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Church of the Holy Sepulchre

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    • TravelerIsrael & Jordan
      Day 3

      The Holy Land

      July 10, 2023 in Palestine ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

      I woke up at 2am, unable to fall back asleep, so I went outside on a quest to buy cigarettes. One thing I noticed was that Tel Aviv apparently doesn't sleep. There's something going on and people walk around all of the time, even most stores are open 24/7. Half of the city consists of gay bars and nightclubs, while the other half smells like weed. I found cigarettes quickly and headed back to the hostel where I hung out with people until it was time to catch my bus to Jerusalem. I realized that getting up at 2am hadn't been my best idea and decided that I would try to fix my sleeping pattern. Although I had been very euphoric in general and about traveling specifically, the sleepiness pushed my mood down a bit. I spent the bus drive listening to music and daydreaming about seeing Viktor again. We arrived at the religious capital at around 9am and started our walking tour around Old Jerusalem by the Jaffa gate. We walked through the Christian quarter to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to look at Jesus' tomb. Afterwards we walked through the bazaar and ended up at Via Dolorosa, the street Jesus had to walk up with his cross, before continuing through the Muslim quarter to the Western Wall where a Barmitzva took place. As beautiful Jerusalem is and as interested I am in religious history, part of me felt weird about being in such a highly religious place. We walked through the Jewish quarter where I got myself some street food falafel before returning to the Christian quarter where we checked out a rooftop restaurant and I finally got myself shawarma with chili sauce and tahini. We then went to the holocaust museum which was a quite depressing experience. Especially the memorial for the 1,5 million murdered children was tough to take in. After I was done, I sat down in the café of the museum where I spotted Jonathan, our guide and pretty chill jewish guy, praying in the middle of the café. I sat down with him afterwards and talked about life in Israel and traveling while smoking some cigarettes together. We returned to Tel Aviv where I got myself some sabich before falling asleep at a surprisingly reasonable time.Read more

    • Israel 2023
      Day 3

      First day in City of Jerusalem

      May 21, 2023 in Palestine ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

      After Mount of Olives we headed into the city
      City of Jerusalem

      entered via Lion's gate

      Via Dolorosa - one of two paths where Jesus could have carried His cross to crucifixion; newer archaeological findings suggests no, but there are already churches here so nobody wants to change tradition

      Church of the Holy Sepulcher - has memorials for where Jesus was crucified and buried, but like Via Delorosa, it's not likely the actual location, just the commemorated loction

      Temple Mount - Temple Mount is the place Jews turn towards during prayer.

      was once the site of the Holy of Holies

      Muslims took it over; 3rd most holy site

      Jesus overturned tables here

      Jesus was accidentally left here

      couldn't show our elbows here or have physical contact or any religious apparel or Bibles

      There are 2.4B christians and 1.7B muslims worldwide      Read more

    • Brigitte und JürgenÜber den Jordan und zurück
      Day 1

      Grabeskirche

      April 30, 2023 in Palestine ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

      Entlang der Via Doloroso (an der auch das Österreichische Hospiz liegt) kommt man zur Grabeskirche. Noch mehr Touristen geht nicht und Gläubige aus Geistliche aus aller Welt drücken sich durch das Gemäuer. Besinnlich ist anders.Read more

      See translation
    • Europe 2022 - 2023
      Day 335

      Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem

      April 8, 2023 in Palestine ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

      The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the single holiest site in the world to many Christians. Religious tradition states it contains within it 3 sacred events in the death of Jesus. The site where his cross was set in the ground, the slab where he was anointed for burial, and the cave where Jesus was entombed before his ascension. The church was originally built by, Helena, the mother of the Holy Roman Emperor Constantine, in 335 AD.

      Today, the Holy Sepulchre is a complicated church. The church is divided among 6 religious groups. Catholics, Orthodox, Armenians (more on them below), Copts (Orthodox Christians from Egypt & Sudan, primarily), Ethiopians, and Syrian Jacobites. Each group had their own traditions and calendars. Given that we were there on Catholic Easter, it was also very eventful. You can see one priest running around cleansing the church with incense, and another of a different faith running around with bells to do the same.

      The worst of it is that these Christians don't trust eachother. The church has 1 set of keys and no one trusted the other to hold the keys. A compromise was reached when 2 local muslim families were given they keys. One opens the church everyday and gives the keys to the second family who will then close the church that evening. They consider it a great honor, but it does seem like a bit of a failure of harmony.

      Now I have to admit, I hadn't heard much about Armenian Christians in my life before visiting Jerusalem. Not only do they have a large portion our this church, but they have a quarter or district within Jerusalem. Their status, comes from the fact that Armenia was the first state to adopt Christianity as an official religion in 301 AD. This was because 2 apostles Bartholomew and Thaddeus, came to Armenia following Jesus death to spread religion.

      Now to top it all off, Protestants don't recognize The Church of the Holy Sepulchre as the correct burial site. They instead, believe it to be The Garden Tomb, about 1 km north. This is assuming the real tomb is still accessible as Jerusalem had been besieged 23 times and completely destroyed twice. So who knows.

      If you're interested in more details on the church and seeing a map showing "ownership" of parts of the church see the link below.
      https://www.206tours.com/cms/blog/inside-holy-s…      Read more

    • Zypern & Israel
      Day 5

      Die Heilige Stadt

      March 1, 2023 in Palestine

      Mit Gary von Free Tours lassen wir uns die Altstadt von Jerusalem zeigen. Diese ist in das jüdische, christliche, armenische und muslimische Viertel gegliedert und von einer aus osmanischer Zeit stammenden Befestigungsmauer umgeben.
      Wir kommen an einem Tattoostudio vorbei, welches es schon seit dem 13 Jhd. gibt. Damals haben sich die Pilger ein Kreuz stechen lassen, als Zeichen dass sie die Heilige Stadt besucht hatten.
      Die Stadt wurde in den letzten Jahres mit viel Graffiti beschmiert mit den Worten „Jesus the Name, Basketball the Game“, da ein erfolgreicher Basketballspieler aus Israel kam, auf den die Bevölkerung sehr stolz war. Als der Papst zu Besuch kam, musste leider alles entfernt werden.
      Natürlich besuchen wir auch die Grabeskirche in der nach Überlieferungen Jesus begraben ist. Schon beeindruckend dort Menschen zu begegnen die vor Freude weinen, weil sie diesen Ort betreten. Das Grab befindet sich innerhalb der Kapelle und wird von einer Gruft aus dem 18. Jahrhundert umschlossen, die wiederum von Marmorplatten geschützt wird. Diese sollen Pilger davon abhalten, Teile der darunterliegenden Gruft aus Kalkstein abzubrechen und als Souvenir mit nach Hause zu nehmen. Für die Gruft haben wir auf unserer Tour keine Zeit aber immerhin können wir den (angeblichen) Hügel berühren auf dem Jesus gekreuzigt wurde. An der Klagemauer kommen wir ebenfalls vorbei. Sie ist 48 Meter lang und 18 Meter hoch. Täglich besuchen viele Menschen die Klagemauer, um zu beten oder stecken einen Zettel mit Gebeten in die Ritzen.
      Auf dem letzten Bild sieht man eine Mesusa, die an jüdischen Häusern oder Wohnungen am rechten Türpfosten angebracht ist. Darin ist eine Pergamentrolle, auf der das Gebet Schma Israel geschrieben steht. Wenn man fortgeht oder nach Hause kommt, berührt man die Mesusa und bittet Gott um Schutz.      Read more

      See translation
    • Israel & Jordan
      Day 12

      Church of the Holy Sepulchre

      February 13, 2023 in Palestine ⋅ ☀️ 43 °F

      This is the most likely site for the crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. The location was supported by oral tradition and became a consistent place of worship in the first century. Hadrian attempted to stop Christians from worshiping by tearing down an early church and having a pagan temple built in its place. In addition, there are first century tombs on the site that match the Biblical description.

      Today, numerous Christian denominations share the church under the Status Quo agreement for religious sites in Jerusalem. The ladder by the right-hand window is a symbol of Status Quo. It wasn't mentioned in the agreement, so no one can move it. The key to the church was placed in the custody of two Muslim families by Saladin in 1192 when the Status Quo was enacted. Since then, they have locked and unlocked the church each day.      Read more

    • Israel 2019
      1
      Day 20

      Grabeskirche

      February 26, 2019 in Palestine ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

      Am Ort der Grabeskirche soll nach offiziellen Angaben, die Kreuzigung und Bestattung Jesu stattgefunden haben. Dementsprechend drängen sich hier selbst zu früher Morgenstunde schon Recht viel Menschen. Das Anstehen in der Schlange zur Grabkammer wurde dann selbst Tina irgendwann zu lang, sodass wir diesen heiligen, aber keineswegs erführchtigen und schon gar nicht ruhigen Ort schnell wieder verließen.Read more

      See translation
    • TravelerJordan & Israël 2019
      Day 7

      Jerusalem Part 3

      October 3, 2019 in Palestine ⋅ 73 °F

      Ending our full day in Jerusalem with a visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, said to be built around the sites of Christ’s cruxifiction, burial and resurrection. Rich Christian history. And then out of the Old City through the Jaffa Gate.Read more

    • skip's retirement travelIsrael and Palestine
      Day 3

      The Church of the Holy Sepulchre

      February 4, 2022 in Palestine ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

      This is the traditional site of Jesus'crucifixion, tomb and resurrection. Helena, Constantine's mother, identified this as the site based on oral traditions and information she received. She caused the original church to be built. While originally this was several chapels all near each other, today it is a single building that incorporates the area from Golgotha to the tomb with it's different elevations.
      The 1st picture is upstairs on the higher ground of Golgotha where the crucifixion took place. Under the altar table where someone is kneeling is said to be the actual rocky outcrop where the cross was placed. That and to either side appear to have 3 notches to hold the uprights of the crosses.
      The 2nd picture is down one level and is said to be the spot where Jesus was prepared for the tomb after being taken down from the cross. The marble slab here is not original as the original was being chipped away by pilgrims. This is located immediately inside the main entrance with the mosaic in the 3rd picture behind it. This mosaic follows Jesus as he is taken from the cross, prepared for burial and carried to the tomb.
      The 4th picture is the Aedicula that sits atop the tomb site. It is a small structure that has, like the church itself, been damaged and renovated many times.
      Inside the Aedicula is the tomb shown on n the 5th picture. I had the unusual opportunity for a private visit. The marble slab is not original. It, too was placed to stop damage by pilgrims. However, during the recent renovation, they found the original limestone shelf to be in tact under the marble.
      The last picture is in another of the chapels included in the building.      Read more

    • TravelerPilgrimage to Israel
      Day 8

      High Priest Caiaphas' palace

      May 14, 2019 in Palestine ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

      The Church of St Peter in Gallicantu is built on what is believed to be the location of the High Priest Caiaphas' palace. Below the church is Underground Caves and the Sacred Pit (dungeon) thought to be the cell where Jesus was detained for the night following his arrest.Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Grabeskirche

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