Church of the Holy Sepulchre

“Candles burning two thousand years above an empty tomb”

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Photo: Fallaner · CC BY-SA 4.0

Scenes

The Aedicule enclosing the tomb beneath the rotunda — The Aedicule around the tomb, in the light of the rotundaJorge Láscar · CC BY 2.0

Candles lit by pilgrims — Pilgrims' candles burning in rows before the stone wallGodot13 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Pilgrims kneeling to press cloths to the Stone of Anointing — Pressing cloths to the Stone of Anointing, where tradition says his body was laidWknight94 · CC BY-SA 3.0

Meaning

In the heart of the rotunda, amid the scent of incense and candle wax, the Aedicule stands holding the low prayers of pilgrims.

Tradition holds this as Golgotha, the hill of the cross, and the tomb where Jesus was buried and rose; churches have stood here since the age of Constantine in the fourth century. At the center of the rotunda the Aedicule enshrines the tomb, and six Christian communities keep the church together under the Status Quo agreement — one of Christianity's most cherished places of pilgrimage.

Field notes

Location: Jerusalem · Old City · N31.8° · E35.2°
Best time: Dawn, when the doors open and the morning liturgies of the communities overlap and resound.
Getting there: In the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City, at the end of the Via Dolorosa.
Etiquette: Dress modestly, keep quiet, and yield the way during liturgies.

Sources

· Encyclopaedia Britannica
· UNESCO World Heritage

Official site Wikipedia

Photographs are freely licensed works from Wikimedia Commons and similar sources; the author and license appear beneath each image.