Today we are going to spend the day touring the Holy Sites in the Old City, stopping for a visit at the Patriarchate and lunch at the Arabic Orthodox Cultural Center and Museum.
Our bus took us to the Jaffa Gate which leads into the Christian Quarter and our first stop will be the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Holy_Sepulchre#Rotunda_and_Aedicule
So far on this trip we have not run into crowds of tourists and pilgrims because it is January. Our guide told us we will be fortunate in the next two days that crowds will be at a minimum and in order to avoid crowds at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre we are going there first today and then tour the city.
There were few people on the streets as we headed to the Church.
Streets are empty because it is so early
We stopped in front where Yiannis explained why there was a crack in the pillar by the entrance- this is where a fire came out when there was a dispute with the Armenian Clergy about who got to bring out the Holy Light at Easter. When the fire appeared one Easter everyone took it as a sign that the Greek Orthodox Clergy would be the ones bringing out the Holy Light at midnight.
Aedicule
We then walked in awestruck by the vastness and beauty of the Church. Yiannis led us to Calvary where Jesus was crucified. Under the Altar is a hole where I was able to put my hand in and touch the place where the Cross was placed.
Next we went down the stairs to the small Church or Aedicula "which contains the Holy Sepulchre itself. The Aedicule has two rooms, the first holding the Angel's Stone, which is believed to be a fragment of the large stone that sealed the tomb; the second is the tomb itself. (Wikipedia). Since we were early we were able to get close to the entrance and once we lined up more pilgrims and tourists arrived and made a long line. Since the Aedicule is very small only 2-4 people were admitted at a time.
Seeing these two rooms was a very moving experience.
After everyone had a chance to go into the Aedicule our group went into a chapel in the center of the main Church and then to the entry of the Church where there was a large mosaic depicting the placing of Jesus's body after he was removed from the Cross. The stone slab he was laid on was in front and everyone had a chance to touch it or venerate it.
We had a 10 am appt. to meet at the Patriarchate so we hurried off to go.
http://www.jerusalem-patriarchate.info/main/eng/page/%CE%BA%CE%B1%CE%BB%CF%89%CF%82%CE%BF%CF%81%CE%B9%CF%83%CE%BC%CE%B1-%CF%80%CE%B1%CF%84%CF%81%CE%B9%CE%B1%CF%81%CF%87%CE%B7
At the entrance the door was locked and we waited for the guard with a giant key to unlock the door.
We went upstairs to the reception room where we met with Bishop Ezekious who was filling in for the Partriach who was attending a Church conference in Geneva.
His Grace greeted us and gave a welcome speech and then we were all treated to a shot of sweet liqueur and a loukoumi.
Metropolitan Nikitas and Bishop Ezekious exchanged gifts and then everyone posed for a group photo.
We then went back to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where we were taken to the Ossuary room.
I don't think everyone gets a chance to see these two rooms and felt very honored to be able to visit it. Father Nikos was the priest in charge and was very happy to see us. We saw the main room and then went into the other room with lots of relics from monks and Saints as well as a piece of the Holy Cross. After everyone went into the room with the relics we sat and had an audience with Father Nikos and photos. He treated everyone to a piece of candy.
Yiannis then took us around the Church to visit more Chapels and ended up at a representation of a stone tomb like Jesus was buried in.
narrow street of Old City
We then headed to the Wujoud Cultural Center and Museum to have an authentic Palestinian lunch cooked by the members of the center.
http://igoogledisrael.com/2012/11/off-the-beaten-track-in-jerusalems-old-city-the-wujoud-cultural-center-and-museum/
http://www.wujoud.ps/
The curator, Nora, was very gracious and gave a short talk on how difficult it was to open the Center and some history of Christians in Jerusalem.
Nora, Yiannis and Metropolitan Nikitas
Buffet lunch
view from the roof of the museum
Exhibit area of museum
Very interesting to visit if one has time in the Old City.
After lunch we were on the move and it was hard to keep notes on this part of the visit.
Therefore I am going to list the places I remember we visited and web links, a few notes and photos.
We headed down the Via Dolorosa passing by the Stations of the Cross on the way to the wailing wall.
It took our group at least 10 mins. to go through the security to the Wall.
After everyone had a chance to visit and see the Wailing Wall we headed back to join the Via Dolorosa. Here we saw the handprint of Christ at the fifth station-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlHZrFH7gcQ
We went into the Praetorium which is a Greek Orthodox Church that houses the place where Jesus was imprisoned before he was Crucified.
http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2013/05/the-prison-of-christ-in-praetorium.html
The cell was very small and it took a long time for our group to go through. Thank goodness there were no crowds and we had no wait to enter.
Next stop was the Church of St. Anne located on the site where the Virgin Mary was born. The Church inside was very nice and a Greek Catholic one.
http://www.seetheholyland.net/church-of-st-anne/
Below was the Grotto where the Virgin was born and since it was steep and narrow we stayed in the Church and waited for the group to see it and after we left and went to the Pool Of Bethesda where Jesus healed a bedridden man.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pool_of_Bethesda
Really not much to see but some ruins in the back of a Church.
We headed out the Lion's Gate to go across the road to Church of the Sepulchre of Saint Mary where she was buried and resurrected.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_of_the_Virgin_Mary#The_church
It is a large Church with lots of steps to go down to reach the Altar area. On either side of the staircase are chapels- one dedicated to Joseph and the other to her parents, Joachim and Anne.
Yiannis pointed out an icon of the Virgin and child which showed her with a sad expression.
It is getting late and we have one more stop. Since we are near the Mount of Olives we crossed the street and went into the Garden of Gethsemane to visit the Church of all Nations.
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/jerusalem-church-of-all-nations
Here we experienced long lines to enter the Church- lots of tourists and pilgrims- first time we had to wait on this trip.
It is now 5pm and we boarded our bus for the hotel. On the way Yiannis explained tomorrow is Shabbat and there will be no hot food at breakfast and the elevators will be stopping at every floor and some shops in the Old City will be closed.
Tomorrow we will tour until noon and then have the afternoon free and getting ready to fly home on Sunday.
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