Bethany (Aramaic: Beth anya ,"house of the figs") is recorded in the New Testament as the home of the siblings Martha, Mary and Lazarus, as well as that of Simon the Leper. Jesus lodged there after his entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and it was from Bethany that he parted from his disciples at the Ascension. Bethany is located on the southeast slope of the Mount of Olives, about two miles east of Jerusalem.
The story of the raising of Lazarus from the dead is told only in the Gospel of John.
The mention of the tomb of Lazarus first came from the third-century historian Eusebius. In 390 A.D., St. Jerome wrote about a church that had been built over the tomb. The church was later destroyed by an earthquake, and a new one built... and then torn down by the Persians in 614. Crusaders built a church in the 12th century, but it fell into the hands of Moslem invaders. The present church was built in 1852, and the site is maintained by the Franciscans.