The Holy Land: Exploring Christian Jerusalem

After visiting the Western Wall, on Sunday, December 21, 2008, I visited many of the holiest sites in Christianity.

There's a great view from the roof of my hostel of the Dome of the Rock, the third holiest site in Islam. It covers the rock where Muhammad lept into heaven. The dome used to be made out of pure gold, but currently it's made from anodized aluminum. It's quite an amazing building, and it really stands out in the skyline as you'll see later in this write-up with my photo from the top of the Mount of Olives.

Next, I went up Mount Zion to the traditional place where King David is assumed to be buried.



A Catholic priest I talked with after Sunday's Mass at the Notre Dame Center doubted that David's bones were actually there because the shrine was built by Crusaders in the Middle Ages, but nonetheless, it is a revered site, and it was cool to go to. There were a number of ultra-orthodox Jews standing in front of the tomb reciting prayers.

The tomb was separated in half by a wall with a Muslim entrance and a Jewish entrance. I asked which entrance I, a Catholic, should take. The religious affairs minister there tending the tomb said the Jewish one. Countless guys were offering me tours of the sites today, but I turned them all down, saying that I could do fine at finding the sites with my maps.



In the same building complex is the room where Jesus celebrated the Last Supper. It was quite different from Da Vinci's painting. The room had Arabic writing on the walls and Islam-influenced mosaics in the stained glass windows. The room and building has undoubtedly gone through many hands in the last 2,000 years, and like with many landmarks in the Holy Land, it was likely destroyed and rebuilt multiple times, but nonetheless, it was cool to go into the second story room on the spot many believe Jesus celebrated his final Passover Seder meal with his disciples.

After that, I began my walk to the Mount of Olives to follow Jesus' movements in his final day. Walking to the Mount, I passed by some amazing tombs: Zacharia's Tomb, Tombs of Bnei Hezir, and Absalom's Pillar.

The Tombs of Bnei Hezir and Zacharia's Tomb in the Valley of Kidron.

On my walk, I saw the great gap in wealth between the Israeli side and the Palestinian side of the Valley of Kidron at the base of the Mount of Olives. On the Palestinian side, the local infrastructure was largely broken down, and there was a lot of trash. The Israeli-built stone pathway I walked on was nearly immaculate, and it looked like it had been somewhat recently built. It took a lot of money to make this stone pathway from near Solomon's Stables in the southeastern corner of the Old City of Jerusalem to Jericho Road, and it reminded me of the nice laid-in stone walkways Fr. Leahy had built when I was at Boston College.

The gorge that ran between the southeast side of the Old City of Jerusalem (the Valley of Kidron) served as a natural barrier between the Palestinian Territories and Israeli-controlled parts of Jerusalem. I saw some people riding donkeys and horses on the Silwan (Siloam) road I walked past the Petra-like tombs carved out of the rock.

This is a photo of Silwan, the poor and densely populated Palestinian neighborhood south of the Old City of Jerusalem. It is located right next to the Mount of Olives and The Tombs of Bnei Hezir and Zacharia's Tomb in the Valley of Kidron that I passed by. The poverty in the neighborhood reminded me of favelas in Brazil.

I was surprised to see that there were not that many olive trees on the Mount of Olives. There were only a couple olive orchards at the base and on the north side of the Mount. Olive trees have been grown here for thousands of years.

There were some very old trees at the base of the Mount around the Gethsemane Basilica of Agony. It was posted in the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed and wept before he was betrayed by Judas, that some of the trees there could be old enough to have been there when Jesus was.

The Gethsemane Basilica of Agony

The Mount of Olives is a largely barren hillside, and massive Christian and Jewish cemetery. Many people are buried on the hillside and have flat, box-like tombstones with Hebrew inscriptions on top.

A view of the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives. Oscar Schindler of Schindler's List is buried here, among prophets from the Bible, and many other very notable people.

The view from the top of the Mount of Olives, was amazing:

After that, I went to the Garden of Gethsemane, where some Palestinian kids were selling small olive branches from the garden.

Ancient olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane

Inside the Gethsemane Basilica,

the altar is set upon the stone believed to be the place where Jesus prayed the night before his Crucifixion.

Mary's tomb was quite fascinating. It was far underground, and I walked down this ancient, smooth stone staircase in the dark to get to the tomb. There were no markings saying that it was the tomb of Mary, but it looked like the right place based on the map I had. I asked the old Greek Orthodox man sitting mid-way down the staircase if this was the tomb of Mary. He did not say anything, and instead put what looked like beads from one cup to another. I didn't know if he meant for that to be an answer of some type, like the object letters Kipling writes about in India in his story "Beyond the Pale" in Plain Tales from the Hills, or if he was just ignoring me, or if that was his counting mechanism for keeping track of tourists. At times walking through these ancient streets and going to these places where people are doing customs that I have little understanding of, reminds me a bit of some of Jorge Luis Borges's short stories like "Man on the Threshold."

The altar in Mary's Tomb.

I've also found the gender separation in the ultra-orthodox Jewish and Muslim cultures interesting. A Muslim woman I spoke with wouldn't shake my hand (and instead kindly put her hand on her heart and bowed), and there are 2 sections at the Western Wall--a bigger one for men, and a smaller section for women to pray at.

I then re-entered Old Jerusalem from the East entrance called Lion's Gate or St. Stephen's Gate. I stopped by the Bethesda Pool and the Church of St. Anne. Bethesda Pool is where Jesus performed a miracle. It had also been the Temple cistern in ancient times.

I began to walk the original Stations of the Cross on the Via Dolorosa throughout Old Jerusalem, navigating the shopkeepers while trying to be contemplative, praying the stations of the cross. Walking the streets of Old Jerusalem is quite an experience. You have people trying to sell you stuff left and right. First, they try to guess your language, and second your religion. Most vendors talk to white people in English or Hebrew, and start off with "Menorah? Rosary? Crucifix?" until they elicit a response. Wherever I walk in the Old City, I constantly have people offering me taxi rides to the top of the Mount of Olives, Jericho, Cairo, Petra, Tel Aviv, or wherever they think I might be headed. After being in the Middle East a few days, I've developed a technique for holding my ground and kindly refusing being sold these services and products.

The pathways are often very narrow in the old city, and stones very slick. Some date back to Roman times, and with excavations, you can walk on the original streets from Herod's time.

Here's a photo I took last night of a less-crowded avenue in Old City Jerusalem. The shops are very colorful and aromatic.

Many of the stations have chapels associated with them. The Via Dolorosa is not a straight path, but rather a curving one, and I got lost trying to find the numbers in the correct sequence, in the labyrinth of walkways crowded with vendors and tourists.

Luckily, there were a number of groups led by Catholic priests from Italy and Latin America dressed in collars, which I followed to many of the stations of the cross.

Here is the 3rd station of the cross, where Jesus falls for the first time under the cross.

Here are some other images from the Stations of the Cross on the Via Dolorosa:

The final 5 stations are all in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which I visited 2 days ago.

A Jewish American couple I ran into and explored some sites with today recommended I go to the Menorah lighting ceremony at the Western Wall, which I attended at sunset. I shot some video footage of the lighting, which I may upload to YouTube, if I find a strong enough Internet connection.

I ate some of the best falafel I've had yet on my way back from the lighting ceremony in a small shop in the Old City. I also had 2 glasses of fresh squeezed pomegranate juice today, which is quite a treat!

Quite exhausted from all of this touring, I went back to the hostel for a bit to plan my day for tomorrow, and then I went to the 6:30 p.m. Catholic Mass in English at the plush Notre Dame Center at 1 Hatzanchanim road (or Tzanchanim, also known as 1 Paratroopers Street) near the Old City's New Gate.

You know you're staying in a safe area when UN peacekeepers are parked outside.

Today was a very religious day, and I brought a Bible from the hostel with me to read the Gospels where it references the locations I visited today. It was interesting to actually walk in the footsteps of Jesus, and the countless others who've passed through this very ancient city. It has made me want to explore Israel/the Territories, and the Holy Land more. Another site that has even more history is Jericho--one of the oldest cities on earth, which has been inhabited for the last 10,000 years. Perhaps I can make it there next week.

I'm going on a guided tour to the Dead Sea, Qumran, and Masada tomorrow. I'll let you know how it is in the lowest place on earth. I'm excited to get some more sun!