Chapel of the Milk Grotto

Located in the West Bank of Palestine, this 19th-century Roman Catholic chapel was constructed on the site of a Byzantine church. Also known as the Chapel of the Milk Grotto of Our Lady, the Grotto of Our Lady, and the Milk Grotto, the small chapel is located in Bethlehem and is said to be where the Holy Family hid before fleeing to Egypt during the Biblical Massacre of the Innocents.

All that remains of the original, fifth-century, Byzantine church is the courtyard's colorful mosaic floor. But the area's original grotto was a place of worship even earlier, going back to the 4th century. The earliest structure built here was constructed in 385.

Beginning in the 7th century, thieves and worshippers chiseled away bits of the chapel to be sent to various churches across Europe as relics. In 1375, Pope Gregory XI officially recognized the site for its religious significance.

Today, Muslims and Christians both come to pray at the Milk Grotto. The chapel is one of the Holy Land's most popular places to venerate the Virgin Mary.

In 1872, Franciscans built the Milk Grotto's current, 19th-century chapel. Local artisans decorated the shrine in mother-of-pearl carvings, a testament to their chapel's religious significance. 

According to the Bible, the chapel was where Joseph, Mary, and a small baby Jesus took refuge when King Herod ordered every male infant in Bethlehem slaughtered in the so-called Massacre or Slaughter of the Innocents.

The chapel's unusual name is based on a Biblical tale where a drop of milk fell from Mary's breast onto the cave floor as she was nursing the baby Jesus which miraculously changed the floor's color from pink to white. The largely subterranean space contains three different cave chambers.

Local folklore says the site can aid couples struggling to conceive and that here any prayers for children are miraculously answered. Another bit of lore says that drinking a ground-up concoction of rock from the cave will help mothers produce milk for healthy children.