Israel & Jordan 2023: Jerusalem, part 5
The Holy Sepulchre Church is located traditionally at the site where Jesus was crucified , a place called Golgotha, and the place where he was buried and also where he resurrected. Imagine that! Personally, I didn't fully realize how holy this site is. I was pinching myeslf to see if any of this is real. We were told that there is a family that by tradition has been assigned to keep the gate locked at night and open it in the morning.
At the time of the visit, the facade was covered in scaffolding, so I didn't really get a look at the facade. Now both the small courtyard and the church was crowded. In my opinion, there should be a system to control the number of people entering the church (like Hagia Sophia in Istanbul), but I don't know how feasible that will be considering this is one of the main pilgrimmage sites of all Christianity.
We elbowed our way peacefully into the church. The church is huge and we saw so very little of it in our alloted time. Let me show you what we saw.
Strategicallyt located just by the entrace is the STONE OF ANOINTING OR STONE OF UNCTION, a significant religious artifact that was believed to be the site where Jesus' body was laid and prepared for burial.
From here on out, the crowd made it impossible to clearly hear what the tour guide or in this case we call him tour manager was saying and so with those conditions and me being shorter in stature, I constantly found myself behind tall people and could not see what I was supposed to see. Thus, I would just like to show photos of the different areas of the church.
Up the steps off the main entry, I believe was the Golgotha.
The Rock of Calvary in glass case at the Altar of Crucifixion.
Altar of Crucifixion.
Mosaic depicting Christ's body being prepared for burial, located behind the Anointing Stone.
Inside is the tomb of Jesus Christ, which had a very long queue. None of us attempted to line up because we knew we'd only spend all our alloted time here standing in line. So we just skipped it. Across from it is this very impressive chapel.
While the experience was inspiring, sublime, or whatever adjective that would be more appropriate, but I can't seem to find one at the time of writing, I cannot help but regret the fact that the time alloted for this visit was simply not enough. I don't think even a full-day's visit would ever be enough to see what's there to see.
Just outside of the Holy Sepulchre Church is a little square with shops and restaurants. This was our lunch spot. Simon, our tour manager, also personally brought us to a souvenir shop that was the spot to use the facilities. This shop was really ready for large tour groups because they had multiple bathroom stalls and they were clean. They did earned a whole lot of business from our group. In fairness, they did have reasonable prices and wide selection.
To be continued.....
From here on out, the crowd made it impossible to clearly hear what the tour guide or in this case we call him tour manager was saying and so with those conditions and me being shorter in stature, I constantly found myself behind tall people and could not see what I was supposed to see. Thus, I would just like to show photos of the different areas of the church.
Up the steps off the main entry, I believe was the Golgotha.
The Rock of Calvary in glass case at the Altar of Crucifixion.
Altar of Crucifixion.
Mosaic depicting Christ's body being prepared for burial, located behind the Anointing Stone.
Inside is the tomb of Jesus Christ, which had a very long queue. None of us attempted to line up because we knew we'd only spend all our alloted time here standing in line. So we just skipped it. Across from it is this very impressive chapel.
While the experience was inspiring, sublime, or whatever adjective that would be more appropriate, but I can't seem to find one at the time of writing, I cannot help but regret the fact that the time alloted for this visit was simply not enough. I don't think even a full-day's visit would ever be enough to see what's there to see.
Just outside of the Holy Sepulchre Church is a little square with shops and restaurants. This was our lunch spot. Simon, our tour manager, also personally brought us to a souvenir shop that was the spot to use the facilities. This shop was really ready for large tour groups because they had multiple bathroom stalls and they were clean. They did earned a whole lot of business from our group. In fairness, they did have reasonable prices and wide selection.
To be continued.....
It must have felt good to even know you were there, but it is too bad that the crowds kept you from learning more. Still not too many people have even had as much of the experience as you did!
ReplyDeleteWow, what an incredible place! I can imagine the feeling of being there. It's a shame it was so crowded though.
ReplyDelete...thank you for taking me along to see the sights.
ReplyDeleteWhatever you saw and shown here is impressive.
ReplyDeleteAwe-inspiring artistic marvels. It's surprising flash cameras were allowed in this delicate place as well as crushes of people all at once.
ReplyDeleteI'm so in awe of seeing so much beauty and history
ReplyDeleteWhat majestic sights. The pictures expressed beauty, awe, and a sense of history. It's a pity there wasn't enough time to linger the way many of us would have wanted to, just to absorb the grandeur. I thank you for the time you took with your pictures.
ReplyDelete