Jacob's Well or Samaritan well is located in the eastern part of the city. It is believed that Christ drank from this well as he passed Samaria on his way from Jerusalem to Jalil.
A tradition says that the church over the well was built by order of Queen Helena, mother of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine in 365 AD. But there are various accounts of the origin of the church in this site and only the foundations of the present building date back to the Crusader period, As a matter of fact, most of the church has been destroyed in 1572 and work was begun in 1908.