Jerusalem Things to Do Tips by Traveler342

This is not going to make me a whole lot of friends, but I have to admit that I consider myself a devout Christian, and I can barely stand the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The thing that really makes my stomach turn is the way it is divided up into a dozen little pieces, each belonging to a different "brand" of Christians. It also tends to be dark, stuffy, and crowded - and so has lost virtually all sense of the original hillside outside the city where the cruxifiction took place.

With that having been said, however, it is a place that every Christian has to see while in Jerusalem - I mean, how could you ever admit to the people back home that you'd skipped it?

Plus, after many times strolling through the church while I lived in Jerusalem, I developed an appreciation for what it has become. Originally built by Constantine's mother, Helena, in the 300s AD, probably billions of people have streamed through it over the centuries. The wall along the stairs down to where Helena "found the true cross" is covered in tiny crosses that the Crusaders etched there. When you kneel to touch the rock, you are kneeling in exactly the same place where heads of state, religious leaders, rock stars, pilgrims, millionaires, students, nuns, businessmen, crusaders, traders, soldiers, and many more have knelt. I do think there is something special about that.

If you can find time to go when it's not packed with hordes of tourists, it also has a strange kind of peace to it. I once managed to wander in during such a morning. A shaft of light was shining directly on the entrance to the tomb, there was a soft chanting coming from the Armenian Orthodox section where a small service was going on, and an old woman who's language I couldn't speak made me touch the slab drenched in rose water, so my hand smelled like roses for the rest of the day. It was the one time I genuinely enjoyed being inside that church - and if you're lucky, you can find a day like that there too.

Leave a Comment

Directions: Old City Jerusalem