Our guide took us past the 2 hour queue (another advantage of a group tour!) directly to the Holy of holies of the temple – the cave where Jesus Christ was born.
Fourteen of Bethlehem ray star marks the place of Birth, and next the grotto housed the manger in which Mary laid the newborn baby. We are very lucky, for some reason was not enough people, and we are about half an hour stood in awe at a sacred place.
St. Jerome in 386, he settled in a cave nearby and spent in prayer to 420 years. During this period, the Blessed Jerome wrote many ecclesiastical works, but most importantly, re-translated into Latin books of the New and old Testament. This translation is called the Vulgate came into General use in the Western Church.
The border of Palestine with Israel-marked concrete wall. From Palestine we saw a very unusual border decoration of this wall.
Since we were at a licensed tour bus by the border guards only smiled at us and we quickly arrived to Jerusalem.
Jerusalem
With Pancake mountain offers a panoramic view of the old town is one of the most amazing places on the planet. Here the Church of the Holy Sepulchre next to the great Muslim Shrine, a small patch of land that for millennia passed from one to the other rulers, destroyed some temples and erected on their basis new.
In these once-deserted places always lived camels, now they are only for photography.
On the slopes of the mountain grew the garden of Gethsemane, at the foot erected the temple.
In old town we walked through the lion gate, wandered around the narrow ancient streets.
Called for quarters, Armenian, Jewish, Greek, Muslim... Who just will not find here! Went to cafes and shops with national workshops.
But, of course, the main thing – visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which houses the stove, which was anointed with myrrh the body of Christ taken down from the cross.
It makes no sense here to write about Jerusalem, so here is Tom's story ...! The place is truly extraordinary and is a universal planetary center!