which until recently
Jerusalem. Via Dolorosa and Church of the Holy Sepulcher
Billion nine hundred million … So many people on our planet believe in Christ. The dream of the vast majority of Christians is the desire to visit the places where He was born, preached, crucified, resurrected, and ascended to His Kingdom of Heaven.
Pilgrimage was born already in the first centuries from the Nativity of Christ, but it acquired a stable, massive character only when the crusaders created a base for this. And the number of pilgrims exceeded the most daring assumptions. The question arose about the need to form those traditions that were not there before. So, by the XIII – XIV centuries, the route of the Sorrowful (Cross) way of Jesus was born, called Via Dolorosa.
At first it included only those places that were mentioned in the Gospels. Then, gaining speculation and legends, he finally became what he is today: a route marking 14 stops (stations) on the way of Jesus Christ from the place of the Court to the place of His Crucifixion on Calvary. Continue reading
Jerusalem. Yad Vashem Memorial
A visit to the Yad Vashem Memorial does not require a preface. The theme is clear without it. The Nazi crimes during the Second World War, one way or another affected the fate of all the families of Jews in Europe. Where, if not in the Jewish state of Israel, is it intended to settle down to such a center, a complex of institutions that have gathered so much information about the phenomenon called the Holocaust!
I think that there is no Israeli citizen who would not be here, like there is not a single tourist group whose route would pass the Memorial. It is clear that in one visit it is impossible to cover this “block”, we will visit only a few places in the complex, but I will try to choose the most impressive of them. Continue reading
Orange tree and symbolic whale
The old part of Jaffa has been reconstructed and turned into a tourist center. Here are the workshops of artists, galleries, souvenir shops. But even after restoration, the ancient streets of the city remained alive and colorful.
Of course, the sights of the new time were not without. You definitely need to go to the art salon at the workshop of Frank Meisler. The unique products of this artist made of metal have gained worldwide fame. The price of the sculptures is very expensive, but you can simply admire the figures made with humor.
Not far from the salon is another modern miracle – the “soaring orange tree”, the creation of Rana Morina. This is a real tree, which in 1993 was planted in a clay egg suspended from chains. Since then it has been growing there. Continue reading