Milk Grotto (Lactation Church) - one of the most revered Christian and Muslim shrines, located in Bethlehem, near the Basilica of the Nativity of Christ. According to legend, the Holy Family hid in this grotto during the Massacre of the Infants (before fleeing to Egypt), fleeing the soldiers of King Herod, who believed in the prediction of the coming of the Messiah and ordered the destruction of all the babies in Bethlehem. According to legend, when the Virgin Mary was breastfeeding the baby Jesus, a few drops of milk fell on the walls of the cave, laid out of a reddish stone, and painted them white. Since then, the cave has been called the Milk Grotto, and the powder of white stone (drops of the Virgin’s milk) from the walls of the cave was considered miraculous. Since ancient times, women of Bethlehem used pieces of white stone, broken off from the walls of the cave, and powder from it to treat various diseases. It is believed that the powder cures female infertility and helps young mothers with a shortage of breast milk. Already in the V century, a small chapel was erected above the cave, which became a place of pilgrimage from the time of early Christianity, from which the foundation and fragments of the colorful mosaic floor have been preserved to this day. In 1375, the authenticity and sanctity of the cave was confirmed by the bull of Pope Gregory XI, and the land on which the Milk Grotto is located was transferred to the administration of the Franciscan order. In 1871, the Catholic chapel of the Milk Grotto, also known as the Lactation Church, was built on the foundation of a Byzantine temple by Franciscan monks. A 13-step staircase leads from the chapel to the grotto; the entrance to the cave is decorated with stucco molding and a sculptural image of a white dove - a symbol of the Holy Spirit. In the cave, in the place where the Virgin Mary was breastfeeding the baby Jesus, a miraculous icon was installed depicting the Mother of God and the baby Christ. The grotto contains sculptural images of scenes from the Scriptures and the life of the Holy Family. The walls of the Lactation Church are made of white stone and decorated with carvings made by skilled Bethlehem craftsmen. The central place in the church is occupied by a statue of the Virgin Mary with the Baby, in the niches of the walls are small sculptures of St. George the Victorious, the Prophet Elijah and King David. Before entering the Milk Grotto there is a small room, the walls of which are completely hung with photographs of babies and thankful inscriptions of happy parents, whose prayers were heard by the Virgin.