Calvary - The Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Thursday 3 October 2013. In the previous entries I described our trip to Jerusalem as part of a tour from the cruise ship Thomson Celebration. The first entry about this tour covered the Mount of Olives and Garden of Gethsemane and the second covered our walk through the Stations of the Cross.

We have now arrived at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which covers the sites of both the Crucificion and the tomb of Jesus. The church itself was built by Constantine, the first Christian Roman emperor after excavating the site - the Emperor Hadrian in the second century AD had buried the site under earth and constructed a temple to Venus (some versions have it to Aphrodite) there.

In effect there are two connected churches here, one covering the site of the Crucifixion, excavated by Helena during which she reportedly discovered the cross of Jesus and the other covering the tomb of Jesus, the sepulchre itself. This was surrounded by a building called the Aedicule. It was damaged in riots and invasions, but remained a Christian building under the Muslim rule of the Persians. It was razed to the ground in 1009 by order of the caliph, provoking strong condemnation from Europe and, it is thought, partly providing the reasons for the Crusades.

It was rebuilt over the centuries, starting as a collection of open air chapels, roofed over in 1149. In 1555 the Aedicule was rebuilt and extended to create an antechamber.

Today the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is under the auspices of Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic Christians. In 1853 a status quo was agreed meaning that everything covered by the "common ground" should be left as it was at the time unless all three factions agreed. One effect is that a ladder under a window (see above photo) has been left there ever since.

On the right of the courtyard is Station Ten of the Cross, where Jesus was stripped of his clothes.

I don't like using flash inside churches if I can help it. I have a fairly steady hand, however in this case it was just a bit too dark. The flash would not have reached to the back anyway. This is Station Eleven. The spot where Jesus was nailed to the Cross. You can see that the place was filled with people - always a problem for me at only five feet and four inches... A mosaic at the rear shows Jesus being nailed to the Cross.

The site of the Crucifixion, Station Twelve. The altar is built over the spot and you see someone kneeling underneath to kiss the spot where the Cross stood. This has a silver star around it on the ground. To either side glass panels allow a view of Golgotha's rock with the split said to have been caused by an earthquake at the moment of the Saviour's death.

To the side of this spot is a large golden mosaic showing three scenes of the Crucifixion and its aftermath. We see two of the scenes here of Jesus' body being laid on a cloth over a slab of stone where his body was washed and anointed prior to burial and then to the left we see his body carried into the rock cut tomb.

In front of the mosaic is the actual site of the Anointing Stone. The stone itself is a replacement of 1810, but the site is said to have healing powers and I took this photo in a gap of just a second or two before it was again surrounded by pilgrims, who press cloths to the stone in the hope that healing powers will impregnate them. This is the 13th Station of the Cross.

The Aedicule under the larger of the two domes of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This chapel-like building surrounds what was once the rock hewn tomb that Jesus' body was laid to rest in. The original ground was thought to rise at a steep angle from right to left. The antechamber that was created in 1555 covered the place where the Angel appeared to Mary and also the "Angel Stone", the stone that was thought to have blocked the entrance.

The Aedicule is in dire need of restoration. A process that is apparently held up by the Status Quo as agreement on a plan has not yet been reached. A skeleton of metal holds together the peeling red marble from around its walls. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is huge, packed with people and you can't hope to see everything. We had no time to join the queue to go inside the Aedicule and I did not know about the the chapels all around it,

To the rear of the Rotunda containing the Aedicule is a further rock-cut chamber thought to be the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. There are also chapels dedicated to the meetings of Jesus with Mary Magdalene and the Virgin Mary following the Resurrection amongst many others.

I tend to do things in reverse. I go somewhere and then read up on it afterwards... Perhaps I should do it the other way around.

It is still just about morning. We leave the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, pressing against the incoming tide of newly arrived eager pilgrims and sightseers in order to get out. We walk a short distance and leave the city by way of the Jaffa Gate. We walked along the hillside and then down some steps, admiring the windmill in the distance and then boarded our coach, which will now take us into Palestine controlled territory, to Bethlehem. But first a spot of lunch methinks!

Holy Land Cruise Index Page

The Mount of Olives and The Garden of Gethsemane

Thursday 3 October 2013. We had sailed throughout the previous day from Rhodes and now wake in Isreal. We are docked in the port of Ashdod. Due to strict immigration procedures we are up at 5:00am in order that everyone onboard, passengers and crew, whether disembarking the ship or not can sit individually before an immigration official to have their face compared to their passport.

The port area is seemingly the place where cars are planted and grown. There were many thousands of cars of all makes. Apparently this is where East meets West and western cars are unloaded here for onward transport eastwards and Japanese and other eastern makes are unloaded here for onward transportation westwards. There are acres of them, all standing in ranks and lines like a vast metallic sea. Despite the security we saw several with lifted bonnets and boots, no doubt missing a few bits...

The above shot was taken once we were up on deck - must have been all of 6:00am... The coaches for all the excursions to the Holy Land were arriving and lining up on the quayside. When we had been for breakfast and had our immigration checks - a very smooth procedure by the way - there were around 25 coaches lined up waiting for us. We were allocated to coach No.12 and settled down for the trip to Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is seen here from the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives stands between Jerusalem to the west and the Judean Desert to the east. It is mentioned many times in the Bible. It was the site of the Ascension, it was the site of the raising of Lazarus, the home of Simon the Leper and at the foot of the Mount is the Garden of Gethsemane, which we shall see later.

From the same spot but with a tweak of the zoom control we can now pick out some of the important buildings in Jerusalem before us. The golden dome of the Dome of the Rock is on the left. The mosque was built in 691-692 AD with the dome directly over the rock believed to be where Muhammad ascended to Heaven. Long before, this was the most holy of places.

This is believed to be the site of Abraham's intended sacrifice of his son, Isaac. Above the altar was raised the Temple of Soloman in the tenth century BC. The invading Babylonians destroyed it in 586 BC and following their own defeat by Persia almost 50 years later, the Jews were allowed to return and built the Second Temple on the site, dedicating it in 515 BC.

This would have still been standing during the time of Jesus. However it was a much extended and decorated temple by then as King Herod the Great refurbished and added to it to create a building of immense beauty and grandeur. It lasted only until the year 70 AD when the Romans burnt it along with much of the city to end a Jewish revolt. The Romans raised a temple to Jupiter over the site and banned Jews from the city. Once Christianity became the accepted Roman religion the Rock was left bare as Jesus had predicted it would be.

The Rock now has both the Dome of the Rock and the El Aqsa mosque which is just out of shot in the photo. The Crusaders conquered Jerusalem in 1099 and converted all buildings on the Rock to Christianity, but were themselves defeated in 1187 and since then the buildings have been dedicated as Muslim holy places.

Our coach takes us down the Mount of Olives to the walls of Jerusalem. The photograph shows the blocked East Gate of Jerusalem. Jesus entered the city this way from the Mount of Olives and prophecy says that with the Second Coming, he shall descend with His angels to the Mount of Olives and walk through this gate again. In 1517 the Ottoman Turks under Suleiman the Magnificent conquered Jerusalem. The East Gate (or Golden Gate) is the oldest in Jerusalem's walls. It gave access to Temple Mount. Suleiman was told of the Second Coming through this gate and took this to mean a holy but military force was imminent. He blocked the gate and created a Muslim cemetery in front of it, convinced that no Christian holy man would walk through such an obstacle. In doing so, he fulfilled an age old prophecy.

The Garden of Gethsemane. According to the Gospels of both Luke and John, Jesus came here regularly with His Disciples. It was here He told them that they would betray or deny Him and it was to here that Judas led those who arrested Him. The garden today is protected by a fence, around which a path is laid for visitors and pilgrims.

Adjacent to the garden is the Church of All Nations, with a wonderful large mosaic on the facade. This was covered in scaffolding however when we visited. We were given some free time to go inside the church and around the perimeter of the garden.

Inside a service was going on so it was not possible to take lots of photos. In front of the altar is the Rock of Agony, the rock upon which Jesus prayed and despaired. The interior is quite dark, the windows and lighting meant to simulate night and starlight. Digital cameras deal with low light these days, though not without a touch of camera shake here. I'll try harder next time.

We came out to where the guides from several coaches were chatting. A bit of banter was going on and our guide slapped another playfully with the numbered paddle from the ship which promptly snapped off and fell down a set of railed steps. He had to climb over to retrieve the paddle to the enjoyment of the other guides. It wasn't the only paddle to be broken that day...

We have not even got into Jerusalem proper yet, so I'll end this entry to the blog here at Gethsemane. To come is the Western or Wailing Wall, the Stations of the Cross, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, over the site of both the Crucifixion and the tomb of Jesus. After that we will be back onto the coach to pass through into the Palestine area to Bethlehem, visiting the site of the Nativity and then heading back to Ashdod with a brief but interesting stop at the site of David's fight with Goliath.

For now, here is another view of the ancient olive trees of Gethsemane. Olive trees do not die. The tree trunks age and hollow but the roots send forth new shoots which grow alongside and eventually surround the older growth. There are olive plantations where the trees are known to be four or five thousand years old. So these trees that you see in the Garden of Gethemane are the very same trees that Jesus and His Apostles sheltered under.

Holy Land Cruise Index Page

1990 Travels

The other day I gave you a brief glimpse of West Kennet Long Barrow from a trip we took over the Spring Bank Holiday in 1990.

Over that long weekend we called to see the Roman baths at the city of Bath in Somerset. We've been there several times over the years but the Great Bath, with the green tint to the water, caused by minerals in the hot springs that feed the bath is always a spectacular sight.

Also on display is the actual spring. I've forgotten just how many gallons gush out of the ground per day but it's a lot and it comes at a constant 40+ degrees of heat.

The Romans called Bath "Aquae Sulis" and it was much later that the British called it Bath after the Baths. Having done something similar at the spot where the Romans left all their rubbish we would have had a major city called Dump...

We also called at Glastonbury, calling to see the well where one legend has it the Holy Grail, used at the Last Supper by Jesus rested for a while as Joseph of Arimathea brought it to this country. There is even a legend that the boy carpenter Jesus was brought here by that merchant - the legend being the inspiration for that most moving hymn, Jerusalem.

"And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green
And was the holy lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen"

Glastonbury is known mostly for the music festival these days, but also here is an ancient abbey with a grave that is claimed as being that of King Arthur. The fact that it was discovered and caused a mass inrush of pilgrims bearing monetary gifts just after the 12th Century monks had managed to burn down the abbey and needed a swift restoration fund does however mean you have to be a little cynical of their good fortune...

The abbey has some fairly ancient graffiti to show too - this example dating from 1719!

All the photos from this holiday are available as a set at Flickr.