Jan. 22, 2016 A day in the Old City of Jerusalem- Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Stations of the Cross, Patriarchate of Jerusalem,

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.

Jan. 21, 2016 St. Theodosius Monastery, St. Savas Monastery, Shepard's Field, and Bethlehem

Today we are leaving early- 7:45 am- and going into the Palestine administered area to visit two monasteries. Next stop will be Shepard's field and Bethlehem which are also in the Palestine Administered area.

The driver took us to a border between the Israeli area and to the Palestine area. At the border which was really a street, we saw young people with rifles standing around like they were securing the general area.
The area seemed more rural than urban and we saw homes, farms and animals along the way to the Monastery.

We kept on driving until we reached St. Theodosius Monastery. Here we all got out to go in to see the Church and the cave where the 3 Magi stayed after delivering their gifts to  Jesus.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monastery_of_St._Theodosius
The monastery was locked and our guide had to call to have the watchman come and open the door with a giant key.

We walked as a group to the new Church with new iconography. The candle stands were located outside the Church so the smoke would not damage the interior of the Church.

We then were led to a stairway which took us downstairs into the cave where the Magi stayed.

There were also some cases with relics of Saints in the cave.

At 9:30 am we boarded mini buses to take us to St. Savas Monastery because the road was not suitable for the bus to take us. It seemed when we got there we were in the middle of nowhere. Once we got near a wall we saw a door which was the entrance to the Monastery. Only the men were allowed inside to visit the Monastery as that was one of the provisions of St. Sava.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar_Saba

http://stsabbas.org/jerusalem.html

A man came out with cushions for the women to sit  on while the men went inside for a tour of the Church and Chapels.

We were taken to a balcony which overlooked the valley and walls where the Monks had their cells including  St. Sava. The monk who gave us the tour told us the Monastery gets 15 liters of water a day from a spring or well and that is the only source of water for the Monastery.

After our tour of the Church and chapels we were invited to go to the guest hospitality center where we were offered water and Arab coffee. The Abbot then joined us and visited with Metropolitan Nikitas. The Metropolitan was offered a liqueur and loukoumi and given the guestbook to sign. Afterwards the Abbot gave us a greeting and then we headed back out to join the women.
We were all asked what when on inside by the women since they were curious and tired of waiting  outside.
We then go on the mini vans for the ride back to our bus. When we were boarding the street vendors bombarded us with purses and magnets and in order to keep us moving onto the bus His Eminence took some of the items on the bus to sell them and keep the vendors at bay.

It is now around 11 am and we are making the stop we have been promised every day on the tour- the best Christian gift shop in the area where all things are available at reasonable prices. We were allowed about 45 mins. to browse and shop. This is where we got some small souvenirs to bring back. Some things were not available but should be in the Old City tomorrow when we go.

12:15 we boarded the bus to go to the Church of the Shepherd's Field.
The Church has three altars and dedicated to the Virgin Mary, St. Pantelion, and the Archangels Gabriel and Michael.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcLVT5aAyNQ

http://www.seetheholyland.net/shepherds-field/

It was here an Angel announced to the Magi announced the birth of Jesus. We visited the Church and then went down into a cave where the Shepard's heard the proclamation that Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth and good will to men" (Luke 2-14).

Afterwards we went to the site of the ruins of the original Church where we saw a mosaic floor.

It's 12:35 and our next stop is for lunch at the Christmas Tree restaurant. First time on the trip we ate around noon.

We were given 35-40 mins for lunch which was a choice of chicken wrap or veggie wrap and a soda for $7.00. Since I was starving I went back for a second chicken wrap and the clerk did not have change for a ten so he gave a small dish of baklava as change.

After lunch I felt recharged and ready for the rest of today's tour.

Our bus took us through a checkpoint and then to Manger's Square where it parked in a garage. Per the guide the locals want tourists to walk past the tourist shops to reach Manger Square so they have an opportunity to shop.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Bethlehem

Once we got to the square we headed to the Church of the Nativity where Jesus was born.

As we entered the Church we noticed scaffolding all over because the Church was being repaired.

Fortunately because we were here in off season the Church was not too crowded so we had a short wait to descend down to the place where Jesus was born. We went down some steep narrow steps to reach the bottom. Once everyone venerated the Star we all headed back upstairs.
This was a very emotional visit for me- one I have been looking forward to a long time.

We then walked through Manger Square back to the garage and got on our bus around 2:40pm.
Our guide explained we were going to make two more stops at Jewish Museums and then we will go back to the hotel.

Our first stop was a Museum that had an outdoor depiction of Old Jerusalem and then an exhibit of scrolls inside. We had a short visit inside before we met the bus to go to the next stop.

On the way our guide explained that everyone who wanted to can go to the short experience of listening to holocaust victims - an auditory experience.

All but three of us went. My wife and I and our friend stayed on the bus. I asked the driver if the Jewish museum visits were mandated by the Government and he said yes.

Some of the group were visibly shaken when then came back.

On to the hotel and meet for dinner and fellowship.