A Mini Pilgrimage in the Holy Land

The sun shone brightly on a perfect day as we boarded the bus to take us from the port of Ashdod, which took about an hour and a half to Jerusalem.  We joined thousands of other tourists and pilgrims near the top of the Mount of Olives to look out over the old part of the city. 

Old Jerusalem as seen from Mount of Olives

 It was a spectacular sight, made more meaningful by the tour guide who asked if there was a teacher in the group.  Gail responded, and was then asked to read a scripture passage over the microphone.  It was an extremely touching moment, to be reading the words of David, in the   Old Testament while looking down on the city, both old and new, from this sacred place. 

Gail at Mount of Olives

The day continued with visits to important sites from the gospels and to places that hold meaning to both Christians and Jews, with some Muslim flavour as well. 

 

Original gate to Jerusalem bricked up  by Muslims

  

Entering Jerusalem through the Dung gate

One such spot is the Western Wall, also known as the “Wailing Wall”.  It is the  only remaining piece of the temple built by Herod over two thousand years ago, on the site of the original temple that had been erected by Solomon on the mount where Abraham came to sacrifice his son, Isaac, as a test from God, who then spared Isaac.  The wall attracts pilgrims from all over the world as a centre of spirituality.  People go there to pray and to leave notes of supplication in the cracks between the stones.  Women and men are separated for the visit to the wall, and many Jewish women and men touch the wall while moving their entire bodies in prayer.

Gail at women's "wailing wall"

Praying at the wall

There are several distinct areas in the Old Town, and it was fascinating to walk through the narrow streets of the Jewish, Muslim and Christian neighbourhoods, which are full of very active shops where they sell almost everything. 

 

Shopping in the old Roman cardo

 

In the Muslim quarter

 Some people like to take their purchases to the Holy Sepulcher to be blessed.  The Church of the Holy Sepulcher on Golgotha was built on the site of Christ’s crucifixion.  It contains chapels of six different Christian sects, and is not controlled by any one. 

 

Church od the Holy Sepulcher

 It houses the stone on which His body was anointed, and the tomb in which He was laid.  There were too many pilgrims to look at this artifact, which is enclosed in a large wooden structure that looks like a church within a church, and is the site of the resurrection. 

The stone of atonement

Site of Christ's Tomb (like a mini-church)

 

Kissing the site of the cross

After lunch at a kibbutz, which overlooks Bethlehem, we continued to travel to an area where we could view Jerusalem from near the modern wall that separates the city from the notorious West Bank. 

 

Oh not so little town of Bethlehem

The West Bank is on the other side of the wall

 The wall is over 200 km in length and was a costly solution to the problem of Palestinians entering Jerusalem with suicide bombs. We were taken to a beautiful lookout facing the Mount of Olives, then on to Gethsemane. 

 

John at Church of Gesthemene

 

Gail at the Garden of Gesthemene

 A garden of ancient olive trees is there at the site where Jesus went with his disciples before his arrest.  These trees are said to descend from the ones in Jesus’ time, and some are over 600 years old.  A church is now built around the rock on which Jesus is supposed to have been seated in the garden.  

Stone upon which Christ sat when arrested by the Romans in the garden

Mount Zion was the next stop, where the Last Supper took place, and the tomb of King David is reputed to be, though our guide suggested nobody is really sure about this.  The Upper Room that we were taken through was an interesting building that had been converted several times by the Muslims, the Byzantines and the Crusaders, so if it is the original place, it is in no way like it was 2000 years ago.

It was a very long day, packed with information and impressive sights.  We cannot be sure that everything we saw was authentic, though it is a very special place that is steeped in history, and it is fortunate for us that so much of it remains to be seen.  There is ongoing discovery of ancient artifacts as building continues in this fascinating city of old and new.

On our second day in Israel, at the city of Haifa, we took a tour of the area.  Haifa is a beautiful town  build on the side of a mountain, with homes, apartments, and gardens perched precariously on mountain ledges.

 

City of haifa

 Our tour had a photo stop near the top of Mount Carmel, overlooking Haifa, its lovely bay and the absolutely spectacular Baha’i Gardens.

The Baha'i Gardens from above

The tour then continued to Caesarea, the city that King Harod dedicated to Caesar Augustus more than 2000 years ago.  After a 30 minute bus ride we arrived at the ruins of the city, now a National park.  This huge complex of ancient ruins took us more than three and a half hours of walking to get through.  Caesarea is an interesting place to visit because it clearly shows the different eras of conquest.  The first part of the complex shows what life was in King Harod’s time, consisting  of a large 4000 seat theatre and King Harod’s palace, which has still most of its base intact. 

 

The theatre

 There is still evidence of Harod’s private swimming pool, some of the original mosaics and the corner stone of the original building. 

 

The outline of the pool is quite clear

We then walked through the hippodrome which had a 350 metre circular track for horse racing. Later, after Harod’s death in 4 BC and the city became an official part of the Roman Empire, the race track was converted to an amphitheatre where some of the Rome’s favourite sports, gladiators and human and animal fights, took place. Later on again, when the Byzantines took over in 350 AD, the amphitheatre was dismantled to make an open space and the race track was moved outside the city complex.

 

Site of the hippodrome with ampitheatre seating on the right side

 Walking further, we were shown evidence of the next wave on conquerors, the Muslims, with their marble baths and marble floors covering the mosaics below. Finally, we entered the Crusader’s fortifications built in the 12^th century with their massive, sloping walls and huge gates. 

 

John at the crusader wall

 

Sloping walls and dry moat of Crusader fortress

 The area inside is rather austere, where the Crusader’s lived and kept only those possessions that were considered important, everything else was left outside of the enclosure. 

A very tired group of walkers were then taken back to bus, with a brief stop to see the remains of the 2000 year old Roman aqueduct that still stands to this day. 

 

Roman aqueduct bringing water to cCsesarea

Now we head off for two days in Turkey, arriving on Friday.