A Trip to the Orient: The Story of a Mediterranean Cruise

by Robert Urie Jacob

CHAPTER XII.

THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE.

The floor of the vast Church of the Holy Sepulchre is below the level of Christian Street. We descended to the church through a narrow alley about a hundred feet in length, which by slopes and steps led downward. On each side of this alley peddlers had stands for the sale of beads, rosaries, crucifixes, candles, and souvenirs, which they earnestly besought the visitors to buy. The church is so surrounded by other buildings that it could not be seen until we arrived at the foot of the alley, where a few steps to the left led down to a wide stone paved court. Even then only the rough stone facade and the top of the dome were visible. The door was guarded by Turkish soldiers, but they did not object to our entrance.

Within the Church, in the centre of the vestibule, we paused beside a marble slab six feet in length, elevated slightly above the stone floor. A canopy overspread the marble and at the sides of the canopy stood six immense ornamented silver candlesticks rising higher than our heads. In these were tall candles.

"This is the Stone of Unction," said the guide. "On this marble the body of Jesus lay while it was anointed for burial. Two of these candlesticks belong to the Greek Church, two to the Armenian Church, and two to the Latin Church. In this holy edifice each religious sect claims the privilege of taking part in the worship and in the care of the sacred places."

Not far from the vestibule the guide halted, and pointing to a circle on the stone floor, said: "This circle marks the place where the Mother of Jesus stood at the time of the anointing."

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, we ascertained, is composed of many parts. A rotunda, sixty-six feet in diameter, occupies the center. Above this rises the dome, supported by eighteen large piers. On one side of this round room, an opening leads into a Greek church; on the other side, entrances between the piers lead into small chapels. Grouped around outside of these, but connected with the central rotunda, church, and small chapels, are other chapels, rooms, and sacred places, the whole covering a space of over two acres. In the centre of the rotunda, directly underneath the dome, stands a small marble building twenty-six feet long by eighteen feet broad, richly decorated with carvings, inscriptions, and figures of angels. At one end of this building there is a small door guarded by huge bronze candlesticks ten feet in height and over-hung with gold and silver lamps of curious oriental design. Three golden crosses surmount the front of this miniature building: one of Greek form furnished by the Greek Church; one of Roman form, by the Latins; and one of the Syrian shape, by the Armenians.

"This small building," said the guide, "encloses the place of the Sepulchre. The interior is divided into two parts. The first you will enter is the Chapel of the Angel. The Tomb of the Savior is in the second part."

I. ENTRANCE TO THE CHURCH OF THE SEPULCHRE.