Note: Image number will appear in the pop-up line when you will point your mouse on the pictures of Jerusalem. The image number corresponds to the notes number below

186 = The Church of the Holy Sepulcher
187 = The Chapel of Calvary in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. In the center is the Alter of our Lady of Sorrows.

The Church of Resurrection
The most holy and historic site for Christians on Earth. The church stands above Calvary (also known as Golgotha), the place of the crucifixion and the tomb where the body of Christ was laid. The church was constructed first in 324  in the time of Emperor Constantine following the pilgrimage of his mother Helena to the Holy Land. The church built by Helena was destroyed by the Persians in 614. The place was rebuilt by Abbot Modestos but it was destroyed again in 1009 by the Khalif Makem. In 1084 the church was restored by the conquest of Jerusalem.
Today in the Basilica there are six communities with certain rights under the Law of the Status Quo.  The six communities are (1) the Latins (2) the Greek Orthodox (3) The Armenians (4) The Syrian 'Jacobites"(5) the Coptics and (6) the Abyssinians. The church open daily from 4:30 am to 8 pm in summer (7 pm in winter).

The main intrance (see picture 186 above) is in the southern courtyard, accessable from Christian Quarter Road or Dabbaga Road of Shuk Khan ez - Zeit. The church is a conglomeration of chapels and alters and Stations of the Cross. Once in the church, the Anointment Stone is the first Holy site you come to. The reddish-brown limestone slab is regarded as the place where the body of Jesus was anointed before he was entombed. Underneath the Golgotha chapel is the Greek Orthodox Chapel of Adam, where a skull was found here, and the claim is that it's the skull of Adam.

188 = The Rock  of Anointing and eight lamps above it. The rock is a piece of polished red rock 5,70 m in length, 1.30 m in width, and 30 cm in height, it stands on the entrance of the Basilica where once stood an oratory of the anointing of the lifeless body of Christ by Nicodemus.
 

The Stone of Unction

Above the Chapel of Adam is  Golgotha Rock or Calvary.

The Calvary
It is a large rock rising out of the ground, called also Golgotha (In Hebrew) or Calvaria (Latin) meaning the place of the skull. The argument in Byzantine times ran that the name was given to the rock because Adam was buried here, but some scholars nowadays figure the most likely interpretation is that Golgotha was a skull-shaped hill outside the walls of Jerusalem (see Ancient Jerusalem map at the map page) which was used as a place of execution and burial. By the definition, both the Holy Sepulchre and the Garden Tomb (at East Jerusalem, see right picture above and next Jerusalem tour page)   fit the specification.

Today there are two chapels at the top of the Calvary, one belongs to the Greek Orthodox, and it is believed to be the site of the Crucifixion. The second where Jesus was stripped of his garments and nailed to the cross and belongs to the Roman Catholics.

And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary (The skull) there they crucified him and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left ( Luke 23: 33 ).

189 right = Calvary - Altar of the Cross - Twelfth ( XII ) Station.
189 left  = Calvary - Altar of the Crucifixion - Eleventh ( XI ) Station.
 
 

Note: Image number will appear in the pop-up line when you will point your mouse on the pictures of Jerusalem. The image number corresponds to the notes number below

190 = The Tomb - The Holy Sepulcher

The Holy Sepulcher
This is the primary focus of faith and candle-lit glow. The portico of the chamber is called the Angel Chapel because tradition has it that the angels were sitting here when they announced to the women that Christ had risen. The body of Jesus lay in the burial chamber on the bench now faced in marble. Today the tomb is all of the last century. It has a narrow entrance, 1.33 m high the entrance leads to the Holy Sepulcher which is 2.70 m in length, 1.93 m in width. The burial place is marked by a marble stone. The original rock is hidden beneath the marble covering.

191 = The Tomb of the Holy Sepulcher - Interior

Other sites at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher:

Behind the Holy Sepulcher is the Chapel of the Copts, which boasts a part of the Rock tomb which can be seen (and kissed) at the alter in back. To the right of the Sepulcher is the Chapel of Mary Magdalene, celebrating where she, along with two others, discovered the empty tomb on Easter morning. She is also believed to be the first to have seen the Risen Christ. Some of many other chapels to wander through include: The Chapel of the Appearance, where Jesus appeared to his mother; the Prison of Christ, where Jesus and other criminals were supposedly held prisoner; the Seven Arches of the Virgin Mary, the Crypt of the Invention of the Cross, where Helena is said to have found the cross Jesus died on.