Exploring Greece, Israel and Jordan— Part Fifty Six

Exploring Greece, Israel and Jordan— Part Fifty Six

The Church of All Nations, like the Chapel in Shepard’s Field in Bethlehem is the work of an Italian architect, Antonio Barluzzi. It is a dark, but beautiful building.

This church sits at the bottom of the Kidron valley, at the bottom of the Mount of Olives, and the traditional site of the garden of Gethsemane is right next to it. While some of the oldest of these olive trees are hundreds of years old, they are not 2,000 years old. Still, one gets the sense of what a garden on the Mt. of Olives would have looked like, better here than anywhere else.

Just up the hill from here is the little chapel called Dominus Flevit (which means the Lord wept), where we took our group picture…. The view from here is terrific….. There are also important early Christian ossuaries or bone boxes found here in a sheltered area…..

Finally, at the top of the Mount of Olives is a large Jewish graveyard….. There are numerous famous orthodox rabbis buried here, and their former students and family come and put rocks on the graves as a sign of remembrance. The view from here is great as well….


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