal Quarox while leaving the nation; which made the cardinal the de facto ruler over Israel as well as over the Holy Land.



Middle Eastern Strategic Alliance
Since February 2024 the Holy Land was part of the Middle Eastern Strategic Alliance. MESA stated its primary goal as to ensure peace, direct chaos into resolution, and manage conflicts both foreign and domestic within the Middle East, a region which proved itself to be very unstable since the start of EarthMC. MESA Discord server link: https://discord.gg/bUwPYjp8cR .
In the spring and summer of 2024 the internal situation between the Holy Land and Caspian, both MESA members, started to escalate, since Caspian repeatedly attempted to drag Israeli mayors to join them by spreading misinformation and baseless accusations and even overclaiming one of the towns of Holy Land. After an internal debate, with the Israeli side providing the evidence and the Caspian side attempting to defend itself, a vote by the majority of MESA leaders decided to remove Caspian from the alliance for violating its agreement, what happened on the 31st July of 2024.
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Since the winter of 2024, MESA can rightly be described as an inactive alliance.
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Mediterranean Pact
During the leadership of Lovelyfurball, Israel joined the Mediterranean Pact in April of 2024, with other members being Aragon, Genoa, Turkey and Egypt. Main goal of this Pact was the multilateral cooperation against the efforts of the aggressive expansion by Venice into the regions of the Mediterranean Sea. Under the later leadership of Quarox, Israel left the Mediterranean Pact as part of the Treaty of Acre in June of 2024 in order to ensure peaceful relations towards Venice. Beside other reasons, this led to the Egyptian offensive against Israel in September of 2024 and the following war against Egypt.
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Cyrusian Concords
The Cyrusian Concords, signed on the 1st of June, 2024, marks a historic peace treaty between the Holy Land of Israel and the Persian Empire. It establishes a covenant of peace aimed at ending aggression and hostility, as well as ending the war between the two nations. Key provisions include the recognition of territorial integrity and national sovereignty, a commitment to non-intervention in internal affairs, and mutual non-support in conflicts against third parties. Additionally, the treaty addresses specific concerns, such as the cessation of support for Caspian by Israel and the protection of Christians within the Persian Empire. Dispute resolution mechanisms prioritize peaceful dialogue, while measures are outlined to address domestic opposition to the treaty's terms. Importantly, the treaty allows for future modifications or revocations with mutual consent.
This treaty was considered as required based on the past conflict between Israel and the Persian Empire in the years of 2022 and 2023, when Israel was under Jabesb´s leadership.
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Treaty of Acre
Signed on the 15th of June, 2024, the Treaty of Acre constituted the common effort of Holy Land and Venice to enter a state of peace. Issues between both realms were caused in the past due to the expansion of Venice into the Middle East seeking to gain territory in the Levant and even overclaim Israel in the beginning of 2024. Other conflicts arose between Venice and Holy Land within the Holy Roman Empire about territorial questions in Italy caused by the Papal States, back when Venice was a part of HRE and the Holy Land supported Papal States instead of Venice. The Treaty of Acre focused on articles of Non-Aggression, National Sovereignty, Territorial Agreement and Israel leaving the Mediterranean Pact.
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Crusader States
In October of 2024 the Holy Land of Israel and the nation of Edesse united into one nation in order to form the Crusader States. On regional matters both states remained autonomy, while for the resolution of national issues in external affairs, a Council of 12 Lords, 6 by both nations respectively, was formed.
In the end of 2024 Kushan and Iran joined the Crusader States, both receiving appropriate numbers of seats in the Council.
In September of 2025 the Crusader States was reformed into the Persian Empire, with Jerusalem staying its capital.
Former Crusader States / current Persian Empire discord server link: https://discord.gg/AM8FFR3TQf .
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Crusader States expansion - October 2024
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Crusader States expansion - September 2025 (Historical peak: 145 towns, 20000 chunks, 1000 residents)
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The Ecumene Pact
The Crusader States and Venice, as founding members, created the Ecumene Pact in August of 2025, with articles on the Defensive Pact, Democratic Clause, Protectorate Laws and Security Cooperation being the essential aspect of this Alliance. Other members as of the October 2025 are: Greece, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, RSA and Pilbara. Ecumene Pact discord server link: https://discord.gg/MYeyCxz53z .
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Armed conflicts
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War against Egypt
In September of 2024, Egypt - without any prior efforts for diplomacy or negotiation - decided to overclaim 192 chunks of the Israeli town Al-Quds. Their invasion of the Sinai Peninsula was followed by barbaric destruction of old and ancient infrastructure. Egypt attempted to justify their actions by spreading misinformation about an alleged collaboration between Jerusalem and Venice. Evidence for this accusation was never provided. In a highly one-sided and tendentious TBI article in October 2024, Egypt's former leader "Fluxeeh" had the naivety to claim: "Israel lost the war the second they declared it." How ever, his statement was proven wrong by history.
After Egypt dismissed diplomatic approaches by Jerusalem, the Council of Mayors voted unanimously, by a majority of 13 to 0, to officially recognize a state of war. Few days later followed a declaration of war by Quarox on behalf of all of Holy Land and Israel.
In September of 2024, following nations announced their support for Israel/Holy Land: Romania led by DirtMan, Papal States represented by Bernard Albani, Venice represented by Luis, Ireland led by Vladie, Honduras led by WakePvP, Germany led by S11Daniels, France led by Tiowoit, Japan represented by antarctica aka. seychelles and Austria Hungary led by Adelin.
In September of 2024, following nations announced their support for Egypt: Nubia led by Thee Boss, Syria led by mk277, Korea led by KenDibnah and Genoa led by 32Andrew.
In September of 2024, officials from Egypt and Syria assisted in the looting of about ~4500 gold and valuable items from a casino in the Israeli town of Haifa, most of what how ever went into the pockets of Continentalia, a third party external actor from Romania without actual affiliation to Egypt or Syria, who was the organizer of this operation, without who, as the Syrian leader admitted, "this would not have happened".
In October of 2024, Holy Land begun the overclaim of the Egyptian town of Luxor. The Israeli flag was raised above the captured Egyptian battleship. In October of 2024, the overclaimed territory by Egypt in Sinai was visually ruined by the placement of giant Christian propaganda posters in Al-Quds, being visible also in Cairo. In October of 2024, Holy Land sniped and annexed the Egyptian town of Abu Simbel (35 chunks).
In November of 2024, Egypt and Syria plundered about ~2700 gold and valuable items from the Crusader State´s town of Camelot. Since this how ever was done by griefing with TNT canons, they received appropriate sanctions by the moderators and the damaged buildings were restored.
In December of 2024, the important and prominent Egyptian town of Mecca was successfully poached and annexed by the Crusader States, resulting in the destruction of the heretical Kaaba cult and the public emotional crashout and resignation of the Egyptian leader named "Lumpeeh". Instead of displaying decisive leadership and strength of character, the femboy-styled weakling pathetically admitted in his announcement: "the incident earlier today in Mecca has inevitably pushed me to abdicate earlier than I had originally planned [...] this year has been slowly breaking me and up to this point, it had completely dried up any wish or desire to continue leading Egypt". In their desperate attempt to retake Mecca, the Egyptians did spend a whole amount of 1500 gold (source: DM´s of poached Mecca mayor), just to lose the Kaaba to Crusader States once again in July of 2025, when Crusader States overclaimed half of Mecca with the town of Chanse. The Operation of Mecca in December of 2024 was Jerusalem´s first substantial strike against Egypt, damaging the enemy´s psychological and political stability in a meaningful way, as proven by the abdication of Egypt´s leader.
In December of 2024, Egypt attempted to send a spy (nihil1ty aka. bxrningdesires) to infiltrate the Holy Land, but their bad prepared experiment was instantly exposed by the counter-intelligence of Quarox´s officials. The infiltration attempt was followed by nihil1ty´s Egyptian town of North Sinai joining Holy Land (source: archive mode of Aurora´s EMC dynmap), pretending to have switched sides, in the hope of getting internal information. How ever, since the poor agent got caught without even realizing it, instead of gaining any valuable information or access to governmental channels, he lost months of waiting time and additionally pushed Jerusalem´s propaganda, while damaging Egypt´s image.
In February of 2025 (source: archive mode of Aurora´s EMC dynmap), the Crusader States successfully poached the Egyptian town of Marsa Matrooh (136 chunks) to leave Egypt and join Crusader States instead, as well as overclaimed the Egyptian towns of Asyut (~20 chunks) and South Sinai (~15 chunks).
In April of 2025, the forces of Crusader States did overclaim the Egyptian town of Luxor for another ~100 chunks.
In May of 2025, the Crusader States annexed the rest of Luxor (187 chunks), overclaimed the Egyptian town of Tukrah (~30 chunks), and sniped and annexed the Egyptian towns of Lijiang (64 chunks) and El-Bayda (114 chunks).
Since the winter and spring of 2025, there has been a growing tendency toward inactivity within Egypt. Their recruitment, overall activity, nation bonus (from 100 to 60) and military initiatives decreased with every month, while overclaim-shield costs did increase and burden the Egyptian treasury more and more. Alone for their overclaim-shield, Egypt was forced to spend more than 10000 of gold across 2024 and 2025, to be some what safe against the perpetual overclaim threats created by Israel and later Crusader States. Even this how ever, did not save their towns from being ripped apart.
In June of 2025, Egypt lost its geopolitical autonomy and national independence by joining Nubia and accepting the vassal status in the Third Nubian Empire, in order to gain a higher nation bonus (-> to reduce overclaim-shield costs) and to gain military support. This was a direct result of their inability to withstand the pressure from Jerusalem´s forces any longer on their own, and did very well illustrate the poor and desperate state the Egyptian officials led their nation into, as the Egyptian mayor of the town of Suez, LlamaGorg admitted in a public announcement: "I am eternally grateful for Nubia helping us out when we had nowhere to go and needed a nation of refuge [...] due to its higher nation bonus which we may need to prevent being overclaimed in times where we have low resident counts".
In July of 2025, the Egyptian town of El-Alamein (199 chunks) was purchased and annexed by Crusader States (source: archive mode of Aurora´s EMC dynmap).
In August of 2025, Egypt/Nubia poached the Crusader States´s town of Al-Quds (160 chunks) to join their nation (source: archive mode of Aurora´s EMC dynmap). The traitorous and foolish mayor of Al-Quds named jabesb2 has joined those who have overclaimed and destroyed his city 10 months ago.
In September of 2025 (source: archive mode of Aurora´s EMC dynmap), the Crusader States sniped and annexed the Egyptian town of Tukrah (75 chunks) and overclaimed the Egyptian town of Sinai (60 chunks).
In October of 2025 (source: archive mode of Aurora´s EMC dynmap), the Crusader States sniped and annexed the Egyptian town of Sinai (114 chunks) and, after the 42 day´ed Egyptian town of South Suez left empty space, established the town of Mount Sinai (104 chunks) on the Sinai Peninsula.
In January of 2026, the Egyptian towns of Tobruk (266 chunks) and West Cairo (351 chunks) were purchased, annexed and disbanded .
Luxor (~250 chunks of pure builds) and Tobruk (~200 chunks of pure builds), two coastal Egyptian cities distinguished by their impressive architecture and extensive urban development, were completely obliterated by Quarox´s forces. Not a single building was spared. This occurred in retaliation for Egypt’s grief inflicted upon Al-Quds´s infrastructure.
Not only on the battlefield but also in terms of propaganda did Holy Land show significant results: 8 shorts and 1 video were released. Egyptian propaganda meanwhile was rather simple and of low quality.
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Egypt, September 2024
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Egypt, September 2025
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Victory over Syria
Syria, led by mk277, aligned itself with Egypt and took part in the raids against the Israeli cities of Haifa (4,500g) in September 2024 and Camelot (2,700g) in November 2024.
In December of 2024 the Crusaders installed melody mashines next to the Syrian spawn and shop, causing crashes and freezes for mk277´s laptop and making his shop a very unwelcoming place for visitors.
During 2025 Lebanon paid round about 12000g for its overclaimshield.
In July 2025 Crusader States overclaimed Lebanons Shop and looted it for ~30000g worth of items and 4700 gold ingots.
In October 2025 the Persian Empire overclaimed further into Lebanon and looted additional 15 dubs of heads.
In November 2025 the Persian Empire overclaimed fruther 45 chunks from Lebanons coastline.
In January 2026 the Persian Empire annexed the Syrian capital of Lebanon (269 chunks) while disbanding the nation of Syria, consequently winning its war against the enemy.
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Victory over Jeddah
The nation of Jeddah, led by Nexus, had ties with and sympathies for Syria. The Edessan forces of Crusader States succeeded in destroying the hostile entity in January of 2025.
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Victory over Saudi Arabia and KSA
In December of 2024, Saudi Arabia led by glitchyfartz (not glitchy fart) declared war on Crusader States, claiming that Crusader States just wants "to kick small nations out of the entire middle east". This totally unfair defamation was answered by the Crusaders with a powerful overclaim of the Arabian capital, sniping and disbanding of the Arabian sub-nation KSA, erasing the cult of the Sigmar "religion" and ruthless bombing of the Arabian capital´s infrastructure with TNT in January of 2025. Saudi Arabia was likewise disbanded by the Crusader forces.
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Victory over Caspian
MrX, the former leader of Caspian, together with other Caspian officials begun their public hostility against Israel starting from March 2024, ignoring the shared MESA Alliance of which both nations were part of. The Caspian leader expressed his desire for invading Holy Land verbally in March and April of 2024. Diplomatic requests in April of 2024 were not taken seriously by the Caspian diplomats. Israeli towns of Madinah and Arar were successfully poached to join Caspian in April and May of 2024. In June of 2024 Caspians attempted to poach another 4 Israeli towns.
After documenting all Caspian violations of the MESA agreement against Israel in a 20 page portfolio, Israel submitted it for internal review among the MESA council members and succeeded in getting the Caspian nation kicked from the alliance after an extensive debate was hosted and the Caspian side had full ability to defend its actions. This portfolio also played a role in the Orthinian Trials in March of 2025.
After Quarox taking over Israel in May 2024, Israel started implementing sanctions against the hostile nation. Part of it were the Cyrusian Concords in June 2024 which established peace between Israel and Persia and stopped Israels support for the Caspian nation in its war against Persia. Additionally, Israel allowed Persian towns of Gilan and Mazanadaran to join for nation bonus, preventing Caspian towns to overclaim them.
With essential participation of forces from Kushan and Iran, which joined Crusader States in the end of 2024, the Caspian nation was decisively conquered in January of 2025. Its former leader MrX and few other Caspian officials were exiled and sought refuge in Nubia.
After annexing the former Caspian territories, the Crusaders started the systematic destruction of the Caspian cult of "the One". Statues, buildings and archives were erased for ever.
After the defeat of Caspian, the Crusader States held a series of trials in March of 2025 known as the Orthinian Trials where captured Caspian officials were put under the conditions of a war court. On the first day of trials the prosecuted war criminal was Caspian's fourth and final leader, who elected himself to power and attempted to retake New Orthinia after its conquest by the Crusader States, named AngelMan1029. After failing to defend his case, he was held accountable for cultism, forced conversion, crimes against civilians, engineered famine and other barbaric actions by execution with an anvil. Before being executed, he was offered the chance to confess his sins to a priest, but he refused by praising "the One". On the third day of trials, the Caspian official named Popos6969 was granted clemency, since he was found not guilty regarding most of the accusations. How ever, after receiving this judgement, he for incomprehensible reasons started to disrespect the head judge Arcanum_Maxinum, claiming that his voice sounds like the voice of a "Pakistani". After accusing the head judge of such a thing, the head judge changed his verdict to death penalty and Popos6969 was executed by an anvil right aftwards.
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Caspian, October 2024
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Caspian, February 2025
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Victory over Timurid
After Timurid established its nation in Iran, made egregious territorial claims, and failed to engage in proper diplomacy, the Crusader States declared war in April of 2025. This happened also because Timurid was part of the Middle Eastern Alliance (MME), which was striving to establish an Arabian counter-axis in opposition to the Crusader States in the region, with Syria being one of its founding member.
After being convinced by means of force, the Timurid leader decided to leave MME and become a vassal state in Crusader States in April of 2025. From now on Timurid enjoyed limited autonomy and full protection by the Crusader States.
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Crusader States Civil War
The capital of Crusader States was since October 2024 located in the Edessan region, what was not seen as an issue by the other Crusader regions, since Huxf provided competence and activity while leading the Edessan region. How ever, after Huxf left the leading role in the Edessan region of Crusader States in February of 2025, his place was taken by Bobbobster. How ever, Bobbobsters passiveness and inactivity caused the representatives of Israel, Kushan and Iran to initiate extensive debates and votes among the Crusader States council in March/April of 2025, advocating to relocate the capital from Edesse to a rather active and growing region or to vote somebody else more active into the leading role in the Edessan region. With a majority of 11 to 6, the council of Crusader States voted in favor of electing somebody else into the position held by Bobbobster. Instead of following the majority´s decision, Bobbobster sought his personal interest and tried to usurp powers which did not belong to him. He attempted to dissolve the Crusader States by renaming both the in-game nation and the discord server of Crusader States to Edesse, while stripping all council members of their legitimate discord ranks who voted in approval of a new election. How ever, the regions of Kushan, Iran and Israel led by Tavi, Sepraf and Quarox respectively were far from giving up their nation and remade Crusader States on the next day, with Jerusalem being its new capital from now on. In the same days, the Edessan anarchy inspired the Arabian regions to similar separatism à la domino effect: Hasbrown created Saudi Arabia and Salomon created the Emirates.
An announcement by Tavi, leader of the Kushan region, tells us more about what happened in the following days: "To avoid any accountability for his actions, Bobster has announced (not even two days after his treason) that he is stepping down and selling Edesse to the highest bidder. This is obviously because he understands how doomed Edesse is without the help of the rest of the Crusader States, who were doing all of the heavy lifting for him anyways before his treason. All he had to do was agree for a revote, which is what the council overwhelmingly asked for, and he wouldn't need to shamelessly flee from his very town now." How ever, Bobbobster was reasonable enough, or pressed enough in his own midst, to not sell Edesse to a random bidder. Instead, he gave Edesse into the hands of SaolGhra, an Edessan official. SaolGhra, shortly after coming into the office and seeking to appease Nubia, accepted and implemented the Nubian request to kick one of the southern Israeli towns, to make it possible for Nubia to overclaim into the Israeli region. The Israeli town was not fast enough to switch nations and lost its nation bonus, and was overclaimed by the Nubians. By effectively backstabbing old comrades like this, SaolGhra proved himself being even more treacherous than his predecessor. SaolGhra, due to lack of competence or motivation to lead Edesse any further, announced very soon Hashbrown to be the new leader of Edesse. Hashbrown used this chance to successfully annex most of the former Edessan towns into his nation of Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia declared war on Crusader States in April of 2025. In response, the Crusaders swiftly annexed the Saudi towns of Kurdistan (43 chunks), Damascus (40 chunks) andKuwait (140 chunks). Crusader States sent multiple infiltrators into Saudi Arabia to empty its treasury by getting financial funds for making fake Saudi towns, which later joined Crusader States. The Saudi siege town against Porolissum was overclaimed by the Kushan forces, humiliating the Saudi campaign in public embarrassment. Revolting against the Saudi leadership of Hashbrown, the last Edessan usurper named Davegam tried to revive Edesse as a nation in end of April 2025. He successfully poached most of the original Edessan towns to leave Saudi Arabia and re-join Edesse. Saudi Arabia, after facing intensive military pressure from Crusader States and revolts from Edesse, surrendered to the Crusader States in the end of April 2025 and its capital got annexed by the Crusaders. In May of 2025, the remaining former Saudi towns like EMC (59 chunks), Shajwa (114 chunks), Chanse (75 chunks) and BillyCrogan (107 chunks) got likewise annexed by Crusader States. Dubai (612 chunks), the capital of the Emirates was purchased and annexed by Crusader States in May of 2025. The former Emirate towns of Turkey (886 chunks) and Anay (205 chunks) were soon annexed too. In June of 2025 the former Emirate town of Abu_Dhabi (151 chunks) was annexed, with the Crusader States achieving full control over the Persian Gulf.
In April of 2025, Crusader agents managed to extract 7500 gold ingots from the Edessan treasury as well as 21 spawners from the Edessan /n spawn, what happened due to Bobbobsters poor permission management. Since May of 2025, Crusader States begun the active liberation of the Edessan region from Davegam´s illegitimate rule. In May of 2025, the Edessan towns of Assyria (118 chunks), Poland (170 chunks), Brighton (474 chunks), Hama (112 chunks), Syria (112 chunks), Islam (322 chunks), Ana (58 chunks), Dzisna (60 chunks), Hdaj (52 chunks) and Basra (74 chunks) were conquered by the Kushan forces of Crusader States, while 430 gold ingots were plundered from the town of Hadj. In May of 2025, the Edessan capital was overclaimed by 115 chunks and valuable items worth ~2000g were plundered. In June of 2025, the Edessan towns of Megaton (48 chunks), Ctesiphon (191chunks) and Spain (205 chunks) were annexed by Crusader States. In July of 2025, the Edessan towns of Indonesia (176 chunks) and Albania (297 chunks) were annexed, with 500 gold ingots and many dubs of heads being plundered from Albania. In August of 2025, the town of Saudi_Arabia (53 chunks) and most importantly the capital of Edesse (345 chunks) was conquered by the Crusader States, while the nation of Edesse was disbanded.
This was the end of the Crusader States Civil War: "After half a year of fighting, Saudi Arabia was taken down within a month. Emirates were integrated into Crusader States within around 2-3 months. Most of Edesse was taken over 4 months in."
See here for the dynmap evolution of the civil war through the months: https://youtu.be/qZSJCvBUBRI?t=105 .
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April 2025, peak of Civil War
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Victory over Parthia
Parthia, a nation in southern Iran lead by ThaEternalKiwi, conspired with and was supported by Saudi Arabia led by Hashbrown during the civil war era. The Crusader States managed to exile the Parthians and annex their capital in April of 2025.
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Victory over Iraq, Kurdistan and Bahrain
As a preventive measure, smaller nations like Iraq, Kurdistan and Bahrain were eliminated by the Edessan forces of Crusader States in the end of 2024.
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War against Uzbekistan
After breaking its border agreement with Crusader States multiple times in March/April 2025 and after failing to sanction its officials who sexually harassed Crusader States citizens, Uzbekistan did face appropriate actions by Crusader States. In June of 2025 the Uzbek town of Sky_Haven was overclaimed by 48 chunks and later fully annexed with its remaining ~100 chunks by Crusader forces. In August of 2025 the Uzbek towns of Fergana (424 chunks) and Andijan (123 chunks) were taken over by Crusader States. In October of 2025 the Crusaders acquired the town of Serenity, what broke the Nubian chain of towns to the Far East, preventing Uzbekistan to join Nubia and benefit from its nation bonus for some time.
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War against Babylon
Babylon had decided to side with Egypt and Syria, joining the hostile Middle Eastern Pact, and was therefore targeted by Crusader States in 2025. By the Crusader towns of RedStoners, Medina and Kirkuk it was overclaimed by around 130 chunks. Its Ziggurat and other ancient architecture were plundered and destroyed, cleansing its land from paganism.
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Architecture
The architecture of the Holy Land is mostly inspired by the so-called historicism, in the context of art history, a common phenomenon in the late 19th and early 20th centuries during which architects and artists preferred to use architectural designs from previous centuries. The chief architect of the Holy Land is the Abbot TheBetterHand, who, inspired by the desire to express the beauty of God not only in the liturgy, but also in architecture, is responsible for the construction of the majority of Holy Lands architecture.
Saint James the Less Cathedral Basilica
Purpose
The Saint James the Less Cathedral Basilica (Latin: Ecclesia Cathedralis Basilicae Sancti Iacobi Fratris Domini) contains the See of the Archbishop of Jerusalem, Cardinal Quarox, and therefore represents the spiritual and ecclesiastical center of the Archdiocese of Jerusalem. As the principal and mother church of the archdiocese, it is the place from which the local Archbishop exercises the duties of evangelization, liturgical service and pastoral supervision related with his office.
Construction
The construction of the cathedral was completed in April 2023. In August 2023 a Benedictine Chapel was added on the left side of the cathedral, at the same time the sanctuary was renovated. It is constructed according to the model of the real-life existing St. Peter's Church (located in Jaffa, Tel Aviv District, Israel) in the style of New Spanish Baroque. In August 2023, a Benedictine chapel was added to the left wing of the cathedral. This was supposed to symbolize, appreciate and honor the importance and impact of the Benedictine order for the Holy Land. In December 2023, a cemetery was completed on the left outside of the cathedral where memorials and graves are placed to honor and remember notable figures of the past, which had essential impact on the Holy Land: Among others, Canonicus Hononarius Diaconus NoSurfZone for his contribution to the construction of the city (May-December 2023), Monsignor Canonicus Hillsgolf for his great financial support (March-September 2023) and Pater Justice for his self-sacrificial military service (March-June 2023).
The cathedral has in total eight altars and has a traditional ad orientem direction. It contains a high altar, six side altars and one altar in the Benedictine chapel. The high altar is consecrated to St. James the Less (also known as James, brother of the Lord), thus the name of the cathedral. He was one of the Apostles and according to early Christian tradition first Bishop of Jerusalem. Four of the six side altars are dedicated to important saints from each of the four eastern patriarchates of the ancient church pentarchy: [1] John Chrysostom, Patriarch of Constantinople. [2] Ignatius, Patriarch of Antioch. [3] Athanasius, Patriarch of Alexandria. [4] Cyril, Patriarch of Jerusalem. The four patriarchal side altars are positioned in the cathedral according to the direction of the respective geographical location of the four patriarchal seats. The two other side altars are dedicated to two important figures of the Catholic faith: One is dedicated to the Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of God, while the other is dedicated to the first Roman Pope, St. Peter the Apostle. The altar in the chapel is dedicated to the father and founder of the Benedictine order, St. Benedict.
Consecration and Honors
The cathedral was personally consecrated by Pope Clement XV in April 2023 as part of the Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. In June 2023, Pope Clement XV granted the cathedral the honorary title of a basilica.
Coat of Arms
The cathedral has a characteristic coat of arms for a basilica with the so-called umbraculum. The coat of arms depicts two angels venerating the eucharistic host with the inscription JHS (Latin: Jesus Hierosolymae Salvator, 'Jesus, Saviour of Jerusalem') in a monstrance. The depicted saw serves as symbol for St. James the Less: It represents the method of his martyrdom. The Jerusalem cross is placed on the lower half.
The coat of arms of the Archbishop of Jerusalem, Cardinal Quarox is structured as following: On top is the ecclesiastical hat as a distinctive part of arms of a Catholic cleric, also called a galero. The galero is ornamented with tassels on both sides, also called fiocchi. The color of the hat and number of tassels indicate the cleric's place in the ecclesiastical hierarchy. Generally, priests, abbots and ministers have a black hat with cords and tassels, the number depending upon their rank. Bishops generally use a green hat with green cords and six green tassels on each side, archbishops have likewise a green hat with green cords and ten green tassels on each side, and cardinals have a red hat with red cords and fifteen red tassels on each side. The coat of arms also contains the archiepiscopal cross behind the shield. The shield is decorated with symbols that are directly or indirectly connected with the Holy Land. As with the other coats of arms, the Jerusalem cross is visible. The sand and the castle are intended to refer to the local natural and urban infrastructural conditions of the Middle East. On the blue background, which is meant to represent the sky, the Star of Bethlehem is depicted, which, according to biblical tradition, was visible at the birth of Christ. The praise Christus imperat, taken from the famous Laudes Regiae, serves as motto of the cardinal's coat of arms and translates as Christ commands.
Gallery
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Coat of Arms: St. James Cathedral
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Coat of Arms: Archbishop of Jerusalem, Cardinal Quarox
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frontside view, Central Square
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frontside view, Central Square
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inside view, St. James Cathedral
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inside view, Side Altars
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inside view, Side Altars
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inside view, Organ
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inside view, St. James Cathedral
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inside view, Benedictine Chapel
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inside view, Benedictine Chapel
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inside view, Benedictine Chapel
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side view, St. James Cemetery
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side view, St. James Cemetery
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side view, St. James Cemetery
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side view, St. James Cemetery
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side view, St. James Cemetery
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frontside view, Central Square
Crypt of the Noble Army of Martyrs
Purpose
The crypt, also known as the under-church, is a place used for liturgical purposes and for storing the tombs of saints, relic shrines, altars and other valuable objects of sacred origin. According to early Christian custom, the crypt originally contained the relics of a martyr. Based on this and with reference to the early Christian prayer Te Deum, the crypt of the Cathedral of St. James was named the Crypt of the Noble Army of Martyrs (Latin: Crypta Nobilis Martyrum Exercitus).
Construction
As is usual for crypts, it is located under the altar room and has a curved roof with a large number of pillars. The entrance to the crypt is located at the left outside of the cathedral in the cemetery. It contains an altar dedicated to the Noble Army of Martyrs, a statue of St. Mary, a statue of St. Joseph and statues in the sanctuary depicting the martyrs. Among these martyrs are saints who shed their blood for Christ on the ground of the Holy Land, including the Holy Innocents, St. Stephanus, St. John the Baptist, St. James the Less, St. James the Great, St. Simeon of Jerusalem and St. Alexander of Jerusalem. The exact year of construction has not been preserved to the present day.
Gallery
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inside view, Crypt of the Noble Army of Martyrs
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inside view, Crypt of the Noble Army of Martyrs
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inside view, Crypt of the Noble Army of Martyrs
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inside view, Crypt of the Noble Army of Martyrs
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inside view, Crypt of the Noble Army of Martyrs
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inside view, Crypt of the Noble Army of Martyrs
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inside view, Crypt of the Noble Army of Martyrs
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inside view, Crypt of the Noble Army of Martyrs
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inside view, Crypt of the Noble Army of Martyrs
Cathedral Chapter
Purpose
The purpose of this building complex is the housing of the Cathedral Chapter described in the Composition of Government section.
Construction
The Cathedral Chapter consists out of two principal buildings; the old chapter building and the newer version of the chapter house. Both were built next to each other and are connected by corridors. Altogether they contain one throne hall, two council halls, two meeting rooms, a parliament-like hall and several office rooms. In front of the newer chapter house is a garden with statues of important figures from the history of the medieval crusades, such as Baldwin IV. King of Jerusalem and Godfrey of Bouillon, the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The construction of the Chapter started in May 2023 and was finished in April 2024.
Coat of Arms
The Chapter coat of arms is similar to the coat of arms of the St. James Cathedral, although additionally surrounded by olive branches and decorated with the latin motto Christus vel mors which was already used for the coat of arms of the Catholic Theocracy Israel.
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Coat of Arms: Cathedral Chapter
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outside view, Garden Area
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outside view, Garden Area
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outside view, Garden Area
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outside view, Garden Area
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outside view, Garden Area
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outside view, Garden Area
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outside view, Garden Area
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inside view, Entrance Hall
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inside view, Entrance Hall
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inside view, Entrance Hall
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inside view, Entrance Hall
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inside view, Entrance Hall
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inside view, Throne Hall
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inside view, Throne Hall
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inside view, Throne Hall
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inside view, Council Hall
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inside view, Council Hall
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inside view, Corridor
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inside view, Parliament Hall
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inside view, Parliament Hall
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inside view, Meeting Room
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inside view, Meeting Room
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outside view, Main Square
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outside view, Main Square
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inside view, Entrance Hall
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inside view, Entrance Hall
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inside view, Entrance Hall
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inside view, Meeting Room
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inside view, Office Room
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inside view, Council Hall
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inside view, Council Hall
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inside view, Council Hall
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inside view, Council Hall
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backside view, Street Area
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backside view, Wall Area
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backside view, Wall Area
Primatial Abbey of Mount Nebo
Purpose
The monastery of Mount Nebo is used by benedictine monks under the governance of an abbot, therefore it is called abbey. Abbot (Latin: abbas) is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery. Abbeys usually provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks. Abbeys are often self-sufficient while using any abundance of produce or skill to provide care to the poor and needy, refuge to the persecuted, education to the young and offer accommodation to people who are seeking spiritual retreat. The abbey of Mount Nebo is called primatial abbey because it stands under the supervision of the Abbot Primate TheBetterHand. The abbot primate (Latin: abbas primas) fulfills the function of representing the whole Benedictine Order. The roots of this order are going back to St. Benedict of Nursia who founded the first benedictine monastery, at Monte Cassino in Italy (529), which was the seed of Roman Catholic monasticism in general, and of the Order of Saint Benedict in particular. The Constitution of all Benedictines of the EMC Holy Catholic Church describes the purpose of the EMC Benedictine Order as following: "The Benedictines serve the Holy Catholic Church as artisans and workers. As such they gather materials, construct churches and other buildings, create map art as well as other related tasks for the glory of God and his Church, following the motto “ora et labora” (lat. pray and work). At the core of their mission is the task of furthering the glory of the Church by shaping the map with the fruits of their labour and making the Church and the commitment to her values visible."
Construction
This benedictine monastery is built upon the Mount of Nebo within the Catholic Theocracy of Israel. This mountain is mentioned in the Bible as the place where Moses was granted a view of the Promised Land before his death. The local Benedictines connect this symbolically, into the present, insofar that they view this monastery as a place where God grants them a first view of the heaven, especially in the liturgical acts and the asceticism. The monastery is built on the basis of the in real life existing Austrian Pilgrim Hospice to the Holy Family (located in the Old City of Jerusalem, Israel). The front of the monastery is landscaped with a garden area and is separated from the rest of the town by a medium-high wall. The monastery has a St. Boniface's Church (for the monks) and right above it a Marian Chapel (for the nuns). In addition to the many offices, there are seven rooms for monks, one of which is reserved for the abbot. It has a richly decorated gathering room and an impressive library for theological, historical and other valueable works. The monastery has a large underground basement for the storage and production of materials. The construction was finished in September of 2023.
Coat of Arms
The monastery itself possesses a coat of arms with a shield showing the cross with an olive branch (symbolizes the Holy Land) and a pastoral staff (symbol for the Prophet Moses). A mitre is depicted above the shield and a bishop's staff behind the shield. Although abbots do not enjoy the episcopal ordination, they still have a special right regarding these pontificals.
Characteristically for abbot primates, the Abbot Primate of the Monastery of Mount Nebo has a black-colored galero with the appropriate twenty tassels. Behind the shield, a bishop's staff is visible, whereby a combination of several symbols can be recognized on the shield: the Jerusalem cross as a sign of local affiliation, a patriarchal cross with the PAX as a widespread symbol of the Benedictine Order and the letters A and M decorated with jewel and steel standing for the famous Ave Maria prayer.
Gallery
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Coat of Arms: Primatial Abbey of Mount Nebo
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Coat of Arms: Abbot Primate TheBetterHand
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outside view, Primatial Abbey of Mount Nebo
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outside view, Primatial Abbey of Mount Nebo
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outside view, Primatial Abbey of Mount Nebo
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outside view, Primatial Abbey of Mount Nebo
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inside view, St. Boniface Church
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inside view, St. Boniface Church
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inside view, St. Mary Chapel
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inside view, Gathering Room
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inside view, Office of the Abbot Primate
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inside view, Library
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inside view, Storage and Worker Basement
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outside view, Primatial Abbey of Mount Nebo
Archiepiscopal Residence
Purpose
While the cathedral is being the place where the archbishop performs his public episcopal office, his residence mostly serves as the internal workplace for him and his archdiocese. This complexly structured building also serves for representative and protocol purposes, for example during papal, state and diplomatic visits. In addition to this, the ordinariate, the diocesan administration, the cathedral chapter, including the office and secretariat of the archbishop, as well as other guests are housed there. It also contains the archbishop's treasury and other ecclesiastical property of the archdiocese. Last, but not least, it also serves as the primary place where the Archbishop of Jerusalem resides.
Construction
In the medieval times, bishops usually lived in the "Bishop's courtyard" next to their cathedral. In accordance with this tradition, the residence of the Archbishop of Jerusalem is located right next to the St. James Cathedral Basilica. This made it possible to move the cathedral's sacristy into the residence. On the first floor, in addition to the entrance hall, various corridors and the sacristy, there are seven rooms for clerics and other guests. On the second floor there is the archbishop's office, his personal library, his private room, a drawing room, a gathering hall, a waiting room and four balconies. In the center of the building is a garden area with a water pond, similar to the Roman impluvium and the Greek peristyle. Additionally there is a large storage area in the basement. Due to multiple renovations and modifications the construction of the residence was not completed until February 2024. The exterior design for the residence is based on the real existing Greek Hagias Zion Convent (located on Mount Zion, Jerusalem, Israel).
Gallery
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frontside view, Central Square
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inside view, Entrance Hall
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inside view, Entrance Hall
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inside view, Corridor
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inside view, Archiepiscopal Office
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inside view, Library
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inside view, Drawing Room
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inside view, Gathering Room
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inside view, Waiting Room
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inside view, Garden Area
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inside view, Garden Area
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inside view, Garden Area
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inside view, Cathedral Sacristy
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inside view, Storage Basement
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frontside view, Central Square
Church of Our Lady, Queen of Heaven
Construction and Consecration

The construction of the Church was finished in January 2024. The architecture was inspired from the in real life existing Church within the Stella Maris Monastery (located on the Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel). It contains two side altars and was consecrated on the 10th March of 2024 in the name of Our Lady, Queen of Heaven.
Gallery
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frontside view, Market Square
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frontside view, Market Square
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frontside view, Market Square
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frontside view, Market Square
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inside view, High Altar
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inside view, High Altar
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inside view, High Altar
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inside view, Dome
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inside view, Dome
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inside view, Side Altar
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inside view, Dome
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inside view, Side Altar
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inside view, Dome
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inside view, Entrance
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inside view, Organ
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inside view, Dome
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backside view, Market Square
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side view, Market Square
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side view, Market Square
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side view, Market Square
Church of the Holy Family
Construction and Consecration

The original model for the construction of the Holy Family Church was the Church of the Flagellation (located in Jerusalem, Israel). The construction of the Church was finished in May 2023. It contains several huge paintings and was consecrated on the 4th June of 2023 to the Holy Family.
Gallery
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frontside view, Street Area
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frontside view, Street Area
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frontside view, Street Area
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frontside view, Street Area
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backside view, Street Area
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backside view, Street Area
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backside view, Street Area
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inside view, High Altar
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inside view, High Altar
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inside view, Dome
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inside view, Dome
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inside view, Paintings
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inside view, Paintings
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inside view, Paintings
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inside view, Paintings
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inside view, Entrance
“What is History,” said Napoleon, “but a fable agreed upon?”