Day 8: July 7, Western Wall, Holy Sepulchre, & more Jerusalem

This Day was in an incredible day and I have not yet been able to load the pictures that I was taking.  My camera is actually now full and so thank goodness that I brought an extra memory card.  Today we saw the Wall of the Old Temple, or the Western Wall, the Holy Sepulchre where Jesus was crucified and buried, and also some other museums in the old part of Jerusalem.

The Old city is divided into 4 quarters, the Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Armenian quarters.  We have been in all 4 although today we were mostly in the Jewish quarter.  In the pictures that I will upload, you will notice big walls.  This is the Temple Mount, or the bottom wall of the Temple.  The Temple was in the center and upper portion of  the structure, but that is now replaced by a famous Muslim mosque, the Dome of the Rock.

The most amazing part for me was visiting the remains of a 2000+ year old Jewish temple where they knew that Jesus, the apostles, and the apostle Paul came every day to pray and to teach scriptures.  We sat on the steps where Jesus also sat and walked on.  The history was amazing to think about something that old.

The Holy Sepulchre, is something completely different.  This Church is so beautiful an complicated....there are at least 4 different styles of decoration inside the Church, depending on the tradition that the section belongs to.  The Egyptian Christians or Coptics, have one section and the Roman Catholic have another section, each with different art and styles.  I felt awe at knowing that I was in such an ancient church.  In fact, this Saturday I will spend part of the night in the church, from midnight to 3am to see the Masses and prayers that they have in there.  Keep on reading to hear some of the great things that I do.