Holy Sepulcher Church and Dormition Abbey

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is deemed by Christians to be one of the holiest sites in the world.

As I mentioned in my last post, it stands upon Golgotha, the site of Jesus' Crucifixion.  History states that about ten years after the crucifixion, walls were built, enclosing the execution and burial place within the city, which accounts for the Holy Sepulcher's location in the Old City of Jerusalem today.

In 326, Queen Helena, the mother of the Roman emperor, Constantine, visited this area and discovered the true cross of Jesus.  Her son then constructed the first Church on this site, and in the course of demolition, a tomb was discovered that was thought to have been the tomb of Jesus.

It was a rock-cut tomb that was initially open to the elements, but, later, a small building was placed overtop.  And that is how you will find it today.

The original basilica that was built on this spot was leveled by the Persians, but ancient maps from the 6th Century A.D. show that a basilica once stood in this spot.

What makes this church so unique is that it is controlled by different Christian denominations within the church:  Catholics, Amenian, Greek Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox, Coptic and Ethiopian.  The variety of chapels throughout the church show the influence of these various religions under one roof.

The literature states that Muslim families have the key to the main door, but I honestly don't know how that works.  The door was open for admittance both times that we visited.

I have already given a detailed description of the several parts of this Basilica that encompass the area known as Golgotha.  But there are many fascinating features that I'd like to share in addition.

On the opposite side of this huge church there are steps which lead down to a lower level that has several chapels, one being devoted to St. Helen, who is attributed to the finding of the True Cross.

But, before descending down the steps, you will find a chapel on either side of the stairway.  The one to the right is called the Chapel of Derision.

In this chapel, under a glass case, stands a preserved fragment of the stone where Jesus sat after being crowned with thorns.

On the left of the steps is the Chapel of the Division of the Holy Robes.  The title confuses me, as the painting is of Mary holding the baby Jesus in her lap, with angels on either side.

It was very difficult to capture a good image, as this part of the church is very dark.  There were several other chapels, including the Chapel of St. Longinus, the Roman soldier who pierced Christ's side with the lance, but the paintings were way too dark to even attempt to photograph them.

Walking down the stairs you can't help but note the graffiti and crosses cut into the walls from pilgrims who made this walk over the centuries.  At the bottom of the steps there is a very large, preserved Byzantine mosaic floor.

This is the chapel of St. Helen.

It includes a painting that remembers the "Good Thief" 

And a large painting on the wall that depicts the finding of the True Cross by St. Helen.

Note the lanterns.  That is typical of the Armenian style.

There were some other noted chapels further down, past this chapel, but we didn't spend much time in them, as they were barren, dark, and filled with tour groups. 

Back upstairs, in the center of the church, behind the stone of Unction and next to the Tomb of Jesus, stands the Catholicon.

This is the dome and galleries that make up the Greek Orthodox Cathedral within the church.  It was once the main part of the Crusader church which once stood on this spot. 

Normally, this area is not available for viewing, but on this particular day, someone had removed the chain that would normally block admittance, so we ventured in to see what this part of the church had to offer. 

Looking up, you can see the face of Jesus looking down.

You can see how beautiful and ornate this section of the church is. 

The interior of this chapel was dark, but I could still manage to capture some of the beautiful features.

Our time here was limited as it soon became apparent that someone had opened the small gate to this church unbeknownst to the caretaker.  She was quite upset by the presence of the crowds.

I don't quite understand what the issue was.  I suppose that the woman's angst stems from having to share this religious shrine with so many people of various faiths.

The ire of the woman was all too obvious, so we wasted no time making our way out of this part of the church.  

There were a few rooms which we never did locate, one being the prison of Jesus.  There was a barrier standing where the entrance should have been, so we figured that it must not have been open for viewing.  

Considering that we had been maneuvering around tours most of our time in the church, we decided that we had seen enough and that it was time to move outside  and grab some lunch before moving on to see Dormition Abbey.

We were pretty tired and eager for some sustenance so we headed to the same roof top restaurant that we had tried the day prior.  Only this time, it was filled with tour groups,  with more arriving by the minute, so we decided to head back to the Armenian section to try a different Armenian restaurant that we had also spotted the day prior as well.  

You can imagine our disappointment when we were shooed away, despite empty tables everywhere in sight.  We weren't part of an expected tour,  so we could not stay for lunch.  So, out the door we headed, once more trudging down the street in search of a place that would serve a decent meal. 

I spied tables through a glass window, that had the added feature of tablecloths and linen napkins.  How bad could that be?

We walked through the door and were immediately greeted by a man who spoke English reasonably well.  There was only one other person in the place,  which we could have questioned, but the seats were comfortable, and there was a private bathroom.  Could you beat that?

So, we ordered hummus and a Greek Salad from the menu, and I specifically told the man that I could not have paprika on the hummus, or any type of peppers in the salad.  For those of you who may not know, I have a violent allergy to any type of pepper: green, yellow or red., and that includes paprika.  I have learned the hard way that it is in my best interest to tell the waiter right up front about my allergy.  In fact, I had a hard time getting dinner at the Armenian restaurant because the chef wouldn't make what I had ordered because he could not assure me that there were no peppers in the seasoning that he was required to use.  

So, I did not hesitate to mention that I could not eat peppers, and even went so far as to mention that a typical Greek Salad in Israel doesn't even contain peppers.  He nodded, wrote everything down, and went to put in the order. 

The place looks pretty nice, don't you think?

I wasn't kidding when I said that we had the place pretty much to ourselves.  We were happy to rest our feet and relax for a few minutes while waiting for lunch to arrive. 

It wasn't long before the man who had taken our order set a plate of hummus and some pita bread on the table, followed by a large Greek Salad. 

…….that contained some very suspicious looking tomatoes…..and some unusual looking cucumbers.

As you can probably guess, the salad had red and green peppers intermingled with the tomatoes and the cucumbers, so you know I wasn't going to be partaking of it.

You may think that I should have said something, but since I had been so adamant in my request, and the man nodded his head as if he understood, (and he did omit the paprika on the hummus), I really didn't not feel like making an issue out of it.

So, Marty enjoyed the salad, and I was quite content eating just the hummus with the pitas.

When Marty asked for the bill, a different, elderly man came over to the table with a slip of paper that had an amount written in shekels on it.  Marty asked if he would take a credit card, and the man said no, he did not.  So, Marty handed him the amount, and he soon realized that we had been way overcharged.

He called the man over to the table and questioned the amount.  We were told that a gratuity had been added, but it was still way too much money.  Then, when Marty questioned him, the prices that he was quoting were NOT what we had read on the menu.  It was quite obvious that we had been totally taken advantage of.  No written bill….and no change.  It was too late now.

But, when we thought about it, we did have the opportunity to relax for a bit and use a clean bathroom. That, in itself, was worth a bit extra money.

The reality of just how much we had been swindled became apparent when we ordered the identical meal in a restaurant in Nazareth which came just as I had ordered it, was much larger than the portions in Jerusalem, and cost nearly half as much.

Oh well…..live and learn.  You can rest assured that Trip Advisor will NOT be seeing a good review on this place!  

But we were no worse for wear, so we headed out the door to Dormition Abbey.  The name means "eternal sleep",  to commemorate the Virgin Mary in the traditional site of her death.  It is also believed that this is where Mary lived after the death of Jesus.

This is the church that looms over Jerusalem, that we could easily view from our B&B.

The interior of this church was bright and beauty was around nearly every corner.

Here you see a chapel featuring Mary holding the infant Jesus, greeting pilgrims and the 3 kings.

And, here she sits in the center of the apostles.

This chapel depicts the family tree of Jesus

This chapel was donated by the Ivory Coast, and consist of Ivory and black Ebony wood.  Note the two Greek Letters inscribed on the front of the altar:  the alpha and the omega.

Finally, this beautiful icon was donated by Hungary.

We found this church to be quite uplifting, filled with so many vibrant colors.  And, in addition, all the scenes within were happy moments.  How could we not get a great feeling?

From here we headed back through Jerusalem to exit through the New Gate, where the vendors were quite different than those along the streets.  It was kind of like being at an outside Walmart without the large appliances.  

This is where the locals come to shop for their goods.  it's kind of ironic. There was no one to haggle with, but, on the other hand, I can't imagine any tourist being interested in the what was being sold here.  Go figure!

On the other side of this gate stands the Notre Dame Religious Center of Jerusalem.

We decided to go inside and sit awhile before the evening Saturday Mass which is held downstairs in a full size chapel.

The seats are comfy and the aura is definitely welcoming.

Mass was beautiful.  The priest was truly filled with the Spirit and gave a phenomenal sermon.  The reading dealt with the Transfiguration, and as the priest described the events that took place on Mt. Tabor, I couldn't help but remember our visit there just the week prior.  The second Sunday in Lent always covers the Transfiguration, but I had not given that any thought when we were standing on that mountain.  How awesome that we would be in Jerusalem, having seen the spot for ourselves, while this sermon was being read? 

I must admit that the music was a bit unusual.  Have you ever heard "There is a Balm in Gilead"?  

It was a first for me, but the other songs were equally foreign to me.  But it was nice to be able to attend an English speaking Mass, regardless of the music choices.

Afterwards, we enjoyed a lovely dinner in the upstairs cafe, which generally caters to tour groups, but a table was set up for us and we were welcomed to partake of the buffet ourselves. 

The atmosphere was festive and the food  was fabulous.  And any monies lost earlier in the day were more than recouped at the low cost of this tasty meal.  How lucky was that?

Truly the perfect ending to what had been quite a busy day!