Israel Adventure - Day 9

This is Shabbat, and in Jerusalem most people observe Shabbat. The streets are quiet, and most businesses are closed. We began the day by finding a restaurant in Jerusalem's First Train Station, a modern center with shops, amusements, and many special events such as the National Book Week taking place this week and the film festival we enjoyed there two years ago.  Of course the book fair was closed for Shabbat, but two restaurants were open for breakfast. We had Mediterranean shakshuka with eggplant and feta and nutella rozalach.

The restaurant was interesting - a railroad car served as part of the decor. Restrooms were located inside the train, and storage was above. Chelsea asked why I didn’t design her bedroom like that with her bed on the top level.

Following breakfast we walked to the Old City and entered through the Jaffa Gate. We met a couple of tourists from London, England who took our picture.

Upon entry we went up on the ramparts, or walls around the city.  We went north and then east, from the Jaffa Gate, over the New Gate, past the Damascus Gate, beyond the Herod Gate, and to the Lion’s gate.

Of course the walls have a military purpose, so several areas are built like fortresses. This one is at the Jaffa Gate. It is a well-fortified tower which provides visibility in over a 180-degree range. The towers can be several levels high.

The walk along the walls provides many great rooftop views, including this view of a family Mosque built on a later (but destroyed) tower along the walls. (The walls are 500 years old.) Across the roof of the Mosque you can see Jerusalem is a city of many faiths: Islamic, Christian, and Jewish. The steeple above is (I think) the Lutheran Church and a Christmas star also adorns the skyline to the right of the Mosque.

Along the tour, the Dome of the Rock was visible at several points.

The Mount of Olives is also visible in the background in this picture.

Along the wall we saw doves, sparrows, lizards, cats, and other interesting sights.  The day was quite warm by the time we were walking the wall. There were a few areas of shade, but mostly sunshine.

We walked up and down along the wall with the lay of the land of the hills of Jerusalem.

We could see both into the walled city and to the outside city of Jerusalem. Here is the view of the Damascus Gate, headed north. This gate is the main gate to the Moslem Quarter of the city. We entered through this gate many times when we came to Jerusalem four years ago. Our motel was about five blocks north of the gate.

Following our walk on the wall (which took almost two hours) we exited at the Damascus Gate and walked through the market to get a Coke. We looked at the shops around us, then went on our next adventure. Earlier this year when I was researching early Christian worship with Sarah for one of her classes, I spotted that the oldest church in the world is St. Mark’s Syrian Orthodox Church in the old city.  

After finding our way there (the church is on a back street), we entered the outside patio, only to find the church itself closed. We sat in the shade a minute, then a German woman came downstairs to see why we were there. She called her son who spoke English to talk to us, and he told us that the woman who gives tours was taking her nap and to come back in two hours. We were about to walk out when she came downstairs and took us inside the church.

She told the history of the church and its site which goes back to the Last Supper in the Upper Room. (Mark invited Jesus to dine at his home for Passover.) This was also the place where the disciples went after Jesus died and when the Holy Spirit came upon them.

She showed us the altar, which was beautiful. There is a painting of Mary and Jesus traditionally created by Dr. Luke (of the Bible). It is painted on leather and the faces show up when a candle is placed in front of the picture. Mary is holding Jesus as a baby, but his face is painted as an adult.

She explained the Upper Room is now downstairs - because as cities grow older and go through the cycle of destruction and rebuilding, they grow upwards. We went down the stairs to a well kept stone room, which definitely does not date to the period. The building in which the church is meeting is fairly new, only about 800 years old. There is a history (on the link) which tells how during restoration of St. Marks an inscription was found from the sixth century which says, “This is the house of Mary, mother of John, called Mark. Proclaimed a church by the holy apostles under the name of Virgin Mary, mother of God, after the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ into heaven. Renewed after the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in the year AD 73.” Pilgrims visited this site as early as 333 AD.

After our visit to the church we headed home. But before we arrived we stopped at the lion fountain and Chelsea and Sarah dipped their feet in to cool off. Then we returned home for a rest.

At dinner time we ate hummus at Jerusalem’s First Train Station again and shopped at the book sale. Most of the books were in Hebrew, and some were familiar because we knew the cover. (Dr. Seuss collections, Disney Collections, and others).  We also saw a few books in English. We enjoyed practicing reading some Hebrew and looking through the books.