Come to Israel, Day 6 continues

About half-way down to the bus, Leo told us to turn around.  He said that the first thing you see when you look at Jerusalem is the Dome of the Rock. This golden dome was built over (on?) Mount Moriah, right above the ground where the temple once stood.  Leo told us it is considered by Israelites and Muslims alike to be the holiest site in the city. Muslims believe that it marks the spot of the ascension of Mohammed, and Abraham also came here, to Mount Moriah, to sacrifice Isaac – which is why the original Temple was built there by the Israelites.  The altar Abraham used is believed to be under the Dome of the Rock!  

The golden dome is surrounded by the rebuilt wall where the both the first and second temple were.  Leo promised we’d be able to visit the only original part of the wall left standing, the Western Wall.

 Next, we walked to the Church of the Tears, The Dominus Flevit Church (means The Lord Wept).  It was built to commemorate the area where Jesus stopped and wept over Jerusalem on our Palm Sunday.  From here you can see the whole breadth of the city, with its dome in the center. 

            Leo told us that Antonia Barluzzi built this church in the shape of a teardrop, and he put four jars (more like vases) on the sides to catch the tears.  Inside, he said, behind the altar is a large, arch-shaped picture window featuring a cross and chalice.  He said that the cross points to (or focuses on) the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.           

Now we entered into Jerusalem and walked to the Room of the Last Supper. This “upper room” was built by the crusaders, as part of a large church they built over the ruins of an ancient Byzantine church that was built over the tomb of King David. (which was one floor below where we were standing) The crusaders were responsible for all of the roman style arches, still holding up the building today.  Leo said that the Crusaders recognized the spot as the room of the Last Supper because it was over King David’s tomb.

The entrance into the upper room is up a set of stairs from the street, and down an open stone hallway.

In 1335 the Franciscan Monks renovated all of the upper rooms to appear very much like they do today (a large upper hall with small rooms) separating the large room that we were in from the room up the stairs with another heavy, locked door.

 However, in the 1500’s, Leo told us, the Ottomans invaded and turned the church into a mosque and that the main arch and the decorated pillar is from the time it was a mosque. 

He pointed out the one (half) pillar that was actually original to the room –all of the others have been renovated.

When I stopped taking notes, it dawned on me that we were standing in the same space where Jesus and his disciples actually held the Last Supper!  Leo explained that they held it here because the Passover meal had to be taken inside the borders of Jerusalem.

This is also where the disciples returned to after the death of our Lord, where the men from Emmaus came to tell them they’d seen Jesus, and where the apostles held the first sacrament – the prayers with the bread and wine, the Eucharist --sitting on the ground.  This room, he said, was the very first church – because they had to stay in Jerusalem until Pentecost.    He also said that the Holy Spirit descended in this room.

 (However, in my studies, I had read that the small stairway with the locked door leads into a smaller room, where it’s believed the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples and the Virgin Mary. Even Leo said that very few people are ever allowed in there – but he didn’t say why.)

After the Last Supper, of course, Jesus and the apostles went to the Garden of Gethsemane…