St. Peter in Gallicantu

(31.771, 35.232)

Saint Peter in Gallicantu is a Roman Catholic church on the eastern slope of Mount Zion. It is the traditional location of the palace of Caiaphas, the High Priest who convicted Jesus. Accordingly, it is also noted as the site of the apostle Peter's triple denial of Jesus, marked by a rooster crow (Matthew 26:74). The church that was present when we visited was built in 1931 on the site of a Crusader-era church from 1102 and a Byzantine shrine built in 457.

The lower levels of the church incorporate caves from the Byzantine days and a group of earlier crypts that may have been where Jesus was held during his arrest. The area north of the church features ruins of the Byzantine chapel and a staircase down to the Kidron Valley is traditionally cited as the path followed by Jesus down to Gethsemane (Matthew 26, Mark 14).

05/26/2011 15:11 IDT St. Peter in Gallicantu	05/26/2011 15:11 IDT Walking down to the monastery
05/26/2011 15:11 IDT Walking down to the monastery	05/26/2011 15:12 IDT St. Peter in Gallicantu
05/26/2011 15:12 IDT East Jerusalem	05/26/2011 15:15 IDT South wall of old city
05/26/2011 15:17 IDT Guard station	05/26/2011 15:17 IDT Rooster
05/26/2011 15:17 IDT Solar water heaters	05/26/2011 15:17 IDT Security wall
05/26/2011 15:19 IDT Old Jerusalem map	05/26/2011 15:19 IDT Pathway
05/26/2011 15:20 IDT Trial before Caiphus mosaic	05/26/2011 15:27 IDT Sanctuary entrance
05/26/2011 15:28 IDT Sanctuary	05/26/2011 15:28 IDT Stained glass window
05/26/2011 15:31 IDT Byzantine mosaic	05/26/2011 15:31 IDT Byzantine mosaic
05/26/2011 15:31 IDT Byzantine mosaic	05/26/2011 15:31 IDT Stair to chapel
05/26/2011 15:33 IDT Looking at Byzantine crosses	05/26/2011 15:35 IDT Byzantine crosses
05/26/2011 15:36 IDT Byzantine crosses	05/26/2011 15:37 IDT Readings
05/26/2011 15:34 IDT Chapel	05/26/2011 15:41 IDT Denial
05/26/2011 15:41 IDT Stair to caves	05/26/2011 15:42 IDT Cave layout
05/26/2011 15:43 IDT Caves	05/26/2011 15:44 IDT Caves
05/26/2011 15:44 IDT Caves	05/26/2011 15:45 IDT Caves
05/26/2011 15:46 IDT Sacred pit	05/26/2011 15:48 IDT Sacred pit
05/26/2011 15:54 IDT Underground caves sign	05/26/2011 15:55 IDT Stair to pit
05/26/2011 15:55 IDT Sacred pit	05/26/2011 15:56 IDT Pope Pius XI - 1924
05/26/2011 15:56 IDT Byzantine church ruins	05/26/2011 15:56 IDT Byzantine church ruins
05/26/2011 15:56 IDT Byzantine church ruins	05/26/2011 15:57 IDT Byzantine church ruins
05/26/2011 15:57 IDT Byzantine church ruins	05/26/2011 15:58 IDT Byzantine church ruins
05/26/2011 15:58 IDT Byzantine church ruins	05/26/2011 15:59 IDT Byzantine church ruins
05/26/2011 15:58 IDT Mosaic inscription	05/26/2011 15:58 IDT Byzantine mosaic
05/26/2011 15:59 IDT Denial statue	05/26/2011 16:00 IDT Looking north at the old city
05/26/2011 16:01 IDT Ancient staircase to Kidron valley	05/26/2011 16:01 IDT Ancient staircase to Kidron valley
05/26/2011 16:01 IDT Ancient staircase to Kidron valley	05/26/2011 16:02 IDT Ancient staircase to Kidron valley
05/26/2011 16:02 IDT Bas relief of Jesus descending staircase	05/26/2011 16:01 IDT Modern staircase back to the upper level
05/26/2011 16:10 IDT Kidron valley

Next: The Garden Tomb...