Part 70

Most of the steamers call at the open roads of =Haifa= or _Khaifa_ (Hôt. Karmel or Krafft, pens. 8–10 fr.; carr. at the tourist-office of Unger & Hermann, at G. Sus’s, etc.; Brit. vice-cons., P. Abela; U. S. cons. agent, Th. Struve; pop. 16,000), a rapidly rising commercial town, beautifully situated at the N. base of Mt. Carmel and on the S. shore of the _Bay of Acre_, not far from the site of the _Sycaminum_ of antiquity. The trade is chiefly in the hands of the German ‘Temple’ sect, whose settlement presents a striking contrast to the prevailing Oriental squalor.

A ROAD leads from Haifa viâ _Atlît_ and _Tantûra_ (see above), and then inland viâ the Jewish agricultural colony of _Zammarín_ (Hôt. Graff) and _Kakûn_ (410 ft.) to =Nàbulus= or _Nâblus_ (1870 ft.; Hôt. Nablus, German,) once _Sichem_, the capital of _Samaria_. After the war of 67 A.D. (p. 472) it was re-founded by Vespasian as _Flavia Neapolis_. It is now a town of 27,000 inhab. (incl. 700 Christians and 170 members of the Samaritan sect). Fine view from _Mt. Gerizim_ (2848 ft.; Arab. _Jebel et-Tôr_), to the S. of the town. A new road leads from Nâbulus, past _Jacob’s Well_ (St. John, iv. 5–30), viâ _El-Lubban_ and _El-Bireh_, to _Jerusalem_ (p. 470).

FROM HAIFA VIÂ DERÂT TO DAMASCUS, 177 M., Railway. One train daily in 10 hrs.; fares, 1st cl., 142½, 3rd cl. 65½ pias. (note exchange at rail. stat.: 1 mejidieh = 19 pias.; 20 fr. = 86½ pias.; £ 1 = 109¼ pias.; £ 1 Turkish = 96 pias.). Most travellers, however, prefer the following profoundly interesting route, joining the train at _Samakh_ (p. 469).

We drive from Haifa to (24 M.) _Nazareth_ (1145 ft.; Hôt. Germania, pens. 8–12½ fr.), the home of Christ, whence the Christians in the Levant are still called Nazarenes (Nasâra). Then past _Mt. Tabor_ (1844 ft.; _Jebel et-Tor_; fine view), the traditional scene of the Transfiguration, and _Kafr Kennâ_, the _Cana_ of the Bible (St. John, ii), to (4½ hrs.) =Tabarîya= (82 ft. below sea-level; Hôt. Tiberias or Grossmann, pens. 10–12½ fr.; pop. 7500, incl. many Polish Jews), the ancient _Tiberias_, once the capital of _Galilee_, and, after the destruction of Jerusalem (p. 472), the chief seat of the Jewish nation. It lies high up on the W. bank of the _Lake of Gennesaret_, or _of Tiberias_, or _Sea of Galilee_ (682 ft. below sea-level; 13 M. long, 7½ M. broad), through which flows the _Jordan_. During half of the year the climate in this profound Syrian valley is extremely hot.

From Tiberias we row down the lake in 2 hrs. to the rail. station of _Samakh_ (610 ft. below sea-level; 54½ M. from Haifa). The train ascends the *_Yarmuk Valley_ to (100 M.) _Derât_ (1735 ft. above sea-level; Buffet), where it joins the main Hejâz line to _Damascus_ (p. 484; Kadem station).—For details, see _Baedeker’s Palestine and Syria_.

Beyond Haifa all the steamers skirt the coast of ancient _Phoenicia_ at some distance from land, as the cliffs here endanger navigation, but the numerous small headlands, bays, and islands adapt it admirably for settlement. It once extended, far beyond Beirut, to the river _Eleutheros_, now _Nahr el-Kebîr_.

From afar we sight the lighthouse and forts of _Akka_ or _Acre_, the ancient _Akko_ (later _Ptolemais_). In 1104 it became the naval station of the Crusaders. Taken by Saladin in 1187 it was recaptured by Richard Cœur-de-Lion in 1191 and for a century was a great bulwark of Christianity. Under the name of _St. Jean d’Acre_ it was the seat of the knights of St. John (p. 475) after their expulsion from Jerusalem. Far to the N.E. rises _Mt. Hermon_ (p. 489).

Beyond the white _Râs el-Nâkûra_, the ancient _Scala Tyriorum_, and _Râs el-Abyad_, the _Promontorium Album_ of Pliny, we sight a low headland on which lies the poor little town of =Sûr=, with a ruined church of the Crusaders, ruins of their fortifications, and a lighthouse. This was the ancient seaport of _Tyre_, once situated on two islands, but connected with the mainland by an embankment built by Alexander during his famous siege (332 B.C.).

Farther on we pass the mouth of the _Nahr el-Lîtânî_ (p. 483), here called _Nahr el-Kâsimîyeh_, and obtain a fine view of the coast-region in front of _Lebanon_; to the E. rise _Jebel er-Rihân_ and _Tômât Nîhâ_ (6070 ft.; ‘twins of Nîhâ’), snow-capped in winter, and to the N.E. the distant _Jebel Sannîn_ (p. 483).

Beyond _Sarafant_ (ancient _Zarpath_ or _Sarepta_) opens the broad bay of =Saida=, formerly _Sidon_, the oldest and, next to Tyre, greatest port of the Phœnicians, now girdled by rich vegetation.

Passing the mouth of the _Nahr el-Auwâlî_ (ancient _Bostrenus_) and the _Râs er-Rumeileh_, the N. limit of the bay of Saida, we come to the far-projecting _Râs ed-Dâmûr_ and the _Nahr ed-Dâmûr_, the ancient _Tamyras_, which in winter is one of the most copious rivers in the Lebanon region. Near Beirut begin the mulberry and olive groves and the vineyards of the fertile coast-plain.

We round the reddish hills of _Râs Beirût_ (p. 483), with the pigeons’ grottoes and lighthouse, and enter _Beirut_ harbour (p. 481).

73. From Jaffa to Jerusalem.

54½ M. RAILWAY. Two trains daily in 3 hrs. 40 min. (1st cl. 70½ pias.; 2nd, inferior to good Engl. 3rd, 25 pias.). Railway rates of exchange: 1 mejidieh = 20 pias.; 20 fr. = 94 pias.; £ 1 = 124 pias.; £ 1 Turkish = 108 pias. (comp. p. 536).

_Jaffa_, see p. 467. The train skirts the orchards around Jaffa (with Sarona on the left) and turns to the S.E. through the plain of Sharon (p. 468), following the depression of the _Wâdi Miserâra_. On the right is the agricultural colony of the Alliance Israélite. To the E. rise the bluish hills of ancient _Judaea_.

12 M. _Lydda_, Arabic _Ludd_, Old Test. _Lod_, Gr.-Rom. _Diospolis_, was severed from Samaria by the Maccabees (p. 472) in 145 B.C. and annexed to Judæa.

14 M. =Er-Ramleh= (accommodation at the Franciscan convent; pop. exceeding 7000, incl. 2500 Christians), founded by the Omaiyades (p. 485) in 716, was the _Ramula_ of the era of the Crusades, when it was even more important than Jerusalem. The chief sight is the *_Minaret_ of the oldest mosque (_Jâmi el-Abyad_, ‘white mosque’), famed also for its view. It was erected by En-Nâsir (p. 448) in 1318, in a style recalling the Romanesque transition buildings of the Crusaders (p. 474), but has lost its original summit.

The train crosses the Jerusalem road and runs to the S. through marshy flats to (18 M.) the village of _Nâaneh_. At some distance from the railway _Akir_, once _Ekron_, one of the five chief cities of the Philistines (p. 466), lies on the right (W.), and on the left (E.) are the famous ruins of _Tell Jezer_, mentioned in the letters found at Tell el-Amarna (p. 456), originally the Canaanitish (Phœnician) city of _Gezer_ (a drive of 1 hr. from Er-Ramleh).

24½ M. _Sejed._ Soon turning to the E., we ascend the _Wâdi es-Sarâr_ (‘valley of Sorek’, Judg. xvi. 4), which beyond (31 M.) _Deir Abân_ narrows to a wild rocky gorge.

47½ M. _Bittir_, the ancient _Baither_ or _Bethar_, was heroically defended against the Romans during the revolt of Bar Cochba (p. 472). The train then ascends in the _Wâdi el-Werd_ (‘valley of roses’) and crosses the plain of _El-Bukeia_ to (54½ M.) _Jerusalem_.

* * * * *

=Jerusalem.=—The STATION (2451 ft.; see Pl. C, 9) lies ¾ M. to the S. of the Jaffa Gate; carr. into the town 2–5 fr., according to the season.

HOTELS. *_Fast’s Hotel_ (Pl. a; C, 4, 5), Jaffa Road; _Grand New Hotel_ (Pl. c; D, 5), New Bazaar; _Hôt. Hughes_ (Pl. d; C, 4), Jaffa Road; _Olivet House_ (Pl. e; C, 2); _Hôt. Kaminitz_ (Pl. b; C, 4), Jaffa Road. Pension at all 12–15 (out of season 8–10) fr. per day. Agreement advisable. Wine of the country 1–2, French wine from 3 fr. a bottle.

HOSPICES. _Prussian Johanniter-Hospiz_ (Pl. g; F, 4), pens. 5 fr.; _German Catholic Hospice St. Paulus_ (Pl. h; E, 2), outside the Damascus Gate; _Austrian_ (Pl. i; F, 3), Via Dolorosa; _Casa Nuova_ (Pl. k; D 4, 5), of the Franciscans; all good, pens. 5–8 fr.

RESTAURANTS. _Deutsche Bierhalle_, Jaffa Road; _Lendhold_ (brewery), in the German Temple colony.

[Illustration: JERUSALEM]

POST OFFICES. _Turkish_ (Pl. C, 5: with the International Telegraph), outside the Jaffa Gate; _French_ (Pl. C, 5), adjoining it; _German_ (Pl. D, 5), etc.

TOURIST OFFICES. _Thos. Cook & Son_, inside Jaffa Gate; _Clark_, _Hamburg-American Line_, _Dr. Benzinger_ (North German Lloyd), _N. Tadros_, all in Jaffa Road.

CARRIAGES at the Jaffa Gate. Drive ¼ hour, ½ mejidieh. Excursions are best arranged for by tourist-agent or landlord of hotel. So also HORSES, half-day 5, whole day 8 fr.; donkey per day 4–5, half-day 2–3 fr.

CONSULATES. British (Pl. 5; A, 1), _H. E. Satow_.—United States (Pl. 13; E, 5): consul, _W. Coffin_.

BANKS. _Anglo-Palestine Co._ (Pl. 1; E, 6), opposite the citadel; _Crédit Lyonnais_ (Pl. 2; D, 5) and _Banque Ottomane_ (Pl. D, 5), Jaffa Road; _German Palaestina-Bank_ (Pl. 3; D, 5), inside Jaffa Gate.

PHOTOGRAPHS. The best are those of the _American Colony_, of _Bonfils_ of Beirut, and (coloured) of the _Photoglob_ of Zürich, to be obtained from _Vester_ (American Colony Store), _Boulus Meo_, _Sfeir_, and _Shammas_, all in the Grand New Hotel; _A. Attallah_, at the Bâb el-Jedîd; _Salman & Co._, Jaffa Road.—Other favourite SOUVENIRS of Jerusalem are carved olive-wood and mother-of-pearl objects, in which there is a brisk trade; the largest choice is to be found in the square in front of St. Sepulchre’s, but half at most of the price asked should be offered; higher class work is best purchased at the shops mentioned above.

CHURCHES, convents, missions, schools, etc. abound (see Baedeker’s Palestine & Syria). Among them may be mentioned the _Collegiate Church of St. George_ (with the Bishop’s House; services at 9 a.m. and 4.30 p.m.), to the N. of the town; _Christ Church_ (Pl. E, 6; services at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.); _St. Paul’s_ (Pl. C, 1, 2; Arabic services at 9.30 a.m. and 3 p.m.).

TWO DAYS (when time is limited). 1st. Forenoon, _Mt. of Olives_ (p. 479), _Kidron_ and _Hinnom Valleys_ (p. 480); afternoon, _Church of the Holy Sepulchre_ (p. 474), _Mûristân_ (p. 475), and _Zion_ (p. 473).—2nd. Forenoon, _Haram esh-Sherîf_ (p. 476); afternoon, excursion to _Bethlehem_ (p. 480).

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is open before 11.30 and after 3; a forenoon visit may usually be prolonged by giving a fee to the Moslem custodian (1 fr.).

Leave to visit the Haram esh-Sherîf must be obtained from the Turkish authorities through the visitor’s consulate (see above). He is then escorted by a Turkish soldier and usually by a cavass of the consulate also. The cavass receives 8–10 fr., or 4–5 fr. from each member of a party, which covers all fees and outlays. On Fridays and during the Moslem festival of Nebi-Mûsâ (Wed. of Holy Week to Easter Mon.) the mosque is closed to strangers.

* * * * *

KEY TO PLAN OF JERUSALEM. _Banks_, see above.—_Bazaars_, Old (Sûks) and New, F 5; E 5.—_Churches._ Christ Church (English), E 6; Church of the Redeemer (German Prot.), E 5; Holy Sepulchre, E 4; St. Anne’s, H 3; St. George’s (English), with Bishop’s House, a little to the N. of E 1; St. Mary’s, K 3; St. Mary Magdalen’s, K 4; St. Paul’s (Arab.-Prot.), C 1, 2.— _Consulates_, see above.—_Monasteries._ Abraham’s (Greek), Pl. 19, E 4, 5; Abyssinian, Pl. 14, E 4; Armenian Catholic, Pl. 15, F 4; Coptic, Pl. 16, E 4; Gethsemane, Pl. 20, E 5; Greek (Great), D E 4, 5; Panagia (Greek), Pl. 21, E 4; Panagia Melæna (Gr.), Pl. 22, E 5; St. Basil (Gr.), Pl. 23, D 4; St. Caralombos (Gr.), Pl. 24, E 4; St. Catharine (Gr.), Pl. 25, E 4; St. Demetrius (Gr.), Pl. 26, D 5; St. George’s (Coptic), Pl. 17, D 5; St. George’s (Greek), Pl. 27 & 28, D 4 & E 7; St. John the Baptist’s (Gr.), Pl. 29, E 5; St. John Euthymius (Gr.), Pl. 30, E 4; St. Michael’s (Gr.), Pl. 31, D 4; St. Nicholas (Gr.), Pl. 32, D 4; St. Salvator’s (Latin), Pl. 36, D 4; St. Stephen’s (Dominican), E 1; St. Theodore’s (Greek), Pl. 33, D 4.—_Mosques._ El-Aksâ, H 5, 6; Kubbet es-Sakhra (Dome of the Rock), H 4, 5; Sîdni Omar, Pl. 37, E 5.—_Synagogues_ (indicated by the letter ‘S’ on the Plan), many, E, F 5–7.

_Jerusalem_ (Hebrew _Yerushalayim_, Gr. and Lat. _Hierosolyma_, Arabic _El-Kuds_) lies in 31°46′ N. lat. and 35°13′ E. long., on an arid limestone plateau (cold in winter) which rises in the form of a peninsula from the _Kidron Valley_ (_Wâdi Sitti Maryam_, ‘Mary’s Valley’), on the E., and from the _Valley of Hinnom_ (_Wâdi er-Rabâbi_), on the S. side. The narrow E. height (2441 ft.), the ancient _Temple Hill_, is separated from the W. hill, that of the old _Upper Town_ (2550 ft.), by a depression, now very slight, called _Tyropoeon_ (‘dung valley’) by Josephus, the Jewish historian. Still higher is the N.W. angle of the present town (2591 ft.).

The population is estimated at 70,000, of whom 45,000 are Jews, living mostly on alms bestowed by the charitable institutions of their European co-religionists; of the 15,000 Christians nearly half are Syrians of the Greek orthodox faith; the Moslems number about 10,000. In spring, especially at the time of the Greek Easter, the town is flooded with pilgrims, the majority being Russians. As a centre of the three chief religions of the world, Jerusalem has quite a religious atmosphere and is historically a city of overwhelming interest, but its tranquillity is sadly marred by the dissensions and jealousies of its numerous religious communities. Careful and patient study alone will reveal to the traveller something of the departed glory of the venerable capital of the Jewish empire.

HISTORY. From the tablets of Tell el-Amarna (p. 456) it appears that _Urusalim_ was the capital of a small principality dependent on Egypt about 1400 B.C. When the Israelites under David conquered the town in the 11th cent. (2 Sam. v. 6–10) it was the chief stronghold of the Jebusites, a Canaanitish tribe. David made it his residence and built a castle known as the City of David. His son Solomon, with the aid of Phœnician artificers, afterwards built his palace and the Temple of Jehovah on Mt. Zion (the E. hill). On the bi-partition of the kingdom after his death Jerusalem became the capital of Judah. The kingdom of Israel in N. Palestine was subjugated by the Assyrians in 722 B.C., and in 597 Jerusalem, under Jehoiachin, shared a like fate at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. In 586 the revolt under Zedekiah led to the destruction of the city. On the return of the Jews from captivity in 538 the city and Temple were gradually rebuilt, and the new town-wall was completed in 444. On the death of Alexander the Great in 323 Jerusalem fell into the hands of the Ptolemies (p. 433) and often suffered severely from conflicts with the Diadochi of Syria. The last royal dynasty, that of the Maccabees (167–63), was overthrown by the Romans when Pompey conquered the city. As the residence of Herod the Great (37–4 B.C., according to the accepted chronology), in the last year of whose reign Christ was born, Jerusalem prospered anew. A new palace in the Roman style was erected at the N.W. angle of the upper town, and the rebuilding of the Temple was begun. But a revolt of the Zealots, or Jewish national party, led to embittered struggles with the Romans in 67 A.D., with the result that Jerusalem was stormed by Titus in 70, the Temple burned down, and the city was completely destroyed as Carthage had once been. Another rising of the Jews under Trajan (117) extended as far as the Cyrenaica (comp. p. 413) in N. Africa. On the ruins of the city, on a site almost coinciding with that enclosed by the present city-walls, Emp. Hadrian erected the new pagan colony of _Ælia Capitolina_, from which, after the last revolt, that of Bar Cochba (132–5), Jews were excluded.

The modern history of Christian Jerusalem begins with the building of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre by Emp. Constantine (about 326–36). Pilgrims soon flocked to the holy places, and in 570 there were already hospices with 3000 beds for their use. In 614 the Persians under Chosroes II. (p. 485) sacked the city, but when it was captured by caliph Omar in 637 it was treated with clemency, being regarded as a sacred place by Moslems as well as by Christians. In 691 began the erection of the famous Dome of the Rock, on the sacred rock (p. 477), the site of the ancient Jewish Temple, the greatest sanctuary of Islam after the Kaaba of Mecca. Jerusalem fell into the hands of the Egyptian Fatimites in 969, but was wrested from them by the Seljuks in 1077. It was chiefly the maltreatment of the Christian pilgrims by the Seljuks that gave rise to the First Crusade. In 1099 the Crusaders conquered Jerusalem, which under Godfrey de Bouillon (d. 1100) became the capital of the Christian kingdom of Jerusalem. The city was retaken by Saladin in 1187, but in 1229 was voluntarily ceded by Melik el-Kâmil to Emp. Frederick II. Lastly, in 1244, it was stormed by the Kharezmians, and has been under Moslem rule ever since.

BOOKS. Among the best of the numerous works on Jerusalem are _Barclay’s_ ‘City of the Great King’, _Besant & Palmer’s_ ‘Jerusalem, the City of Herod and Saladin’ (5th ed., London, 1908), _Warren’s_ ‘Underground Jerusalem’ (London, 1876), and _Wilson & Warren’s_ ‘Recovery of Jerusalem’ (London, 1871). _Miss A. Goodrich-Freer’s_ ‘Inner Jerusalem’ (1904), _Laurence Hutton’s_ ‘Literary Landmarks of Jerusalem’, and _C. R. Conder’s_ ‘The City of Jerusalem’ (London, 1909) also may be mentioned.

The *OLD TOWN is enclosed by a *_Wall_ of the 13–14th cent., restored by Suleiman the Great (p. 542) in 1537–41; it is 40 ft. high and about 2½ M. long. The two main streets lead to the W. from the _Jaffa Gate_ (Pl. D, 5, 6; Arabic Bâb el-Khalîl), and N. from the handsome _Damascus Gate_ (Pl. D, 5, 6; Bâb el-Amûd) respectively. They divide the town into four quarters, to the N.W. the Greek-Frank, S.W. the Armenian, S.E. the Jewish, and N.E. the Moslem. The streets are crooked, often vaulted over, and, in the Jewish quarter especially, very dirty. All the houses have rain-water cisterns, besides which there are several reservoirs.

The JAFFA SUBURB, situated to the N.W., is the most important, in style the most European. It is the chief seat of the European or ‘Frank’ inhabitants and contains the consulates, several churches, and the extensive _Russian Buildings_ (Pl. A-C, 2, 3).—Outside the _Gate of Zion_ (Pl. E, 7, 8; Bâb en-Nebi Dâûd, ‘gate of the prophet David’), but originally within the town-walls, lies the so-called _Zion Suburb_. It contains the Christian cemeteries, the German Benedictine monastery _Dormitio Sanctae Mariae_ (Pl. E, 8; ‘death-sleep of Mary’), with the new _Church of St. Mary_, and the now Mohammedan buildings of _En-Nebi Dâûd_ (Pl. E, 8; with ‘David’s Tomb’ and the ‘Room of the Last Supper’). Near the railway-station (p. 470) is the substantial German _Temple Colony_ (comp. p. 468).

We begin our visit to the old town at the Jaffa Gate, a busy centre of traffic, to which the road from the station leads (p. 480). To the S.E. of the gate, and partly on the site of Herod’s palace, rises the citadel _El-Kala_ (Pl. D, 6; 14th and 16th cent.); the N.E. tower probably corresponds to the Phasaël Tower of the time of Herod.

DAVID STREET, one of the chief business streets, under different names (Sueikat Allân, Hâret el-Bizâr, and Tarîk Bâb es-Silseleh; Pl. D-G, 5), connects the Jaffa Gate with the Silseleh Gate of the Haram esh-Sherîf (p. 476). On the left, opposite the citadel, is the well-stocked _New Bazaar_ (Pl. D, 5).

At _St. John’s Monastery_ (Pl. 29; E, 5), the Greek pilgrims’ hospice at the S.W. angle of the Mûristân (p. 475), we first turn to the left into the HÂRET EN-NÂSARA (Pl. E, 5, 4; Christians’ Street). On the left is the very ancient _Patriarch’s Pool_ (Birket Hammâm el-Batrak; Pl. E, 5), assigned by tradition to king Hezekiah (about 700 B.C.); on the right is the _Patriarch’s Bath_. Opposite the _Great Greek Monastery_ (Deir er-Rûm el-Kebîr; Pl. D, E, 4, 5), is, on the right, the entrance to the—

*=Church of the Holy Sepulchre= (Pl. E, 4; adm., see p. 471), whose principal dome, crowned with a gilded cross, is everywhere conspicuous. This, especially at Easter, is the great goal of the pilgrims. The discovery of the Holy Sepulchre, which Eusebius, Bishop of Cæsarea, the father of church history (314–40), tells us was made by Constantine, induced that emperor to build a round church here, the so-called Anastasis (church of the resurrection), and a five-aisled basilica, dedicated to the sign of the Cross (Martyrion). These churches having been burned down by the Persians (p. 473), Abbot Modestus, under Emp. Heraclius, began to build, in 629, a new church of the resurrection, the prototype of the Dome of the Rock (p. 477), a new church of the Cross, and a small Calvary church on the supposed site of the Crucifixion (Golgotha). A fourth church, that of St. Mary, is said to have existed here in 670. Between 1140 and 1149, the period of the Second Crusade, the Crusaders caused a great new church to be built by the architect _Jourdain_, in the Romanesque transition style, under Arabian influence, an edifice intended to embrace almost all the holy places. On the E. side of the new double church a chapel was dedicated to St. Helena (d. about 326), the mother of Constantine, who, according to later historians, once made a pilgrimage to the holy places and discovered the true Cross near the Sepulchre. On the S. side of the double church a Gothic clock-tower, originally detached, was erected in 1160–80. After the destructions of 1187 and 1244 (see p. 473), we hear of a handsome new church existing here in 1310. At length in 1719 a great part of the church was rebuilt, and at the joint cost of the Greeks and the Armenians, again in 1810 by the architect _Komnenos Kalfa_. Since then the Greek cathedral, the dome-roofed ‘Catholicon’, has occupied the nave of what was once the Crusaders’ basilica. Among the many additions the chapel of the Apparition (p. 475) is one of the oldest (14th cent.).

In the N.W. corner of the QUADRANGLE, or outer court, over the Chapel of the Forty Martyrs, rises the Bell Tower, the upper part of which has been destroyed. The Façade, dating from the era of the Crusades, has fine reliefs of the French school over the portals.

A vestibule, where the custodians (p. 471) sit, leads to the Stone of Unction (John xix. 38–40), last renewed in 1808.

The great ROTUNDA of the Sepulchre still has the foundation pillars, the massive outer wall of the W. semicircle, and the three apses of the Crusaders’ church. The round central structure embraces the Chapel of the Sepulchre and the Angels’ Chapel. Adjoining the Sepulchre is the 14th station of the Via Dolorosa (see below).

From the N.E. side of the ambulatory an ante-room leads to the CHAPEL OF THE APPARITION, the chief Latin (Rom. Cath.) sanctuary, on the spot where Christ is said to have appeared to his mother. In a niche is shown a fragment of the ‘Column of Scourging’.