Holy Land day 6

Thursday came and went — today was more of a tour of the City of Jerusalem, but it was topped with a walk of the Via Delaroza (sp?).

First, we visited the Tomb of David, but David was not home. Nor, do they know where he is. But, it was the old city of David. Here, we saw ruins and some museum information about the Temple and the building of the Temple. It is amazing to see that man, thousands of years ago, could build something so large and magnificent.

After visiting this area we hopped on our bus and drove to another part of the city and entered through a different gate and ultimately ended our day by exiting Demascus Gate. I just studied the map and not sure which gates we came and went through. The purpose of our trip today was to walk the path that Jesus took with the cross on his back. We stopped at each of the stations along the way that are recounted in this walk. Ultimately, we ended at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre covers Mt. Cavalry where the crucifixion took place. I found today difficult to understand and relate to as I spent the day walking through the city. Personally, it was hard because at all of these holy sites different churches have been erected to remember the sites. Each church being much larger than the last. I personally found the Church of the Holy Sepulchre disturbing, and disgusting. There is no “hill” or “mountain” at Mt. Cavalry. Instead, I counted a church, within a church, within a church. What occurred was Helena, Constantines Mother, in the 400s wanting to no where Christ had been born and crucified. In each instance, a church was erected at the site. At the Holy Sepulchre, there is a church that has within it an altar to remember the site of the crucifixion. This building is about 20x40ft and 20 ft high. Then, another church was built around this church — 80 ft in diameter, 80 ft high to a huge domed cathedral with columns around the outside. Then, another church was built around the outside of this structure. Now, I cannot explain well enough, but it is dark, like a basement, there are no pews. Instead, this is Greek Orthodox so there are oil lamps hanging everywhere. There are mosaics. There are paintings. But yet, it is like a basement with no light coming in. Because, the city has literally been built up around the outside. The entrance is at ground level, but on one side street level is 40 feet up the side of the building.

We stopped at each of the stations on the walk of the Delaroza. At each site there was either an alter, a church, or chapel remembering the site.

After this walk, we had lunch – one of my favorites of the week. I had a schewarma in a cafe. After that we walked about 1.5 miles through the city back to our bus. The walk was interesting because it was through the Muslim section of the city and we saw the bizarre. Remember, people live and work here. This is not souvenir shopping, but true shops for the locals to buy meat, candy, hardware, clothing, etc.

JOHN