findings that date back to the origins of Christianity and New Testament Times. The multimedia section is available in Italian, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Polish, Arabic and Hebrew. The Accessibility of Via Dolorosa In 2022, work was completed to make the Via Dolorosa accessible to people with disabilities. The alleys were made accessible to wheelchairs and strollers, who can now move between the many historical and national sites in the Old City comfortably and safely. Steep descents were also flattened and handrails were added to the steep alleys of the Old City. For the first time, the Old City was also made accessible to the blind, with a dedicated application called Step Hear that guides the blind visitor to the Old City between 60 different stations, where unique information and content is provided that enables and enhances the visit to the historic city .
The Garden Tomb - or Gordon’s Calvary
Patriarchs, indicated by Rachel’s Tomb on the outskirts of the town. In the nearby Shepherds’ Fields (at Beit Sahour), the angel proclaimed to the shepherds the birth of Jesus (Luke. 2:8-20) in the manger in Bethlehem (Luke 2:4-7). The Basilica of the Nativity, virtually unchanged since the fourth century, stands over the birth grotto. This year, a fragment of wood believed to have formed
Towards the end of the 19th Century, the Governor of Palestine, General Gordon of Khartoum, became convinced that he had come upon Golgotha from the
window of his study, having looked out at a piece of rock that was shaped like a skull: The rock and the surrounding land, just outside Jerusalem’s Old City, were purchased by the Church of England, and excavations that took place revealed the presence of a 1st-century tomb, The site, now maintained by the Garden Tomb Trust, is kept in beautiful condition and offers free guided tours. The Garden Tomb, which many Protestant denominations accept as Golgotha (its not archaeologically confirmed ) is a quiet and special place to visit, and whether or not you accept it as the true site, it is an excellent spot for one to imagine how Jesus’ burial site may have seemed. Bethlehem
part of Jesus’ manger has been returned to Bethlehem after more than 1,400 years in Europe. The wooden relic, believed to have been part of the manger where Jesus was born, was sent by St. Sophronius, the patriarch of Jerusalem, to Pope Theodore I in the 640s, around the time of the Muslim conquest of the Holy Land. Pope Francis ordered the return of the thumb-sized relic from Rome’s Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore as a gift. It was briefly put on display in Jerusalem before continuing its journey to Bethlehem to coincide with the start of Christmas celebrations there. The relic, encased in an ornate stand, was welcomed to Bethlehem by a procession of marching bands and taken to the Church of St Catherine, next to the Church of the Nativity where
Just south of Jerusalem lies the city of Bethlehem, birthplace of Jesus and also of King David (now in the territory of the Palestinian Authority (P.A.)). As early as 248 AD, Origen, the Christian theologian, wrote of his visit here: “In Bethlehem you are shown the cave where He was born, and, within the cave, the manger where He was wrapped in swaddling clothes. These things that they show you are common knowledge in the district, even among those who do not share our faith. They admit...that the Jesus whom Christians adore was born in this cave” (Contra Celsum 51). The biblical roots of Bethlehem go back to the time of the
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