Room of the Last Supper and some other stuff

(Montefiore Windmill)

Today I decided it was time to get back on the touring horse, and get a little look-see at what I've missed in Jerusalem so far.

(I'm worried that I've squandered my free time here, as I have an interview on Sunday. If I get hired *poof* there goes free time!)

After doing a ~4 mile run back to my old neighborhood and back (oh my goodness, it's GORGEOUS here just now- feels like spring!), I decided to peek in the guidebook for some guidance. Go figure. Since we're very central now, I thought I'd hit a few of the sights in the center of town - they're a bit spread out, so I elected to go to a couple down the street, then wander over near the Old City to the King David's Tomb.

The stops down the street were the Yemen Moshe Montefiore Windmill and St. Andrews Church (also known as the Scottish Church). The Yemen Moshe neighborhood was established by an English Jew in the mid-19th century. He attempted to aid Jews overcrowded in Jerusalem and built a new neighborhood for that purpose, which included the Montefiore (that was the dude's name) Windmill to encourage the flour industry. Great failure! The windmill is now a museum (although I walked all around it and didn't see a place to go in or to purchase entrance). There also was an old carriage behind glass. Some guy rode in it. And did some stuff. The area around here is beautiful, well maintained and as it's on a hill, it overlooks a lot of the city. Lee and I actually wandered by this on our first day here - I'm just now getting around to checking it all out.


(Some guy rode all over the place in this restored coach)

Next up was St. Andrew's Church. You can see this place from almost the whole city. Big St. Andrew's Cross flag flying on top. It was built in 1927 to commemorate the British capturing the Holy Land in WWI. The building is somewhat....boring, but they have some very pretty tile work on the outside of the guesthouse and under the entrance to the church (which was closed?). The church is also exactly next to and on top of a significant archeological site - the oldest known bible verses were found here and excavated between 1975-1980. Granted, I can't imagine that you're able to throw a stone around here and not hit some significant archeological something or other. It's the nature of the place. Ah, and Robert the Bruce wanted his heart buried in this church, but it never made it here - the delivering party was raided. His heart is now in Scotland at Melrose. (I love my travel books. Nifty tidbits.)



(St. Andrews Church; The archeological site under the church)

Thoroughly enjoying the awesome afternoon sunshine, I wandered through a big park and headed towards the Old City (with a quick stop at Animation Lab to say hello to Lee!). King David's Tomb is outside the Zion gate on the southern side of the Old City. There are several cemeteries surrounding it (Armenian, Christian and Catholic), and if there weren't a massive statue of King David, I probably wouldn't have gone in (there was some crazy Jewish party going on in the building directly across - I always feel like an intruder when I walk through groups like that!).


(Lo! I am entombed in here!)

So, bolstering my resolve by hiding in a group of obvious tourists, I cruise by the other tour groups, and head into the walkway to the tomb, where I'm promptly approached by a nicely-dressed gentleman, asking if I were with a group. I replied no, and he apparently took it upon himself to guide me. (Much like the tiny old man at Via Dolorosa). I'm glad he did, as I got to see more than I'd bargained for when I started out. I saw King David's Tomb, which was segregated by sex, and actively being used by the faithful (I did feel like I was intruding on their time of prayer, so I left really quickly.)


(Ladies to the left, men to the right. Separated by a curtain inside...)

After that, we walked to the Room of the Last Supper, which the book said would be a smaller less impressive room than the one I was in, but it was still awe-inspiring. A big empty room, with some simple and elegant memorial items.


(Here food was eaten.)

Next door to the Last Supper room was a large somewhat-recently built church. The main hall was 56 meters from the floor to the top of the dome, and as it's built on Mt. Zion, you can see the dome for several miles. The floor was intricately decorated with tiles, in a circle pattern around the center with the name of all the apostles in the outside circle. Located underground, in the crypt below, is Mary's shrine - where she died. She is interred at a tomb close to the Mt. of Olives, where I'll go next week, but there was a lovely shrine to her at this location, surrounded by alcoves decorated in the styles of several Christian cultures (Hungarian, African, Itialian...there were several more as well). For 1NIS, I could have bought and lit a candle, but elected not to.



(Church above crypt; Mosaic flooring in church; Mary's altar)

I sometimes forget how pretty it really is here, and on my walk back to the house, decided to take some photos of things that I take for granted - that you, gentle reader, can't see on your end of things.


(Olive tree - they're everywhere! Walking along the Old City walls)