Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Tombs of the
Prophets
4
Mount of Olives.
Map
2 F4.
#
9am-3:30pm Mon-Fri.
&
The southwestern slope of
the Mount of Olives, facing
the Kidron Valley (also known
V
along this stretch as the Valley
V
of Jehoshaphat -
see p115
)
, is
5
densely occupied by Jewish
cemeteries. At the top of the
slope, an unusual, fan-shaped
catacomb containing
kokhim
(oven-shaped) graves is held
by Christian and Jewish tradi-
tion to enclose the tombs of
the 5th-century BC prophets
Haggai, Malachi and Zechariah.
The graves actually date from
the 1st century AD and were
reused in the 4th or 5th.
Dominus Flevit
Chapel
5
Mount of Olives.
Map
2 F4.
Tel
(02) 626 6450.
l
@
99.
#
8am-5pm daily.
Russian Church of St Mary Magdalene, built in Muscovite style
Its name meaning “The Lord
Wept”, this chapel stands
where medieval pilgrims iden-
tified a rock as the one on
which Jesus sat when he wept
over the fate of Jerusalem. The
chapel was designed in the
shape of a teardrop by Italian
architect Antonio Barluzzi and
built in 1955 over a 7th-century
chapel. Part of the original apse
is preserved in the new one.
The view of the Dome of the
Rock from the altar window is
justly famous. A mosaic floor
show the types found in the
1950s in a vast cemetery here,
in use periodically from 1600
BC to AD 70. Also on show are
some carved stone ossuaries.
It is pleasantly set among trees,
and the seven gilded onion
domes are among the most
striking features of Jerusalem's
skyline when viewed from
the Old City. The domes and
other architectural and deco-
rative features are in 16th-17th-
century Muscovite style.
The church was consecrated
in 1888 by Grand Duke Sergei
Alexandrovich (Tsar Alexander
III's brother) and his wife,
Grand Duchess Elizabeth
Feodorovna. In 1920, after her
murder during the Russian
Revolution, her remains were
brought here for burial.
Church of St Mary
Magdalene
6
Mount of Olives.
Map
2 E3.
Tel
(02)
l
628 4371.
@
99.
#
10am-noon
Tue, Thu & Sat.
In 1885, Tsar Alexander III
had this Russian Orthodox
church built in memory of his
mother, Maria Alexandrovna.
A
preserved in situ outside is
from a 5th-century monastery.
The graves on view nearby
THE RUSSIANS IN JERUSALEM
Russia's Christians belong to the Eastern
Orthodox church, the centre of which was
once Constantinople. In the 19th century,
when the European powers were
competing to stake their claims on
pieces of the crumbling Ottoman
Empire, the Russians thus
presented themselves as the
successors to the Byzan-
tine Empire and the true
“defenders of Christianity
and the Holy Places”. At
this time some 200,000
Russian pilgrims were
visiting Jerusalem each year. The Russian
government purchased land on a grand scale,
notably on the Mount of Olives and just west
of the Old City, where they built
a great cathedral, a consulate, a
hospital and several hospices,
all enclosed in a walled com-
pound
(see p124)
. In World
War I Britain captured
Jerusalem and confiscated all
Russian property as “enemy
institutions”. Alt
h
ough some
White (Tsarist) Russians did
Russian Orthodox nuns embroidering
vestments, Church of the Ascension
remain after the war.
