11th March: Second day strolling the streets of Jerusalem

For our second day in Jerusalem we had listed the places we did not want to miss, but we soon realised that we would have to be flexible. We had woken up early to be at the entrance of Temple Mount just after the gate opens, at around 7:40 a.m. To our great surprise (and frustration), there was already an impressive queue composed mostly of tour groups when we arrived. We thus decided to come back (even) earlier the next day.

Kids on the way to school at around 7:40 a.m.

The queue to the entrance of Temple Mount at 7:45 a.m.

We thus continued on to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was Sunday and three Christian denominations were celebrating mass next to each other: the Orthodox in the main basilica, the Catholics on the side close to Christ's Edicule, and the Copts walking around pounding the ground with metal sticks. Of the three, we were only able to follow the Catholic mass, to which we are more accustomed. What we greatly enjoyed was that the Lectures were delivered in Arabic (a booklet had been distributed with translations in many languages). We stayed while introductory psalms were being sung in Latin and listened to one lecture before heading towards the actual Holy Sepulchre. The three religious services seemed to be co-existing peacefully, although John noticed that a priest was walking around with an instrument that measured sound, and we thought he might be checking that none of them were too loud.

Entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Roman Catholic mass

First Lecture in Arabic:

Greek Orthodox mass

Coptic ceremony beside the Edicule

Video of the Coptic ceremony:

Stone of the Annointment, where they put Jesus after his death

Main Basilica

Luckily there were no tour groups and we were able to enter the Edicule quite quickly. There was just time for me to recite a little prayer before the priest asked us to give way for other people to come. We did go back a few minutes later for a slightly more relaxed experience later as there was nobody in the queue.

Around the "Edicule"

Entrance of the Sepulchre proper

Guardian of the Sepulchre

People arriving by the "Edicule"

Under the main basilica, we followed the stairs to a little chapel of which elements dated from the 4th century AD, and to a little cave where Constantine the Great's mother allegedly found a piece of Christ's cross.

Oldest part of the Church: remains of a Byzantine church dating from the time of Constantine the Great (4th  c. AD)

Close-up of the 4th century AD mosaic

Before leaving the Church, we went up to the chapels built at the traditional site where Jesus was crucified and died on the cross (also the 11th and 12th stations of the Via Dolorosa). We had been there on the first day with the procession, but there were too many people to see them properly.

The Greek Orthodox altar standing over the Rock of Calvary, where the cross of Jesus is thought to have been erected

We then headed towards the Armenian quarter of Jerusalem, in search of St. James' Cathedral, crossing the Jewish quarter. We walked around for a little while before realising that it was actually within an Armenian Convent we had walked past a couple of times, and that it would only be open from 3 to 3:30 p.m. Keeping that in mind for later, we walked to the Tomb of David on Mount Zion. Two prayer rooms, one for women, and one for men, had been separated from each other, each having access to one half of the tomb. A young man (with a gun on his hip) was getting ready for his prayers when John arrived; thankfully he did not mind having his photo taken!

Ruins of the Roman cardo (the main road) in the Jewish quarter

Facade of St. James' Cathedral

Tomb of King David

On the way to the Mount of Olives, we glanced at the excavations by the foot of Temple Mount, which dated from the period of the First Temple (not less than 10th c. BC), and passed in front of the Pillar of Absalom. 

Ruins dating from the period of the First Temple (10th century BC)

Pillar of Absalom

Walking along the walls of the Old City towards the Mount of Olives

Reaching the top of the Mount of Olives was a challenge for our unfit legs, but the view was worth it (John had made sure that we arrived in the morning while the sun was behind us). We then walked to the Garden of Gethsemane and the Church of All Nations, where we could not stay long as a mass was being celebrated. We nevertheless had time to spot the mosaic cupola offered by France (many countries contributed mosaic cupolas), and the Rock of the Agony in front of the altar. We also paid a visit to the tomb of the Virgin Mary, which stood just by the Garden of Gethsemane.

The Old City of Jerusalem

Temple Mount from across the valley

Garden of Gethsemane

Church of All Nations

Interior of the Church

Rock of the Agony, in front of the Altar

Looks like this was the one offered by France

Grotto of Gethsemane, supposedly where Jesus was arrested

Entrance to the tomb of Mary

Tour buses lined up on the Mount of Olives

We had found a well-reputed restaurant for lunch in the Armenian quarter, but it was closed so we walked back to the Muslim quarter and stopped for lunch at the terrace of a small café near Damascus gate, from which we watched people go by under the attentive view of armed soldiers.

We then walked back towards the Jaffa gate and arrived at the museum of the Tower of David in early afternoon (so that the sun was behind us, shining nicely on the golden dome of Temple Mount). Phasael tower offered a wonderful view over the Old City. We managed to leave this great spot and visit the rest of the museum, which provided interesting information on the founding of Jerusalem and its conquest by many invaders, including the Romans, several Islamic dynasties, the Crusaders, and the Ottomans. Before leaving, we came back to the lookout at the top of the citadel for a last picture.

Phasael tower

View of the archeological gardens inside the citadel

View from the citadel of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (left) and Dome on the Rock (right)

Tower of David (which is actually an Islamic minaret)

Dome in the late afternoon sun

We were pretty tired after the visit of the museum, so returned to our room to get some rest and work on the blog. For dinner we had decided to treat ourselves and check out at the restaurants of the American Colony Hotel further down the Nablus Road. We chose to sit in the cellar, as there was a great atmosphere. We had an excellent dinner without compromising our budget as badly as expected.