The current Church of St Anne was built sometime between 1131 and 1138, during the reign of Queen Melisende. It was erected near the remains of the Byzantine basilica, over the site of a grotto believed by the Crusaders to be the childhood home of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus. It is dedicated to Anneand Joachim, the parents of Saint Mary, who according to tradition lived here.Unlike many other Crusader churches, St. Anne’s was not destroyed after the 1187 conquest of Jerusalem by Saladin (Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn). In 1192, Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn converted the building into a madrasa (Islamic educational institution), known as al-Madrasa as-Salahiyya (of Saladin), as is still written in the Arabic inscription above the entrance. In the 15th century it was considered as the most prestigious college in the city, counting among its more prominent students the Islamic jurist and city historian, Mujir al-Din (1456–1522).
