Old City Jerusalem

The Old City (Hebrew: הָעִיר הָעַתִּיקָה‬, Ha'Ir Ha'Atiqah, Arabic: البلدة القديمة‎, al-Balda al-Qadimah) is a 0.9 square kilometers (0.35 sq mi) walled area^[2] within the modern city of Jerusalem.

The Old City is home to several sites of key religious importance: the Temple Mount and Western Wall for Jews, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christians and the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque for Muslims. It was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site List in 1981.

My Dear Great Ones,

Going to the Old City in Jerusalem was one of the most incredible experiences in my life. The old architecture is interesting and charming, but the people......wow.   The spiritual intensity from Jews, Christians, Muslims, and Secular people all dressed in old traditional and not so traditional garb is fascinating.  Having all these "different," people milling about in a small area is astounding.  Pus the fact that there are pilgrims from all over the world visiting their site of religious importance is amazing.  Mixed in all this is crass commercialism.  Hundreds of booths and stalls sell icons, trinkets, food, you name it, all obviously trying to cash in on the throngs of visitors that frequent the Old City year round.  Here are a few pictures to give you a glimpse of why there are not enough superlatives to describe the Old City of Jerusalem. 

Outside the walls of the old city are ruins dated back to the time of Jesus and earlier.

The Western Wall (wailing) and the Golden Dome.

 Graveyard outside the wall.

Garden of Gethsemane.  Near the Old City.

 Inside the Old City.

 Narrow pathways and interesting arches.

 Lots of churches.  This is a German one.

 Inside a Jewish study and prayer room.

 The people are so interesting in the Old City.  Soldiers with submachine guns are everywhere.

The Old City attracts Christian pilgrims from around the world.

Very interesting and profound as we walked The Way Of The Cross.  Via Dolorosa.

 Merchants everywhere trying to cash in.  Was not impressed.

 Halfway through our walk we had a traditional arab meal.  Humus, falafel balls, veggies, yum.

 The walk at time was very crowded.  Here Celia is putting her hand in the imprint of Jesus's.  Allegedly.

Spices everywhere.

 Along the walk we saw Christian pilgrims and shopkeepers selling pomegranates.

 Stones from the old roman times.

 Lots of pilgrims

 The site of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is identified as the place both of the crucifixion and the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth.

The church has long been a major pilgrimage center for Christians all around the world.

 People with crosses were everywhere near the Church of the Sepulchre.

 Inside near the place Jesus died was a Holy man with incense.

 Stone of Unction where Jesus' body was prepared for burial.

Christ's tomb.

An office in the church.

Bethlehem is a Palestinian town south of Jerusalem in the West Bank. The biblical birthplace of Jesus, it’s a major Christian pilgrimage destination. The birth is marked by an inlaid silver star in a grotto under the 6th-century Church of the Nativity, which shares Manger Square with the 15th-century Church of St. Catherine and the 1860 Mosque of Omar.

After a great afternoon at the Old City we finished off the day going to Bethlehem.  Driving through the massive wall that separates Palestine from Israel was sad and reminded me of old East and West Germany. Once we got through we went to the Church of the Nativity where Jesus was born.

The location of the manager.

Click on the links for great videos from myself and Celia.

Have a great week,

Love adios and ping on!

Dirk