The Holy Cities

After a full day at sea, we arrived at Ashdod Port.  It was a short bus ride to Jerusalem and the garden of Gethsemane.  Another windswept location, overlooking the olive groves and the Church of All Nations, also called the Basilica of the Agony. 

From the Mount of Olives, overlooking the Garden of Gethsemane and the city beyond.

Windows in the Church of All Nations were striking in their simplicity and their message.

Interesting from the outside, it was even more impressive from the interior as the stained glass windows each had a cross as the central figure.  Constructed in the early 1920's, the name commemorates contributions made by many countries to its construction.

From that point, we went inside the walled city of Jerusalem to walk down the Via Dolorosa.  We didn't see each of the 14 stations of the cross but did stop at the markers for several of the stations.

Much of the Via Dolorosa wound through the alleys lined with vendor stalls on both sides.  Often their wares were hanging out over the streets, providing some shade on a very hot afternoon.

 

While this Station of the Cross had the Roman Number V engraved as a part of the building, others were brass plaques placed high enough on the building so they could be seen above the crowds.

Our walk ended at the Western Wall of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, destroyed in 68 BC.  I learned that the Talmud mentions that when the Temple was destroyed, all the Gates of Heaven were closed except for one that is the Gate of Tears - thus the Wailing Wall, where notes and prayers are stuck in the cracks.

Men have access to a large library housed below the Western Wall; women have a much smaller space in which to approach the wall. 

From here we went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, an elaborate church built by the Crusaders in 1149 over the empty tomb of Jesus.  While walking through the basilica, a group behind us held a short service that included chanting and prayers - something that goes on routinely throughout the day, apparently.

  

The final stop was at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem after a change of tour guides at the Israel-Palestine border.  It was quite moving but the crowds detracted somewhat from the atmosphere.  Regardless, it was thrilling to visit Jesus' birthplace.  In addition to the historical significance, look at what I found!     

The scrollwork in the square definitely has what we today would call a Celtic pattern.  But I was just as interested in the curls (think waves of the sea!) around the border.  This was a part of a mosaic in the floor that had been preserved and could be viewed by standing on a wooden catwalk above the excavated mosaic.

Isn't the ironwork on this window wonderful?  This will definitely become a quilting design!

Cheers.
Margaret