Oct 4 – Jerusalem

We are doing a walking tour of Jerusalem.  First stop was a view point on the Mount of Olive to get views of the many, very large nearby cemeteries,

the old city,

Dome of the Rock Mosque

and the formable city walls.  

The city looks beautiful from this viewpoint.

Our first stop within the city was at the Western Wall (also called the Wailing Wall).  There was a women’s side and a men’s side that were separated by a high fence.  And there masses of people on both sides.  Both Paul and Mary managed to get to and touch the Wailing Wall.

From there we wandered through some of the streets of Jerusalem.  

There were narrow windy streets...

many with shops and markets along the way.

We stopped briefly in front of the Lutheran Christ the Redeemer Church. 

We walked the Via Dolorosa where our guide pointed out some of the Stations of the Cross (from Christ’s walk from the court to the hill for crucifixion). 

We didn't do the entire walk but these were the stations that we passed during our walk:

Station 5:  Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the Cross

,Station 6:  Veronica wipes the face of Jesus.

Station 7:  Jesus falls for the second time.

The main stop of the day was the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, built on the traditional site of Christ’s crucifixion and Christ’s tomb. The denominations that function as primary administrators of the church are Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic and to a lesser degree the Coptic Orthodox, Syriac Orthodox and Ethiopian Orthodox.  This arrangement as been in place for over 160 years. 

The various churches had their own chapels...

and there were lovely mosaics

and lanterns everywhere. 

There was a free-standing shrine (Aedicule) within the church over the place of Jesus’ tomb. 

And there were incredible mosaics and masses of votives and many chapels and all manner of incredibly beautiful things to celebrate the spirit and meaning of the site. 

There was a separate room called Adam's Chapel.  On the wall is a crack (covered by a glass panel) that was supposed to have been caused by the earthquake that happened when Jesus died.

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More Church of the Sepulcher 
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From there we walked over into another section of the city where we saw the excavated remains of a Roman road and market.  The street level must have been at least 10+ feet lover than the current level of the city.  At one end was a mural painting of how the street would have looked when it was new. 

Another walk took us just outside the city walls…

and to the Benedictine Monastery of the Dormition, the highest point in the city and traditional place where Mary died (“fell asleep”).

We were to see the room of the Last Supper but it was closed (probably closed early as tonight starts Yom Kippur, holiest day in Judaism). 

And we visited the nearby tomb of King David. 

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More Jerusalem
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After the tour we were dropped off near our hotel while the rest of the group headed out to the Dead Sea or Bethlehem. 

We had lunch at a nearby restaurant and spent most of the rest of the day in the room resting and working on photos. 

Yom Kippur starts this evening and everything is closed.  We brought our lunch leftovers to the hotel so we could have something to eat.  Although there would likely be something available at the hotel.