As the holy city of the three major religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Jerusalem is of great symbolic significance. Among its 220 historic buildings is the famous Rock Mosque, built in the 7th century. All three religions consider Jerusalem to be the martyrdom of Abraham. The Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre shelters the cemetery of Jesus. In 1981, the Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls were inscribed on the World Heritage List by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee as a cultural heritage.
Jerusalem
Jerusalem, according to legend, in the 10th century BC, Israel's King David built a city and built its capital here. It became part of the Arab Empire in the 7th century AD. The Arabs continued to move in and assimilate with the indigenous population, gradually forming the modern Palestinian Arabs. Before 1948, Jerusalem was predominantly Palestinian, and the city was controlled by Palestinians. In 1948, Palestine and Israel were divided and Jerusalem was transferred to Palestine. War then broke out and Israel occupied West Jerusalem, which came under Jordanian administration. The capital of Israel is Tel Aviv. In 1967, Israel occupied all of Jerusalem in the Third Middle East War.
The military police in Jerusalem
Damascus Gate in the Old City
In 1980, the Knesset legislated to establish Jerusalem as the country's "eternal and indivisible capital." In 1988, the Palestinian Self-Government also declared Jerusalem to be the capital of a future Palestinian State. As a result, Jerusalem remains at the centre of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Currently, the city of Jerusalem is completely controlled by the Israelis. "Jerusalem" means "city of peace" in Hebrew.
Street
Jerusalem's most important and controversial religious shrines are located here, including the Jewish Wailing Wall and the Temple Mount, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christians, and the Dome of the Rock for Muslims. The Old City of Jerusalem is a religious holy city, the birthplace of the three major religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, all of which regard Jerusalem as their holy place. The Jewish parchment scroll, the Talmud, says, "God has given the world a great beauty, and nine points to Jerusalem."
The Old City of Jerusalem
Jerusalem's most important and controversial religious shrines are located here: including the Jewish Wailing Wall (Western Wall) and the Temple Mount, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Wildurah for Christians, the Dome of the Rock for Muslims and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Today's Jerusalem is a city of great contrasts, with different cultures, different religions, different nationalities, different social strata, in the same city. Jerusalem is divided into the Old City and the New City. The Old City consists of four neighbourhoods: Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Armenian. The Old Town is full of mosques, churches, bazaars and ancient synagogues, and the buildings here combine the essence of Eastern and Western architectural architecture, with architectural styles spanning several historical eras and mysterious religious overtones.
Wailing Wall
The Old City of Jerusalem is divided into 4 districts: Christian Quarter, Jewish Quarter, Muslim Quarter and Armenian Quarter.
The existing walls of the Old City of Jerusalem were rebuilt during ottoman rule by Suleiman the Great between 1535 and 1538. With an average height of about 12 meters and a thickness of 2.5 meters, the walls have a total of 8 gates: Damascus Gate, New Gate, Jaffa Gate, Zion Gate, Dung Gate, Golden Gate, Lion's Gate and Herod's Gate. These 8 gates have survived to this day and become a unique landscape in Jerusalem. The complete city walls separate the Old City of Jerusalem from the outside world, and the 8 gates are opened and closed, each with its own characteristics.
Damascus Gate
Lion Gate
Since the completion of Solomon's Temple in the 10th century BC in Jerusalem, Jerusalem has been the center of the Jewish faith and the holiest city, and for the Jews, it was the site of the sacrifice of the prophet Abraham. The Wailing Wall, the remnants of the former temple, also known as the Western Wall, remain the holiest place in Judaism. Legend has it that when the Romans occupied the city, the Jews came to mourn under the wall of weeping every day of sabbath to mourn their homeland. Since then, Jews from all over the world have often come here to cry, so it is also called the "Wailing Wall". The symbolic value of Jerusalem to Judaism has remained unchanged.
For Christians, this is the holy place where Jesus was crucified and resurrected. According to the Bible, this is the site of Jesus' crucifixion, burial, resurrection, and ascension. Jesus was brought to Jerusalem shortly after his birth. The address of Jesus' Last Supper is located on Mount Zion, next to the Tomb of David. The "Via Dolorosa" (Via Dolorosa) that Christians must visit is the 14 places that Jesus walked through with the cross on his back.
Bitter Road
The fifth stop of the Bitter Road
All the places mentioned in the Old testament and the New Testament can be found in Jerusalem, the most important of which is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also known as the "Church of the Resurrection", which is the place where Jesus was killed, buried and resurrected.
Exterior of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
For Islamists, this is where Muhammad ascended to heaven. The Dome of the Rock, also known as the Golden Dome, is a holy temple of worship for Muslims. In Jerusalem, the twinkling lights of the Golden Dome Mosque can be seen everywhere. Islam also lists Jerusalem as the third holiest place after Mecca and Medina to commemorate Muhammad's nocturnal ascension to the throne, and two mosques, the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, were built on the Temple Mount to commemorate this sacrament.
The Temple is the center of Jerusalem, and the Most Holy Place is the center of the Temple. Now this area is the Temple Mount. In the distance, The Dome of the Rock, not far from the Wailing Wall.
Judaism is the most important holy place. Around 965 BC Solomon built the first Jewish temple, Solomon's Temple, popularly known as the "First Temple", on Mount Zion, which was later destroyed by the Babylonians. More than half a century later, the Jews built the Second Temple on the site. It was destroyed by the Romans in the first century of the park, leaving only this section of the wall on the west side of the Second Temple. The Wailing Wall is regarded as the first holy place of Judaism, and for thousands of years, when Jews from all over the world returned to Jerusalem, they would come to this stone wall to pray in a low voice and cry about the sufferings of exile, hence the name "Wailing Wall". When I saw the devout believers in front of the Wailing Wall with my own eyes, I felt an indescribable shock and emotion in my heart. The Wailing Wall is divided into two areas, male in the left zone and female in the right zone. The Wailing Wall is not a place of sorrow, and weeping is only to forget the glory and failure that the ancestors had experienced. Visitors come from all over the world, from different backgrounds, or touching the wall with their hands, or reciting scriptures, or stuffing notes with prayer words into the cracks in the walls, but those who believe will write their wishes and prayers into small notes, put them in the cracks of the Western Wall, and express their piety in various ways. It is said that this practice was not a Jewish custom, but was first done by travelers who came to Jerusalem, and gradually followed.
The Wailing Wall is divided into two areas, male in the left zone and female in the right zone
This article is written by Jerusalem
Da Vinci's famous painting The Last Supper is well known, depicting scenes set in the Mark's Tower in Jerusalem, where Jesus and his disciples enjoyed their Last Supper. Walk into the Mark's House and see where Jesus ate the last supper in his life. The simplicity and emptiness of the church surprised me, completely devoid of the ornate tables in Leonardo da Vinci's paintings and the decorations on the surrounding walls, a few Roman columns supporting the roof with a great contrast, and a small golden Christmas tree on a countertop next to it, where it is said that Jesus sat here and had dinner with his 12 disciples...
Marco House
"If the world is very sad, nine points are in Jerusalem." From ancient times to the present, Jerusalem has been intertwined with the beauty of the world and the sorrows of the world, where different cultural, religious, ethnic and social classes collide with strong colors. Jerusalem in the minds of the Jews, holy, holy and supreme...
Sun Keqin wrote and photographed
bibliography
Sun Keqin, Sun Bo, 2018, Into the World Heritage Site. Beijing: Peking University Press.
Keqin Sun, Bo Sun, 2020, World Heritage Site. Beijing: Peking University Press.