Jerusalem - Inside the Old City
Before entering the Old City, here is a panoramic view from the Mt. of Olives. The large wall that can be seen dates to the Byzantine period, but represents where the city wall would have been at the time of Herod the Great. The arrows are to give you an idea of where we will be going.
We will enter the Lion's Gate (red arrow) and move to the Bethesda Pools and Church of St. Anne (blue arrow). We will then walk the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (green arrow). We will pass by Redeemer Lutheran Church (just left of green arrow) to the Dome of the Rock (purple arrow). Eventually we will go to the Western Wall (pink arrow) and to the Temple Mount Excavations and Teaching Steps (orange arrow). So let's go!
After walking over from the Mt. of Olives, here we are at the Lion's Gate, so called for the many lions that decorate its frame. (It is also known as St. Stephen's Gate, the traditional place of the stoning of Steven. Once inside, we can get a feel for an old stone street in the city.
After a bit of walking, we come to the Bethesda Pools. The waters of these pools were long believed to have healing powers. People came to them to be healed of all kinds of ailments. The Gospel of John tells of Jesus healing an invalid here (John 5:1-15).
Sitting next to these pools is the Church of St. Anne. It is a Byzantine Church that some traditions say marks the home of the Virgin Mary and her parents, Anne and Joachim.
After a rest at St. Anne's, we move to walk the Via Dolorosa. The Via Dolorosa is the traditional walk that Jesus followed after being condemned to the cross. Much of its origin dates back to a Byzantine Holy Week procession that went from the Mount of Olives to Calvary. This walk is divided into fourteen "stations of the cross." They are marked by various chapels and wall engravings. We will see some on the way to the Holy Sepulchre.
We start outside station one, where Jesus was presented to Pilate and handed over for crucifixion. Then with station two, Jesus takes up the cross.
As Jesus is presented to the people, he is given a crown of thorns, commemorated by the dome ceiling below at left.
The Third Station portrays Jesus collapsing under the weight of the cross for the first time.
The Fourth Station shows Jesus meeting his mother on his way to Calvary.
At the Ninth Station, Jesus falls for the third time and we can see the domes over the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the church over Golgotha and Jesus' tomb.
Station Ten is just outside the entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It remembers Jesus being stripped of his garments.
Now it is time to continue our journey and enter the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
(picture used with permission from Israel: Pictorial Guide and Souvenir, copyright Palphot Ltd.)
Upon entering and turning right up some stairs, we see the shrine atop the large rock formation called Golgotha, where Jesus hung on the cross between two thieves (Station Twelve).
When Jesus was taken down, he was laid on a stone slab (Station Thirteen).
Then Jesus was placed in a garden tomb hewn in the rock. Over that tomb spans a beautiful domed roof and an awesome monument, the Holy Sepulcher.
(picture used with permission from Israel: Pictorial Guide and Souvenir, copyright Palphot Ltd.)
Inside the front main doorway is another doorway, leading into the inner-most part of the tomb, where Jesus lay for three days.
This is the Fourteenth Station of the Via Dolorosa. What happened right here is the very center of the Christian faith. At this place, God defeated death once and for all.
He is not here, he is risen!
(Matthew 28:6, Mark 16:6, Luke 24:5)