An amazing day in the Old City of Jerusalem...
We started with a good walk from our apartment to the furthest gate of the Old City, the Lions Gate in the Moslem Quarter. We were following a walking tour that focused on the Byzantine Era (around 300 CE when Emperor Constantine spread Christianity), although it is also worth mentioning that this gate has a modern significance, as it is the gate through which the Israeli soldiers victoriously entered the Old City in the six-day war. Starting from the Lions Gate, we walked west along the Via Dolorosa following the Christian Stations of the Cross. The first stop along the tour was the church of Saint Anne. We considered just walking past it, since we knew we had a lot of the tour ahead of us. but I'm really glad we went in as it turned out to be the highlight of the walk. You enter through a narrow arch (off an equally narrow alley way) and you find yourself in a huge courtyard with an enormous Romanesque church and extensive archeological sites to explore. We started with the archeology. There were 2 huge pools that were originally mikvahs (Jewish ritual baths). On the same site was a Greek temple to the god of healing, due to the curative properties of the water in the baths. This site is also believed by some to be the place where Jesus healed a sick man (who was waiting to be healed by the water) by saying "Rise up and walk." We were able to go deep underground into a Roman cistern and explore all around this really cool site. We then went into the church (noticing the Arabic inscription over the door from the 12th century when the church was used by the Mamelukes as a madrasa -- Islamic school). The church was very beautiful, with amazing acoustics which we heard in action by a visiting group of pilgrims chanting in the space. We also went down into the crypt and saw the grotto which is supposed to be the birthplace of Jesus' mother Mary (her mother was Anne [Hannah] for whom the church is named). My descriptions don't do justice to the sense of grandeur and history the whole site imparts. It was a cool start to a walk through a city that combines Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in every way, since all of those traditions have a connection to this place.
I'll spare you reading the details of the rest of the walk, but it was all really interesting. We followed all of the 14 stations of the cross (where Jesus fell, where he saw his mother, where someone wiped his face, etc), learning from our tour book about the cool places we were passing along the way. By station 9, we were getting pretty hungry, so we decided to stop before going into the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (where the rest of the stations are) for a bite to eat. We were in just the right spot to try one of the humus restaurants that those in the know declare to be the best in Jerusalem, Lina's (others argue the best is Abu Shukri - it wouldn't be Israel if there weren't a huge battle between 2 factions about the best hummus!). We had the hummus with pine nuts, Israeli salad, fresh baked pita, and a small plate of accompaniments like onion, pickles, and peppers. What a meal! Absolutely fresh and delicious.
Fortified, we continued on to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Here I'll let Jonah tell his impressions:
"The Church of the Holy Sepulcher was really interesting because even though a lot of what people believed happened there might not be true, it is amazing how whole religions can find so much meaning in things even if there is evidence against it. It really makes an impact on you to see all of those people so happy to be there -- for some people it is the most meaningful day of their lives to visit that place, to touch the rock where they think Jesus was crucified, they kiss the platform where Jesus was laid out to be buried, they light candles and smell the incense. My favorite part was seeing the crosses carved into the stone walls by pilgrims over many centuries."
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| Ella and Jonah touching the spot that ancient map makers thought was the center of the (flat) world. |
As we left the church, Sylvia was sleeping peacefully in the backpack on Abe's back, and we were thinking about how we were out of rugelah at home, so we decided to push our energy a little bit more and go to Machane Yehuda to stock up on some more fruits and veggies and goodies. By the time we got back to our apartment (having walked over 6 K which is becoming typical for us in a day!) we were ready for a little rest.
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| A brief ride on the new light rail train to rest our feet |
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| The rugelah we came for! |
Later in the afternoon we checked out the First Train Station. This newly opened cultural spot (on the site of the old train station) hosts several festivals a week. Tuesdays are focused on little kids, and since we have hardly done anything for Sylvia's sake this trip, we figured it was only fair. She loved building with the blocks, hearing the story time (even though it was all in Hebrew), and checking out all of the (I must say, extremely adorable) Israeli children.
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| Engrossed by the story teller |
We started with a good walk from our apartment to the furthest gate of the Old City, the Lions Gate in the Moslem Quarter. We were following a walking tour that focused on the Byzantine Era (around 300 CE when Emperor Constantine spread Christianity), although it is also worth mentioning that this gate has a modern significance, as it is the gate through which the Israeli soldiers victoriously entered the Old City in the six-day war. Starting from the Lions Gate, we walked west along the Via Dolorosa following the Christian Stations of the Cross. The first stop along the tour was the church of Saint Anne. We considered just walking past it, since we knew we had a lot of the tour ahead of us. but I'm really glad we went in as it turned out to be the highlight of the walk. You enter through a narrow arch (off an equally narrow alley way) and you find yourself in a huge courtyard with an enormous Romanesque church and extensive archeological sites to explore. We started with the archeology. There were 2 huge pools that were originally mikvahs (Jewish ritual baths). On the same site was a Greek temple to the god of healing, due to the curative properties of the water in the baths. This site is also believed by some to be the place where Jesus healed a sick man (who was waiting to be healed by the water) by saying "Rise up and walk." We were able to go deep underground into a Roman cistern and explore all around this really cool site. We then went into the church (noticing the Arabic inscription over the door from the 12th century when the church was used by the Mamelukes as a madrasa -- Islamic school). The church was very beautiful, with amazing acoustics which we heard in action by a visiting group of pilgrims chanting in the space. We also went down into the crypt and saw the grotto which is supposed to be the birthplace of Jesus' mother Mary (her mother was Anne [Hannah] for whom the church is named). My descriptions don't do justice to the sense of grandeur and history the whole site imparts. It was a cool start to a walk through a city that combines Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in every way, since all of those traditions have a connection to this place.
I'll spare you reading the details of the rest of the walk, but it was all really interesting. We followed all of the 14 stations of the cross (where Jesus fell, where he saw his mother, where someone wiped his face, etc), learning from our tour book about the cool places we were passing along the way. By station 9, we were getting pretty hungry, so we decided to stop before going into the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (where the rest of the stations are) for a bite to eat. We were in just the right spot to try one of the humus restaurants that those in the know declare to be the best in Jerusalem, Lina's (others argue the best is Abu Shukri - it wouldn't be Israel if there weren't a huge battle between 2 factions about the best hummus!). We had the hummus with pine nuts, Israeli salad, fresh baked pita, and a small plate of accompaniments like onion, pickles, and peppers. What a meal! Absolutely fresh and delicious.
Fortified, we continued on to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Here I'll let Jonah tell his impressions:
"The Church of the Holy Sepulcher was really interesting because even though a lot of what people believed happened there might not be true, it is amazing how whole religions can find so much meaning in things even if there is evidence against it. It really makes an impact on you to see all of those people so happy to be there -- for some people it is the most meaningful day of their lives to visit that place, to touch the rock where they think Jesus was crucified, they kiss the platform where Jesus was laid out to be buried, they light candles and smell the incense. My favorite part was seeing the crosses carved into the stone walls by pilgrims over many centuries." 
Later in the afternoon we checked out the First Train Station. This newly opened cultural spot (on the site of the old train station) hosts several festivals a week. Tuesdays are focused on little kids, and since we have hardly done anything for Sylvia's sake this trip, we figured it was only fair. She loved building with the blocks, hearing the story time (even though it was all in Hebrew), and checking out all of the (I must say, extremely adorable) Israeli children.
You are all going to need new sandals before even getting to Tel Aviv! Love the pictures.
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