Today we decided to go see the Eastern Gate - The Gate where the Lord will enter in when He returns. We took the tram/train back to the Old City and took the Damascus Gate stop. Thankfully, we had had a really good rest last evening and woke up ready to go this morning!
This man was bring Styrofoam containers into the City...and I watched him maneuver his way down the road with such a big load! I think he did a good job - don't you?
There he goes into the Damascus Gate...to the marketplace!
The Damascus Gate seems always to be a busy place. It is the Muslim entrance and there is always a lot of marketing going on!
But our plan was to pass on to the next gate...Which is the Golden Gate right behind the Dome of the Rock. Hey Nick...Look! There is the old Jericho Road
we have heard so much about...way cool!
This is the Road that was used by the tradespeople & also where the story of the Good Samaritan took place!
We continued to walk down this road so we could see the Eastern wall from here...the back wall of the Dome of the rock.
This is the Church of Mary Magdalene ~ A beautiful church in the distance! You will see the cementery Mount of Olive Cemetery ~lined up on the hill top to the right...yes those are rows and rows of headstones. We are also close to Mt Olive but hope to do that another day still!
We continued walking along the Eastern wall of the Old City till we would be able to view the entrance which has been sealed shut since
Golden Gate The Eastern Gate
Click here to read about it~
Here below is the gate sealed shut..since the 1500 already. We could not get any closer, but headed back a short way in through the Lion's Gate.
The Lion's Gate is another gate on the eastern wall...so we walked up this road and entered in. We actually had hoped to see the Temple Mount this morning! We had heard that it would be able to be seen up to 11 am...and then closed to the public because of Ramadan. So we had 1 hour to go...
let's hustle Nico!
Oh the Pool of Bethesda...we have to go in
here Nico!
This is where Jesus heals the paralytic man....!
There were several pools here...but just to know that our Lord walked this area here and brought healing to the man that had been invalid since birth!
There was a group of people in this church on these grounds...and they were singing a very sweet song! It echoed so beautiful within these stone walls & pillars!
We continued down this alley way and came to this group of Korean's that were going to walk the Cross Walk through the street Via Dolorosa.
And here also was another group that would be doing the same.
We had been told that we would be able to enter onto the Temple Mount by way of the Wailing Wall (Western Wall) - we asked again and now we realized that the "Ramp" we had seen the other day close to the women prayer section was the very ramp to enter into the Temple Mount area!
This area was very much guarded by the IDF soldiers...and as we passed through the guard post - our backpacks were scanned before walking the ramp up through the this wall.
As we walked through the wall we came upon this open area where many people were already praying.
There is the Dome of the Rock!
It was very large!
There were several other buildings ~
A close up of the tiled walls -
 |
| Inside the dome looking up! |
|
A Smaller Dome right next to the Large one!
So colorful and everything was tiled...a beautiful blue! I wonder what's inside there?????
I looked for the Eastern Wall and there it was ~ right close to this Dome area. Everywhere there was BIG parasols set up and a large tent...for the daily prayers & Ramadan!
People were praying under the shaded trees.
This is the same area where King Solomon had built the Temple.
King Solomon Temple
We decided to stop and have a cup of coffee! Ah...felt so good..."take the load of our feet!" As they say!
Here is the Tower of King David. I went in to see the tower & Nick relaxed in the shade and listened to a tour guide explain it!
Read up on "The Tower of David"
The moat was completely around the Tower of David.
It was a museum telling the history of Jerusalem - so I walked the 4 corners of the Tower and it had displays explaining the different eras and peoples that ruled & conquered Canaan.
Mamluks Reigned
These figurines were done so well!
Such Detail!
History of the Dynasties that Ruled in Israel ~
~
1948 Israel became "The State of Israel"
I walked completely around The Tower of David...and exited on the back side...and walked around again to go find my Nico!
It was an interesting Tour walking through the history of this country!
Time to head back - we did want to visit the Israel Museum where the Isiah Dead Sea Scrolls are displayed but we decided against it for now. Our feet were saying NO!
The bus brought us back to the B&B - a nice ride through the City and ah....air conditioned bus! NICE!
There's that unique Bridge again...being held up by this one arm with many cables!
Almost there...we were comfortable sitting in the bus & tired...and before we knew it we were back in our comfortable room at 4:30 pm...time for a needed nap!
We have been out & about again since this morning ~ 8:30!
No comments:
Post a Comment