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The Bible says: "And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, until thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me." (Luke 22:34) |
After the visit of the Tomb of the Virgin Mary we climbed on the bus again which took us on the other bank of the Kidron Valley to ST. PETER'S IN GALLICANTU (From Latin: Gallus - cock; Cantu - crow, or "cock's crow".), which is located on the slopes of MOUNT ZOIN. This church commemorates the moment when Peter denied three times that he knew Jesus. It is said that the church was built on the spot that use to be the palace of the high priest Caiaphas. There are several caves under the church and, according to tradition; it is here where Jesus was held after his arrest. |
ST. PETER'S IN GALLICANTU |
SLOPES OF MOUNT ZION WITH ST. PETER'S IN GALLICANTU |
You cannot visit Jerusalem without stopping at the most sacred place of the Jewish nation: THE WESTERN WALL. The bus let us go in front of the smallest of all Jerusalem's Gates: The DUNG GATE (there are different theories about its name) which is the only gate that leads directly into the Jewish quarter and also close to the DOME OF THE ROCK (AL-AQSA MOSQUE) which we were not allowed to see at this time. So we went through the Dung gate and found ourselves in front of a modern version of an entrance - the one with the detectors and armed guards. |
WESTERN WALL, THE KOTEL, is a part of the remaining retaining outer wall of the Temple that was destroyed in the year 70 AD by the Roman Empire. Men and women can approach it separately. There are three other remaining retaining walls, but this one is the most sacred, because it is the closest to the location of the Holy of Holies in the Temple. Worshipers visit the wall to recite Psalms, Book of Limitations or insert their wish notes into the wall which can also be done on line using this link: |
We all "passed" the test (men and women separate and both appropriately dressed) and we entered the Western Wall Plaza. It was a Memorial day and Israeli Marines were, in their best, white, uniforms standing guard to the flame in front of the Wall. |
The Bible says: "And they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, The place of a skull…" (Matthew 27: 33) "Then are there crucified with him two robbers, one on the right hand and one on the left." (Matthew 27: 38) "And Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit." (Matthew 27: 50) "And Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth..." (Matthew 27: 59) |
The Bible says: "…and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, and departed." (Matthew 27: 60) "And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye; for I know that ye seek Jesus, who hath been crucified. He is not here; for he is risen, even as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay." (Matthew 28: 5-6) |
From there we walked towards one of the most sacred of Christian sites: THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHER. |
On the way there we had to pass an incredibly interesting MUSLIM BAZAAR (market place). The narrow streets had hundreds and hundreds of little stores with a thousand and one interesting things. It is customary to negotiate the price, which takes time, which we did not have… oh, oh… but I still succeeded to put my nose into a couple of stores and somehow managed to end up in front of the Church with a big plastic bag full of things - and so did others. I loved it. I loved the art of negotiation, which requires not only the skill to negotiate but you also have to know the basic characteristics of the items you are buying and it helps if you know approximately at what price they are selling elsewhere. |
Church of the Holy Sepulcher is built on the site, where even the scientist agree, was most likely the location of Christ's tomb. It is additionally believed by many, that this is also the place where Jesus was crucified and died (GOLGOTHA - which is, according to an ancient tradition, also the place where Adam was buried), and rose from the dead. |
Since the "various types" of Christians could not agree as to whom this church is going to belong, a deal was made about 200 years ago, when the church was under the Ottoman Turks, that it is going to belong to the Greek Orthodox, Armenians, Roman Catholics, Copts, Ethiopians and Syrian Orthodox and would be open by a Muslim key-holder in the morning. This agreement is still respected, so you can hear different types of worship continuously, at appointed times, throughout the day. |
We climbed the stairs and kissed the rock where the cross was standing, touched the STONE OF UNCTION and waited in line to see CHRIST'S TOMB. At five o'clock we joined the procession where Franciscan monks, with candles in hand, trace Christ's last paschal journey, which can be joined every day of the year. Soon, to soon, it was the end of day three of our journey. |
DUNG GATE |
WESTERN WALL, THE KOTEL |
WESTERN WALL, THE KOTEL |
BAZAAR |
THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHER |
GOLGOTHA |
CHRIST'S TOMB |