Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, on October 18, 1009, orders the complete destruction of Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre as part of a more general campaign against Christian places of worship in Palestine and Egypt, which involves a great deal of damage: Adémar de Chabannes recorded that the church of St George at Lydda 'with many other churches of the saints' had been attacked, and the 'basilica of the Lord's Sepulchre destroyed down to the ground'....The Christian writer Yahya ibn Sa'id reported that everything was razed 'except those parts which were impossible to destroy or would have been too difficult to carry away'."

The Church's foundations are hacked down to bedrock.

The Edicule and the east and west walls and the roof of the cut-rock tomb it encases are destroyed or damaged (contemporary accounts vary), but rubble likely protects the north and south walls from further damage.

The "mighty pillars resisted destruction up to the height of the gallery pavement, and are now effectively the only remnant of the fourth-century buildings."

Some minor repairs are done to the section believed to be the tomb of Jesus almost immediately after 1009, but a true attempt at restoration will have to wait for decades.

Christian Europe reacts with shock by expulsions of Jews; the church’s destruction will serve as impetus to later Crusades.