Holy Land 2012 - Day 4
 | Stations of the Cross on the Via Dolorosa. The 3rd Station records Jesus falling for the first time under the weight of the cross. |
 | 6ST/ Pia Veronica faciem Christi linteo deterci - 6th Station: Sweet Veronica wiped the face of Christ with a cloth. |
 | Shops along the route, selling everything from religious souvenirs to open-crotch leggings. (I didn't photograph that shop.) |
 | Girders support some of the older buildings along the route. |
 | On the upper levels above the Church of the Holy Sepulcre, there is a small Coptic community. The route leads straight through two of their chapels. |
 | An upper level outside the Church of the Holy Sepulcre. |
 | The Church of the Holy Sepulcre. It houses under one roof the sites of Calvary and Christ's tomb. |
 | Crowds of pilgrims queueing to venerate the site of Calvary. |
 | A depiction of the Deposition, on a wall near the site of Calvary. |
 | More crowds of pilgrims. The site of Calvary is beneath the altar midway up the right side of this picture. |
 | Lanterns above the site of Calvary, which is beheath the altar in the centre of this picture. |
 | Lanterns above the site of Calvary, which is beheath the altar in the centre of this picture. |
 | The rocks where the cross would have stood. Conditions for photography were somewhat difficult. |
 | We all got cleared out of the Calvary area by a bunch of Franciscans, one of whom was memorably stubborn. |
 | A mosaic in the Church of the Holy Sepulcre. Jonathan's head appears at the bottom. |
 | One of the many small chapels dotted about the complex. We had Mass here. |
 | The Holy Sepulcre itself is inside this rickety stone construction. |
 | Vast crowds of pilgrims queue to visit the Holy Sepulcre. The length of the queue is further evidenced by the number of photos I took while waiting in it. |
 | A shaft of sunlight falls from the ceiling onto the Holy Sepulcre. |
 | Jonathan points out the fantastic Crusader architecture. Graham may be assessing the scale of the building. |
 | Votive candles lie diagonally in the girders supporting the Holy Sepulcre. Water is pooled in the girders to extinguish the candles as they burn down; this may be contributing to the serious rust issues. |
 | The girders supporting the Holy Sepulcre. |
 | Another side of the Holy Sepulcre, showing the stonework in one of the few places where it isn't covered by girders. |
 | Stone columns above the Holy Sepulcre. The original architecture of the Church of the Holy Sepulcre is really very impressive. |
 | Wooden supports around the Holy Sepulcre. |
 | A window into the Holy Sepulcre. Observers watch through these windows to see when the fire has been rekindled at Easter. |
 | The entrance of the Holy Sepulcre. Two chambers lie within; in the inner chamber is the stone slab itself. |
 | The entrance of the Holy Sepulcre again. |
 | A church officer burns the wax off the candle-holder. |
 | The choir of the church, surrounded by stone walls built by the Greek Orthodox officials. Before the walls were added, the church would have had a direct line of sight between the sites of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. |
 | Devotional graffiti. |
 | (?) The stone column around which Christ would have been scourged. |
 | (?) A mirror, angled towards the floor, shows the place where the cross would have stood. |
 | The exterior of the Church of the Holy Sepulcre. |
 | The Dormition Abbey. |
 | A statue of King David. It was surrounded by Jewish visitors. |
 | One of the two proposed rooms where the Last Supper took place. This one has been very heavily redecorated, by the Crusaders among others, to bring it up to the expected appearance of such an important room. Monasteries have been using this style in their refectories ever since. |
 | A cat snoozing in a skip. |
 | The famous concrete Wall snaking its way along a hillside. |
 | The Church of St Peter at Gallicantu (at the cock-crow). Dominus custodiat introitum tuum et exitum tuum |
 | The ceiling of the Church of St Peter at Gallicantu. In the caves below this church are the remains of a prison dating back to the time of Christ. |
 | The Damascus Gate of the Old City. At 6pm on a Saturday, Jerusalem's streets suddenly fill up as the Sabbath ends. |