Terra Sancta College

Terra Sancta College of Jerusalem serves as the cultural centre of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land and as a succursal institution (dependency) of Saint Saviour's Latin parish. It was initially created in the 1920s as a school for the children of Jerusalem, regardless of their religious affiliation. It stands at the soutwestern extremity of the Talbiyeh neighbourhood of West Jerusalem, on the corner of Paris Square. History Interwar boys' school The building was erected in 1926 to house a boys' school named in Italian "Opera Cardinal Ferrari" in honour of a recently deceased Archbishop of Milan who had shown much engagement for social justice. The project was run by a charitable Catholic lay institution initiated by Cardinal Ferrari, the Congregation of Saint Paul of Milan (established in 1920 as the , since 1924 a Congregation dependent directly on the Holy See, also known in English as the Society of St. Paul (CSP); not the Società San Paolo of Alba, as sometimes written). The school was designed by the Franciscan architect Antonio Barluzzi, who crowned the building with a replica of the statue of the Virgin Mary which stands on top of the Milan Cathedral, the Madonnina. It was inaugurated in 1927. The school operated for two years: in 1928-29 it had 270 enrolled pupils, only one hundred of which were Catholic; and 1929–30, with just 130 pupils. The children were taught in eight separate classes, covering primary school and high school. Its activity ended due to lack of funds, and the property was then entrusted to the safe hands of the Custody of the Holy Land.