Jerusalem

An orienting and spectacular view from one side of the old city of Jerusalem on the walls of the Crusader Citadel to the Muslim Dome of the Rock and across to the Mount of Olives with the needle-point steeple of the Russian Chapel of the Ascension built over the spot from which Jesus rose to heaven, according to the Russian Orthodox Church. (There is also a Muslim Mosque on the Mount of Olives where Jesus, a Muslim prophet, was supposed to have ascended from.)  All this and so much more within an easy walking distance.

An incredible city in so many ways!  A particularly holy place for the three monotheistic world religions has meant a three thousand year tumultuous history of constant aggressive change in dominance along with, remarkably, some periods of rule accepting pilgrims' worship of all three.

Our first look at the Western Wall or Wailing Wall.  It was astounding.  The retaining wall upon which the Second Temple stood on Temple Mount was constructed around 520 B.C. and destroyed during a four year Jewish revolt against Roman conquerors.  When the Romans triumphed, many Jews fled marking the start of the Diaspora. It is now the most important religious shrine for the Jewish people - the divine presence has never deserted the wall.  The Jews lost access to the wall in 1948 when the Old City was taken by Jordan.  In 1967 during the Six Day War, Israeli troops fought their way to the wall to retake access.

Because of the destruction of the quarter in recent war, few historic monuments remain above ground. Below ground, excavations have discovered The Cardo Maximus, the main street of Roman and Byzantine Jerusalem.  It was a wide, colonnaded  avenue flanked by roofed arcades.  Some have been restored with boutique shops in the arcades.  Glass-covered wells allowed us to peak at walls of the First (950 B.C.) and Second Temple.

The Jewish Quarter is notably more modern, residential, with uncommonly open areas. The original buildings were flattened during fighting in 1948 and so required a complete rebuild from scratch.  The history of the synagogues in the quarter are rife with destruction by fire, dynamite and war.

Peter on his way to touch the wall with his Sail Canada toque on.  A head covering or kippa is imperative for the men.

Peter at the wall and watching, with wonder, the others around him.  Wads of paper are stuffed into the cracks with a belief that there is a better chance the prayers will be answered.  Men and women swayed and bobbed on their chairs or while standing as they prayed.

After going through security, on our way to Temple Mount up a wooden ramp - the only entrance open to non-Muslims, - we had a view of the Western Wall of the Second Temple.  The longer men's side of the wall is separated from the shorter women's section.  The men had a more private area within the arch on the far side of the courtyard where, as Peter saw, men were in group prayer, sitting on chairs praying from the Torah and facing the wall.  The women's area, where I went to touch the wall, is in the foreground of this photo.  Women siting in the chairs were in trance-like meditation and prayer, reading from the Torah.  Many were crowded against the wall - I had to wait for space.  Some were sobbing, others quietly standing and still others almost embracing the stone wall.  It was amazing and impressive.  Another part of the wall, hidden from view, is open to the Reform Jews who allow women and men to pray together.

Wandering and touring the old city was a completely new experience in our life of travels.  Within a walled square mile, we found Jews praying, rocking, sobbing at the Western Wall, Christians frantically wiping tissues on the slab of rock where Christ was lain after crucifixion at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Muslims disappearing into the Al-Aqsa Mosque.  For us who feel more spiritual at the top of a mountain, it was an experience full of wonderment.

A Bit of Amazing HiStory? of Temple Mount (according to our Lonely Planet guide):
Temple Mount became important a few millennia ago when a large slab or rock at the top of Mt. Mariah was identified, according to Jewish lore, as the foundation stone of the world.  Here God gathered the earth to form Adam and here Abraham nearly sacrificed his own son Isaac as a sign of his faith.  Because of it's holiness, Solomon, son of King David, built the First Temple to House the Ark of the Covenant (a chest that held the tablets with the Ten Commandments, among other relics).  The First Temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and replaced by the Second Temple in 515 BC.  King Herod improved the site by building a retaining wall and filling in the centre to level the peak into the very large plaza we walked on.  The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in AD 66, after which the Jews fled Jerusalem.  Only the retaining wall, now the Western/Wailing Wall was left.

The Romans replaced the temple they destroyed with their own sacred place, a temple to Zeus, later turned into a Christian church.

All stayed the same until the mid-7th century when Mohammed in Mecca, flew on his horse to Jerusalem and led other prophets in prayers at Temple Mount.  He then ascended to heaven to join Allah.  Mohammed's visit to Temple Mount secured it as Islam's third holiest place after Mecca and Medina.

After the Six Day War in 1967, Israel won control of East Jerusalem and The Dome of the Rock.  Immediately following, the Israeli commander handed the whole of the Temple Mount to Jerusalem's Muslim leaders.  This remains controversial with Jewish extremists and there have been numerous protests and incidents of violence.  Although the Mount itself is open to people of all faiths, only Muslims are allowed to enter the Mosque and The Dome of the Rock because of the threat of terrorist activity.

First glimpse of Temple Mount, arriving from the Gate of Moors, the only one of nine gates open to non-Muslims.  Quiet compared to the hub-bub of the rest of the old city, it is a flat area the size of a couple of football fields, fringed with attractive Mamluk buildings and cypress trees, the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock as it's magnificent centrepiece. 

The incredibly beautiful, Dome of the Rock through the cypress trees.  

One of the many ablution fountains for the rather plain - compared to it's neighbour - Al-Aqsa Mosque in the background, accommodating 5000 for prayer.

The Stairs of the Scales of Souls, where on Judgement Day, scales will be hung from the arches to weigh the souls of the dead. 

The Dome of the Rock covers the slab of stone sacred to Muslim and Jewish faiths.  It was completed in 691 AD and to assert Islam's claim of supremacy was covered with gorgeous colourful mosaics and calligraphy from the Quran and a dome of gold.  

The external mosaics were renewed in 1963 but these under the arch are the original.

Dome of the Chain, built first and an exact small replica of the much larger Dome of the Rock located in the exact centre of Temple Mount.  Glorious tiling.

We could get a taste of the inside of the Dome of the Rock by looking at it's smaller original version, the Dome of the Chain.

The gold of the Dome had disappeared long ago to pay of debts.  King Hussein of Jordan recently re-guilded the dome in plated gold and it shines brightly!

One of the attractive Mamluk buildings on the margins of Temple Mount.  

Wow!

Our one photo taken in the Armenian Quarter of St James' Cathedral, closed except during mass.  The Armenian Quarter, where about 1500 people live, is the smallest of the quarters.  Why an Armenian Quarter, we asked?  Armenia was the first nation to embrace Christianity in 303 AD and, when the kingdom disappeared, Jerusalem became and remains their spiritual centre.

We watched pilgrims carrying a cross along the Via Dolorosa in Jesus' footsteps and a woman rubbing her scarf and bag against the glass behind which Mary was buried as she bowed out of the shrine.  We marvelled at the Ethiopian Monastery on the roof of the Holy Sepulchre where a few monks live and keep their spot in the church by having a monk always present in their chapel.  We watched soldiers dressed in fatigues praying fervently at the Western Wall and a woman racked with sobs as she placed her note in the crack between the ancient stones.   Men and women sat chanting their prayers in all three places.

The Damascus Gate, our first entrance to the old city.  The wall and gates date from the time of the same Salisman the Magnificent who laid siege to Malta and the Knights of St. John which we had become so familiar with a year ago.

One of the many pilgrim processions walking the Via Dolorosa or Way of the Sorrows, the route that Jesus is believed to have taken to the hill on which he was crucified, now the site of the Holy Sepulchre.  Historians believe that another route is more probable.  Nonetheless, we and troops of pilgrims followed the route with the first nine stations of the cross to the Holy Sepulchre.

The cross that many of the groups of pilgrims carry at the head of their column of very devout is not allowed into the Church.  The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the background is the holiest Christian site in the Old City, about 300m from the holy Western Wall of Judaism and the Dome of the Rock of Islam.  It was built on the site in 335 AD where Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine believed with some archeological evidence of crosses and graves, that it was the site where Jesus was crucified, died and rose from the dead.  Destroyed in 638 AD by a Muslim Caliph, the Christians had to wait to rebuild until they had enough cash in 1042.  When the Crusaders entered Jerusalem in 1099 they made significant changes and the church as it is today is really a Crusader church of Byzantine origins.

While Jerusalem is occupied by the three great monotheistic religions, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is managed by five different Christian communities in a complex arrangement:  Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Coptic, Syrian Orthodox and Armenian.  Because of the rivalry between the groups, the keys of the building are held by a local Muslim family whose job it is to open and close the church each day!

The Ethiopian Monastery located on the roof of the church is inhabited by several monks who lay claim by constant presence to St. Helena's crypt below. 

The church is not beautiful.  Rather it's add-ons make it a bit higgledy-piggledy with chapels and monuments.  Given that it is the site upon which Jesus was crucified, it is perhaps appropriate that it is rather plain, dark and gloomy inside.

Under the lamps and surrounded by pilgrims, the Stone of the Unction to commemorate Jesus' anointment with oil before his burial.  The stone was placed in 1810 but pilgrims definitely are taken by it.

The ornate Greek Orthodox Chapel shares a wall and the site of the crucifixion with a very plain, simple Franciscan Chapel beside it. Intriguing!

Pilgrims wiping tissues on the Stone of the Unction in a rather frenzied fashion, mopping up the oil of anointment.

The Tomb monument replacing the 11th century rock tomb where Jesus was laid to rest.

Huge line up which we didn't join.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is not beautiful.

Although all this happens within a few hundred meters of each other, it is a place of modern day tension.  The Armenian, Jewish, Christian and Muslim Quarters are well-defined - one easily feels the cultural differences when walking from one to the other and the souvenir knickknacks exude the religious beliefs of the quarter.  Even the new city is dotted with "colonies" where pilgrims from a particular nation gather - Ethiopian, Russian, German, American to name a few.

We walked to the Mount of Olives on our first day to get a view of the old city.  On the way we happened on the Tomb of the Virgin Mary  where Mary was supposedly interned by the disciples.  It is owned by the Greek Orthodox Church while the Armenians, Syrians and Copts have shares in the altar.  More very intense pilgrims.

The simple Tomb dating back to Crusader period in the 12th century.

Gethsemane, the garden where Jesus is believed to have been arrested, has some of the world's oldest olive trees.  Three have been scientifically dated as being over 2000 years old!  If only they could talk

A view of the old walled city with Dome of the Rock and the modern new city in the background.  In the foreground is the Jewish cemetery with the Muslim cemetery just in front of the wall.  Fascinating!

According to the Old Testament, God will start to redeem the dead here when the Messiah returns on the Day of Judgement.  To get a good place in line, Jews have always preferred to be buried here.  To date there are upwards of 150,000 bodies buried on these slopes.  It is the world's oldest continually used cemetery.

In the Jewish cemeteries we have visited on our travels, we've noticed that the tombs or headstones often have small stones set on them.  The origin and meaning of this is unknown - it is thought to show that the grave has been visited and that the stone is a symbol of the permanence of life.  Another theory is that the stone keeps the soul on earth for awhile which is thought to be comforting.  These tombs had especially large rocks cemented on top.  ??

The 3000 year old and oldest part of Jerusalem is the City of David, still under excavation.

The Crusade Citadel at the Jaffa Gate where Christian pilgrims would have arrived from the Port of Jaffa, protected by the Knights of Templar.  Amazing!

The honey-coloured beautiful wall of the Old City at twilight with rush hour in evidence alongside.

Apart from being a site of overwhelming religious significance and packed with pilgrims and tourists, the Old City is also a place where people live, work, play and go to school.

It has a produce and fish market, hardware and clothing stores.

The YMCA in the New City is imposing and, I think, looks like a pretty cool place to stay.  Next time!

We stayed at the St. George's Cathedral Pilgrim House in Eastern Jerusalem which is officially part of the Palestinian West Bank.  We ate breakfast and dinner in the old cloister, eavesdropping on the enthusiasms of the people/pilgrims around us.  We walked through Mea She'arim, a neighbourhood of the ultraorthadox Eastern European Jewish immigrants who have kept the dress and customs of the 18th century.

Our hotel for two nights, St. George's Cathedral and Pilgrim Guesthouse.  Simply furnished, breakfast and dinner served in the cloister.  Just noticed that it has a bar in the basement - missed that.  Named after the saint who, it is believed, was martyred in Palestine, used as the Turk army headquarters during WW1 and the location of the truce signing in 1917.  We were inundated by history in Jerusalem, even in our bed.

We only had two days in Jerusalem during most of which we marvelled at the sights in the Old City.  There is so much more to explore and see in both the old and new cities, we should have stayed at least one or two more nights.  A month or two would do it more justice.  Put Jerusalem on your must-see list, if it isn't already!