Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
who consider David one of the
true prophets. In spite of
recent doubts about the tomb's
authenticity, it is one of the
most revered Jewish holy sites.
It was particularly so between
1948 and 1967, when the Old
City was under Jordanian
control. As the Western Wall
was inaccessible to Jews, they
came here to pray. Today the
entrance hall is still used as a
synagogue. From the 4th to
the 15th centuries, the tomb
was associated with Pentecost
and the death of the Virgin,
and, according to tradition, it
was here that Christ washed
his Disciples' feet after the
Last Supper (
( ohn 13: 1-17).
Schindler's Tomb
y
Mount Zion.
Map
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1, 2.
Straight down the hill from
Zion Gate, the path forks
left past the Chamber of the
Holocaust, a small museum
commemorating the thousands
of Jewish communities wiped
out by the Nazis. Across the
road at the end of the path is
a Christian cemetery. It is here
that the grave of German-born
Oskar Schindler is located.
Schindler was an indus-
trialist who, during World War
II, went out of his way to use
Jewish prisoners as labourers
in his factory. By doing this,
he saved over 1,000 people
from the death camps. He
became a symbol of the fight
against the Holocaust and
before he died, in 1974, he
asked to be buried in
Jerusalem. The story of his
courageous stand against the
Nazis was told in Steven
Spielberg's successful 1993
movie,
Schindler's List
.
The Crusader-built Hall of the Last Supper, with fine Gothic details
the crossfire of several battles.
The main part of the church
boasts a fine mosaic floor
featuring zodiac symbols and
the names of saints and
prophets. In the crypt is a
wood and ivory sculpture of
the “sleeping” Virgin, while the
walls are adorned with images
of women from the Old
Testament, including Eve,
Judith, Ruth and Esther. In the
rooms on the mezzanine are
some of the remains from the
site's previous churches.
on the site of Christ's last meal
with his Disciples. The room
is unadorned apart from the
Gothic arches dividing it.
In the Middle Ages it
became part of the adjacent
Franciscan monastery, while in
the 15th century it was turned
into a mosque by the Turks,
who added a mihrab and some
stained-glass windows.
King David's
Tomb
t
Mount Zion.
Map
1 C5.
Tel
(02) 671
Hall of the Last
Supper
r
Mount Zion.
Map
1 C5.
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8am-8pm (winter: 6pm) daily.
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9767.
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1, 2.
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summer: 8am-
8pm Sat-Thu & hols, 8am-2pm Fri;
winter: 8am-sunset Sun-Thu, 8am-
1pm Fri.
Beneath the Hall of the Last
Supper, on the lower floor
of the Crusader building, are
some small chambers venerat-
ed as King David's Tomb. The
main chamber is bare apart
from a cenotaph covered by a
drape. The site was first iden-
tified as David's tomb in the
11th century AD and in the
15th century was incorporated
into a mosque by the Muslims,
On the first floor of a
Gothic building - all that
remains of the large church
constructed by the Crusaders
to commemorate Mary's
Dormition and overshadowed
slightly by the more recent
Church of the Dormition - is
the Hall of the Last Supper, or
Coenaculum. Christian
tradition maintains that it is
Schindler's tomb in the Christian
cemetery on Mount Zion
