Road Trip Through Israel-Part One: The Holy City of Jerusalem—Chapter One

by Teri E. Popp, Tastemaker in Residence - Photos by Teri E. Popp and Paul Douglas (aka Doug Kruhoeffer)

“This article was written before the current status of our nation’s ability to travel. This article serves as a guide for ideas for after the Covid 19 pandemic is eradicated. Stay well and safe.”

Spiritual, thought-provoking, and moving—a few of the words that come to mind as one tours through this city considered sacred by Christians, Jews, and Muslims alike. And, for Christians in particular, the Easter season focuses on the final steps of Jesus Christ as he walked through the ancient streets of Jerusalem.

From The Cenacle—known also as the location where the last supper occurred with Christ and his apostles—to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus spent his last evening before heading to trial, there is a reverence and a majesty to the City of Jerusalem and the area surrounding it.

From the Mount of Olives, we toured the beautiful Church of Mary Magdalene, the Dominus Flevit (known also as the Tears of Christ Church, where it is believed Jesus prayed and cried before God on the eve of his arrest), and the gorgeous Church of the Sepulchre of St. Mary (also called the Tomb of the Virgin Mary), believed by Eastern Christians to be the final resting place of Christ’s mother.

We walked from Gethsemane and entered the Old City of Jerusalem through the Lion’s Gate, one of 8 gates currently offering access into the inner warrens and cobble-stone streets. Our first visit was to Christ’s mother’s childhood home, now enshrined in the Church of St. Anne. No speaking is allowed in the church, but visitors may sing in the acoustically beautiful chapel. Built by Crusaders in the 1100’s, this Romanesque church is the beginning of the Via Dolorosa (also referred to as the Stations of the Cross, pointing the way of Christ’s last walk on his way to his crucifixion according to the Catholic tradition).

From St. Anne’s, we walked the narrow alleys through busy market-lined streets as we visited each of the Stations of the Cross located along the Via Dolorosa. Marked by metal plaques, some Stations are found in churches, others in chapels, and some only marked by plaques on the walls of buildings. When walking this path, one can imagine Christ’s journey as he made this arduous trip carrying a heavy wooden cross. Today, visitors to Jerusalem can watch the many Christian pilgrims carrying replica crosses as they recreate the journey on their own paths to spiritual healing.

The final destination of the Via Dolorosa is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Stations 10 through 14 of the Stations of the Cross are located within this large complex containing many chapels and churches where Christ’s crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection sites are situated. It should be noted that each chapel, church, walkway, and the tomb are under the control of various Catholic sects including the Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, and Roman Catholic, as well as others. While it’s all located in one building, it’s actually many different churches all under one, very large roof.

We ended our very busy day of touring through this historic masterpiece of a city by enjoying a fantastic dinner at one of the best restaurants in Jerusalem: The Eucalyptus!! This is definitely a foodie destination and our waitperson, Shoshanna, made the evening the perfect end to a spectacular day! L’Chaim!! For more information on The Eucalyptus, please visit http://www.the-eucalyptus.com.

It should be noted that I highly recommend hiring a guide when touring Jerusalem, or go with a tour group. There is so much history, nuance and stories that you’ll miss without the help of a professional guide. For both this trip to Jerusalem and our trip four years ago, we hired Ofir Horn, owner of Holy Land Private Tours. You can visit his website at https://holylandprivatetours.com/. We found him to be professional and quite knowledgeable.

Note: Jerusalem is a UNESCO World Heritage site. For more information, please visit https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/148