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Mount of Olives
The Mount of Olives is mountain ridge located to the southeast of the Old City in Arab East Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives is mentioned in a few places in the old testament but is a more significant player in the ministry and final days of Jesus as recorded in the new testament. While it then follows that most of the holy sites on the Mount of Olives are Christian, the Mount of Olives is also the location of a massive and ancient Jewish cemetery that includes some dramatic rock-cut tombs.
After breakfast, our tour of the Mount began from an observation point at the top, from where we descended along steep and narrow streets to holy sites below. Complicating the descent was my mother's bad knees, a brief rain shower that made the streets quite slippery, and an unholy amount of automobile traffic.
Dominus Flevit
This tear-shaped church was designed by Antonio Barluzzi and completed in 1955. It commemorates a site identified in the Crusader area as the place where Jesus is recorded weeping over the impending destruction of Jerusalem (Luke 19).
05/28/2011 08:57 IDT Sanctuary of the Dominus Flevit |
05/28/2011 08:57 IDT Crusader cross on gate |
05/28/2011 08:58 IDT Olive trees |
05/28/2011 08:59 IDT Dominus Flevit |
05/28/2011 08:59 IDT Necropole |
05/28/2011 08:59 IDT Necropole |
05/28/2011 09:05 IDT Sanctuary |
05/28/2011 09:07 IDT Dominus Flevit |
05/28/2011 09:07 IDT Dominus Flevit |
05/28/2011 09:08 IDT Byzantine mosaic |
05/28/2011 09:15 IDT Dominus Flevit |
05/28/2011 09:16 IDT Dominus Flevit |
05/28/2011 09:17 IDT Jewish cemetery |
05/28/2011 09:18 IDT Olive trees |
05/28/2011 09:18 IDT Photo donkey |
05/28/2011 09:24 IDT Headed down the mountain |
05/28/2011 09:24 IDT Jewish cemetery |
05/28/2011 09:25 IDT Headed down the mountain |
05/28/2011 09:26 IDT Gate |
05/28/2011 09:31 IDT Headed down the mountain |
Gethsemene
This site is the traditional location of where Jesus prayed before being arrested prior to his trial and crucification (Matthew 26). The garden of olive trees includes ancient specimens that may predate Jesus. The Church of All Nations (again by Antonio Barluzzi) opened in 1924. It is built over the remains of a Byzantine-era church and incorporates the Rock of Agony, which is presented as the location where Jesus agonized in prayer before being arrested (Matthew 26:36).
Church of the Tomb of the Virgin (Mary's Tomb / Church of the Assumption)
This is the traditional location of the tomb of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The site has a complex history, although most it is in a cave under a 14th-century facade. The site was owned at the time of our visit by the Greek Orthodox Church, although there is a sharing arrangement of various parts of the site (as with the Church of the Nativity) between Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox and Muslim groups.
05/28/2011 10:20 IDT Church of the Tomb of the Virgin |
05/28/2011 10:21 IDT Church of the Tomb of the Virgin |
05/28/2011 10:21 IDT Church of the Tomb of the Virgin |
05/28/2011 10:21 IDT Church of the Tomb of the Virgin |
05/28/2011 10:22 IDT Church of the Tomb of the Virgin |
05/28/2011 10:26 IDT Gethsemene grotto |
05/28/2011 10:26 IDT Gethsemene grotto |
05/28/2011 10:27 IDT Mass in the grotto |
05/28/2011 10:29 IDT Church of the Tomb of the Virgin |
05/28/2011 10:30 IDT Mary's tomb |
05/28/2011 10:31 IDT Mary's tomb |
05/28/2011 10:32 IDT Sarcophogus |
05/28/2011 10:33 IDT Church of the Tomb of the Virgin |
05/28/2011 10:34 IDT Church of the Tomb of the Virgin |
05/28/2011 10:38 IDT Orientalist discourse |
05/28/2011 10:41 IDT Golden Gate |
05/28/2011 10:42 IDT Tour buses at the bottom of the Mount of Olives |
05/28/2011 10:43 IDT Tour buses outside the old city |
05/28/2011 10:46 IDT The old city |
05/28/2011 10:48 IDT Mount of Olives |