Israel - Holy Cultures Day 9
Israel - Holy Cultures
Day 09 – Saturday, October 23, 2010 - Tour Jerusalem’s Old City & Church of the Holy Sepulcher / Mount of Olives / Via Dolorosa
After our hotel breakfast we began our tour of Jerusalem, the unofficial capital of Israel, and certainly the heart of the country.
Ran changed our itinerary a bit to account for the Sabbath. We left the hotel at 8:30 and met Firas at the bus just a few blocks from our hotel. The weather was perfect today; blue skies with a few clouds and 72º with 75% humidity.
We drove a very short distance through the city that was either asleep or in synagogue because of the Sabbath. Only the Muslims and the tourists were up and about.
Passing into the Old City of East Jerusalem, we drove past the walls of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. At the top of the overlook at the Mount of Olives, Ran pointed our various holy locations as this city is the pinnacle of the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian faiths.
We stopped at the Church of Tears, or Dominus Flevit, a small Franciscan church where Jesus was overlooking the city and wept as he knew the city would one day be destroyed.
After descending to the bottom of the hill, we visited the Garden of Olives and the Church of the Gethsemane or Church of All Nations built after WWI over the original rock where Jesus prayed the night before his crucifixion.
We met the bus and Firas took us to the Baldwin Gate of the Old City were we spent the afternoon exploring. We first went to the Muslim Quarter where we began the Via Dolorosa, the Way of the Cross, or the Way of Sorrow. We followed the route that Jesus took on his way to his crucifixion.
At each station there is a bronze plaque, with the explanation of the event that occurred. Many times a chapel or large church was built on the site. Often we had to go down several short flights of stairs to the actual old street level as the city has been built up over the past 2000 years.
Our quest ended at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where Christ is believed to have been crucified, then prepared for burial, and then entombed.
The city was overflowing with pilgrims and many groups were very aggressive going into and out of the churches and holy sites. Ran said it was like this all the time only worse on special holy days and that Easter was unbelievable!
We had a little time to shop/look and then we had a quick sit down lunch at one of the few cafés open today. By 1:30 we had all had enough of the mobs and climbed to the rooftop of the market in the Jewish Quarter.
In the shade and quiet open space we listened as Ran showed us an illustrated time line of the history of Israel. After walking out of the Old City we met the bus and went back to New Jerusalem.
Once again, Ran offered us a choice of walking back with him to the hotel or riding on the bus. Ten of us opted to walk and we visited several parks and one of the first Jewish settlements built outside of the old walls.
From the overlook we could gaze back to the old city where we had spent the day. We could also see the new 25 foot concrete wall surrounding Jerusalem and protecting it from the Palestinians.
We continued our leisurely walk home to our hotel past the luxurious King David Hotel and across the street the most famous Three Arches YMCA. We arrived home about 3:30 and started to work on our photos and the journal.
Dinner was on our own this evening so after we had showered and cooled off, we went out to enjoy the end of the Sabbath.
Accommodations: Harmony Hotel, Jerusalem, IL- - - Meal: B
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Comments
High Noon at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (1:14)
Jerusalem from Mount of Olives
Mass at Garden of Olives Church
Church of the Flagellation
Christian Quarter and Coptic Church
16th Century Ottoman Wall
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