On my second day in Jerusalem I went to the Temple Mount, or the Dome of the Rock. The big golden dome on the the Dome of the Rock is visible throughout most of Jerusalem. It's said that it was built to compete with the magnificance of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and I think they've succeeded, at least visually.
There's another tiny dome beside, in which the dimensions are supposed to be identicle to the Dome of the Rock, only smaller. There's a few hypotheses about what this smaller structure is, one being that it was a model for the larger one.
The murals on the side of the mosque are amazing. There is lots of detail and tons of colour.
A closer view....
After going to the Dome of the Rock, I decided to walk to the Mount of Olives. On the way I passed by Eiffel Sweets. I'm not sure what the connection is here...or if the Eiffel tower on the sign gets them extra business.
The walk up the Mount of Olives can be somewhat steep, and is up very narrow roads. On one road on the way up, these two walls are essentially all you see for most of the way.
But every once in a while you get a view through the wall. This is the graveyard on the side of the Mount of Olives--it is massive! There are graves here that are more than 3000 years old. All the dead have been buried with their feet pointing to a gate across the Kidron valley through which, according to Jewish belief, the Messiah will come on the day of resurrection. According to Jewish belief, they will be the first to rise when the Messiah comes.
One of my reasons for going up the Mount of Olives is the views. You can see across the entire old city from here, and a lot of the new city as well. I spent a while up here just sitting and enjoying the views.
This is probably one of my favourite views from the Mount of Olives. It is through the altar window at the Church of Dominus Flevit (the Church is supposed to be shaped like a tear drop and lies on the spot where Jesus wept when he foresaw the destruction of Jerusalem).
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