Mount of Olives

I really should start reading the Bible. I'm here in the center of Christianity and I'm living so close to where significant Biblical events took place but I couldn't really tell you what they are or where they occurred. In our attempt to explore the city and learn more about these places, Brian and I went on a tour last Saturday of the Mount of Olives. I'll try to remember as many details as possible but you may still need to refer to your Bible.

The Mount of Olives is a really big hill - I wouldn't say mountain. It's about 2 miles long and fairly narrow. If you stand on the western edge, you look down over Jerusalem and specifically the Old City with a great view of the Dome of the Rock.

This is where we started our tour. The Mount of Olives is obviously a very religious location for the Jews and Muslims as well as Christians. There is a very old Jewish cemetery dating back thousands of years. Zechariah's tomb is said to be there but we didn't visit it.

The first church we visited is called Pater Noster because it is where Jesus had the Sermon on the Mount and taught the disciples the Lord's Prayer. Currently the church is controlled by French nuns. When you enter, the walls all have the Lord's Prayer written in hundreds of languages - dead and alive.

Close to this church is a mosque that used to be a church (see picture below) and supposedly has a footprint of Jesus - just one foot, not two. I'd love to be a believer of everything but I have to tell you that I could hardly see a footprint in the stone. And if it is a footprint, I have to think that it is probably some random guys footprint that thousands of visitors come and see. I'm not convinced but I'll let the other visitors think it's Jesus's footprint.

There were great views of Jerusalem often during our walk down the Mount. Here are some more views.

We went to the Garden of Gethsemane at the foot of the Mount.  It is full of olive trees whose roots date back to the time of Jesus.   The garden, according to the Bible, is where Jesus and his disciples prayed the night before his crucifixion.  There is a beautiful church there called the Church of All Nations.    It was built in the early 1900s with funds from many different countries and is now cared for by the Franciscans.

Next to this church is the Tomb of the Virgin Mary (according to some Eastern christian religions).  The other location where Christians believe she is buried is in Ephesus, Turkey.  You walk in the building and then down several steps.  It is dark with tons of oil lamps hanging from the ceilings.  There was a long line to get up close to the tomb which we didn't have time to stand in so I just got a bird's eye view by standing on a bench.

During the tour, we descended the Mount of Olives and walked into the Old City.  Here is a view of the Mount just before entering the Old City.

We had lunch in the Old City before going home.  It was about a 3 hour tour in total.  Habib who works for the consulate was an excellent tour guide.  He was quoting scripture during the entire tour and definitely made me feel like I needed to study the Bible a little more.