Mount of Olives Walking Tour of Jerusalem, Jerusalem
Mount of Olives Walking Tour of Jerusalem
Guide Location: Israel » Jerusalem
Guide Type: Self-guided city tour
# of Attractions: 8
Tour Duration: 1 hour(s)
Transportation Mode: by foot
Travel Distance: 1.7 km
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and austinevan
Author: vickyc
The Mount of Olives is on the east side of the Old City of Jerusalem. Here you will see the magnificent churches that are also biblical sites, a very old cemetery with tombs of the Prophets. For many people this is a holy place as God is always present here. The following self-guided tour will lead you through the Mount of Olives landmarks:
Tour Stops and Attractions
Pater Noster Church
1) Pater Noster Church
The Church of the Pater Noster is a partially reconstructed Roman Catholic church located on the Mount of Olives, north of the Tombs of the Prophets, in Jerusalem. It stands on the traditional site of Christ's teaching of the
Lord's Prayer. The modern church is built on the site of a 4th century basilica designed by Constantine I to commemorate the Ascension of Jesus Christ. The 4th-century Byzantine church has been partially reconstructed and provides a good sense of what the original was like. The church is unroofed and has steps that lead into a grotto where some Christians believe that Jesus revealed to his disciples his prophesy of the destruction of Jerusalem and the second coming.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and משוש30
Church of St. Mary Magdalene
2) Church of St. Mary Magdalene
The Church of St. Mary Magdalene was built in the traditional Russian style by Tzar Alexander III in the 19th-century. It is a magnificent church with 7 golden domes that shine brightly in the sun. It is really worth a visit for its majestic beauty.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Bnwwf91
Chapel of the Ascension
3) Chapel of the Ascension
The Chapel of the Ascension on Mount of Olives, Jerusalem is built on the site were Christians and Muslims believe that Christ was physically lifted to heaven. The main octaganal ædicule surrounds the Ascension rock, said to bear the imprint of the right foot of Jesus as he ascended, it is venerated by Christians as the last point on earth touched by the incarnate Christ. Initially open to the sky a dome was added by the Muslim rulers of Jerusalem and the structure was at one time used as a mosque.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and adriatikus
Old Jewish Cemetery
4) Old Jewish Cemetery
One of the oldest Jewish cemeteries on the earth is on the Mount of Olives. Here are the Tombs of the Prophets. Malachi and Zachariah are thought to be buried in this cemetery.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Rudolph.A.furtado
Gethsemane
5) Gethsemane
TheGarden of Gethsemane grows at the western foot of Mount of Olives. It is the place where Jesus prayed on the night of his arrest. The garden is well kept. The Church of All Nations is built at the exact spot where Jesus prayed before the Crucifixion.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Svetlana Makarova
Mary's Tomb
6) Mary's Tomb
Mary's Tomb is a tomb located in the Kidron Valley, on the foothills of Mount of Olives, near the Church of All Nations and Gethsemane garden, originally just outside Jerusalem. It is regarded as the burial place of Mary, the mother of Jesus by most Eastern Christians (many of whom refer to her as Theotokos), in contradistinction to the House of the Virgin Mary near Ephesus, or the belief that Mary was taken bodily to heaven. Preceded by a walled courtyard to the south, the cruciform church shielding the tomb has been excavated in an underground rock-cut cave entered by a wide descending stair dating from the 12th century.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and WomEOS
Tomb of Zechariah
7) Tomb of Zechariah
The Tomb of Zechariah is an ancient stone monument adjacent to the Bnei Hazir tomb. The monument is a monolith -- it is completely carved out of the solid rock and does not contain a burial chamber. The lowest part of the monument is a crepidoma, a base made of three steps. Above it there is a stylobat, upon which there is a decoration of two ionic columns between two half ionic columns and at the corners there are two pilasters. The capitals are of the Ionic order and are decorated with the egg and dart decoration. The upper part of the monument is an Egyptian-style cornice upon which sits a pyramid. Interestingly the fine masonry and decoration that is visible on the western side, the facade, is on the western side alone.
Image Courtesy of Flickr and ChrisYunker
Tomb of Benei Hezir
8) Tomb of Benei Hezir
The Bnei Hazir tomb is the oldest of four burial monuments which stand in the Kidron Valley, Jerusalem and date to the period of the Second Temple. It is a complex of burial caves. The tomb was originally accessed from a single rock-cut stair-well which descends to the tomb from the north. At a later period of time a additional entrance was created by quarying a tunnel from the courtyard of the Tomb of Zechariah. This is also the contemporary entrance to the burial complex. The facade of the tomb is a classical dystillos-in-antis two pillars between two pilasters above which there is undecorated architrave containing an engraved a Hebrew inscription. Above the architrave there is a Doric frieze and a cornice. The tomb's architectural style is influenced by ancient Greek architecture only (two pillars with Dorian capitals), without ancient Egyptian architectural influences.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Eman
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