Florence - Day 2

On our final day in Florence, we finished up our walking tour. We began at the Baptistery of St. John. This is a minor basilica. It is octagonal shaped and is one of the oldest buildings in the city. The building is renowned for its bronze doors, the east being built by Michelangelo known as the "Gate of Paradise." Italian poet Dante and many members of the Medici family were baptized here.

 The Baptistry

The Gates of Paradise

Next, we went right behind the Baptistery to the Florence Cathedral, also known as Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. On August 18, 1418, a structural design competition for erecting Neri's dome was announced. The two main competitors were two master goldsmiths, Ghiberti and Brunelleschi.  Ghiberti had been winner of a competition for a pair of bronze doors for the Baptistery in. Since then, a lifelong competition between the two remained. Brunelleschi won and received the commission and designed the dome in the church. 

We finished up our day by taking a walking tour throughout the city to major landmarks of the Medici family.

Florence, Italy - Day 1

We began our trip in Italy in the city of Florence. The beginning of the Renaissance began in this city. It is full of art history. Beginning our first day indulging in art history, we went to the Accademia Museum. The museum is part of the school of music and art. It contains many famous pieces including the Rape of the Sabine Women and Michelangelo's David. David was a lot more amazing than I ever expected. Standing at seventeen foot tall, this statue is Michelangelo's representation of David before he went to fight Goliath. It is a work of art.

 Michelangelo's David

Next, we went the San Lorenzo Church. It is one of the largest churches in the city. It is the burial site of all of the Medici family. In the courtyard an orange tree was planted in honor of Christ.

We then toured the Basilica of Santa Croce. This church is the burial site of many important people including Galileo, Michelangelo, Dante, Machiavelli, Gioachino Rossini, a piano player who was born in Pesaro, lived in Florence, and died in Paris, and many more important people.

 Basilica of Santa Croce

 Tomb of Galileo

 Tomb of Machiavelli

Tomb of Michelangelo

To finish up our first day, we took a trip to the Uffizi Galleria. It contained many very important Renaissance paintings and statues including the La Primavera by Botticelli, The Annunciation by Da Vinci, and the Venus of Urbino by Titian.

Southern Greece: Olympia

To finish up our Southern Greece trip, we headed to Olympia. Olympia is an ancient city in the Peloponnese and is the sight of the first ever Olympics. Most of the sight has been excavated and we were able to see the sights of where the gymnasium was. We also saw where the wrestlers would have practiced and the sight of the Temple of Zeus. In this temple, there was once a statue of Zeus that was 43 feet tall and it was a wonder around the world. But at some point, the Turks stole the statue from Olympia and took it to Istanbul. No one knows what happened to it after that. We were also able to see the stadium where the Olympic games took place.

 Athlete's Arch

 Drawing of the Zeus statue

 Excavation sight at Olymia

 Stadium

Every two years, a couple of months before the Olympics, a flame is lit in this ancient city and is run all over Greece by various Olympians. We just happened to be in Athens the day it was being ran through to Russia and we were able to witness it.

 Choir

Runner entering stadium

Southern Greece: Mycenae

After spending a week back in Athens, we embarked on a two day trip to Southern Greece, also known as the Peloponnese. After a five hour drive, we arrived in the ancient city of Mycenae for an afternoon tour. Mycenae was once a very large, bustling city with military force and it ruled the Peloponnese. It was first inhabited by the ancient civilization known as the Mycenaeans. When entering the ancient city, there is a beautiful carved gate. After walking through the gate, there is a round rock structure. After guessing many possibilities, we were told that it was actually an ancient cemetery. There was not much of the city remaining But we were able to go down into the spring that the city used for their water supply. It was dried up so we were actually able too stand in the bottom and sing.

 Cemetery

 Gate

 Spring

 After touring the city, we went to the nearby Tomb of Agamemnon, an ancient king. Before entering the tomb, we noticed that the door was being held open by a single stone and most archaeologists say it is an architectural phenomenon. The tomb was shaped like a beehive and had amazing acoustics. We were able to sing and it sounded amazing.

Jerusalem - Herodian - Bethlehem

We began our last day in Israel atop the Mount of Olives over looking all of Jerusalem. The view was spectacular. We could see the temple mount, all of the ancient city, and even parts of the modern city.

We walked down the side of the Mount of Olives along the Palm Sunday Route and stopped at the church known as the Dominus Flevit which was built in honor of the place where Jesus wept. While at the church, a service was going on so we each had a very cultural experience in that aspect.

 Once we returned to the Palm Sunday Route, we made our final pit stop at the Garden of Gethsemane. It was breathtaking. The olive trees in the garden we over a thousand years old and the garden was very well cared for. Beside the garden, a church was built with no specific denomination in mind but instead as a church for everyone. It is known as the Church of All Nations. Each dome in the roof was dedicated to a different country that sent money to contribute to the building of the church. It was placed there so anyone, no matter where they were from, could come and worship at this sacred garden. The church was also built on top of the rock that they believe Jesus prayed on before they arrested him. It was a very emotional experience.

 The American dome inside the Church of All Nations

 Rock where Jesus prayed

 Garden of Gethsemane

 'Peace'

Garden of Gethsemane

 Garden of Gethsemane

 Garden of Gethsemane

After the Garden of Gethsemane, we got back on the bus and traveled to Palestine. We went to Herodian. This was the place where King Herod built his palace and also where he was buried. It was a very large hill that was tow-thirds man made when Herod decided that it was not large enough. From this large man-made hill, you can see Israel, most of Palestine, and into the country Jordan. The Palace was built down inside the hill. It was massive, although there is not much left of it now. King Herod's tomb was just recently discovered there. It was found with its entrance on the outside of the hill facing Jordan. We were not allowed to go near the tomb because it was still being excavated but it was still cool to have been there. 

 Inside the palace

 View from Herodian

 View from Herodian

Tomb of King Herod

Our last stop of the day was to the historical city of Bethlehem. We went to the Church of the Nativity which was built over the site where Jesus was born. We entered the church through a tiny door they. It was so small so that livestock and other animals would not come into the church. This is the oldest church in all of Israel because when the Persians came into Israel and destroyed all of the Christian churches, they thought that the wise men in the mosaic on the floor look Persian so this church was left untouched. The place of the manger was underneath the church in a very constricted room and it seemed like everyone in Israel wanted to see this archaeological site. It was like Black Friday in that church. After a lot of waiting in close corners with people I had never met, we were able to squeeze into to see the place where Jesus was born and the place where the manger was. It was very ornate and overdone but still very interesting. 

 Church of the Nativity

 Tiny Door

 Where the manger was

 Where Jesus was born

We also went to another section of the church where Jerome spent a majority of his life translating the bible into other languages.

Cave where Jerome translated the Bible

Jerusalem

For our first day inside the city of Jerusalem, we began at the city wall. The old city of Jerusalem was completely enclosed by a large wall and eight gates. The city is divided into four religious groups that all believe this city is significant to their religion. The Armenians, a form of Orthodox Christianity, and Christians believe this is the city where Jesus taught and was crucified. The Jewish and Muslim religions believe that the Temple Mount, which is supposedly Mt. Moriah, the mountain where Abraham was going to sacrifice Issac, is the center of their religion. The Temple Mount happens to take up a majority of the Old City. It is the meaning behind their entire belief system. This is part of the reason why Jerusalem has been fought over for years. These two religions have fought over the Temple Mount, also known as the Dome of the Rock, for thousands of years. The first temple constructed on Mt. Moriah was by King Solomon and was destroyed on 9/11 in 516 BC. Shortly after that King Herod built a second temple on Mt. Moriah and it was also destroyed on 9/11 in 19 BC. Those dates coincide with the destruction of the World Trade Centers on 9/11 in 2001. Muslims currently have rights over the Temple Mount and they have built a huge masque and a large octagonal shaped building with a golden roof over the rock which is called the Dome of the Rock. This dome was constructed in 7th century. Because the Muslims own the Temple Mount, they can control who can go to and from the rock. They say that only Muslims are allowed inside the Temple Mount. This is such a devastating thing for the Jewish religion and because they are not allowed in they have created what is known today as the Wailing Wall or the Western Wall. This wall is a small portion of the western wall of the Temple Mount that the Jews have marked off as spot for them to go pray to the sacred Dome of the Rock. It is a very interesting thing to witness hundreds of people, as close as they can get to this wall, praying  in a language that you do not understand. We were very privileged to take a tour of the western wall tunnels. In 1864, an Englishman named Charles Wilson discovered many tunnels that ran all along the Western Wall. In this discovery, they discovered the closest point that anyone who is not Muslim can get to the Dome of Rock. It is exactly 270 feet from Mount Moriah.

City Gate

 Temple Mount in the Distance

Temple Mount

 Closest Point to Mount Moriah

 Western/Wailing Wall

 Western/Wailing Wall

Underneath the Temple Mount

From the discovery of the tunnels, Charles Warren discovered the ancient city of King David in 1867. This city is mentioned in Genesis 14, 2 Chronicles 3, and 2 Samuel 5. Warren was also from England and was 27 when he made this miraculous discovery. From the discovery of this city, we found what is known as present day Hezekiah's Tunnel. This was a tunnel that ran under the City of David. It was used to retrieve water if the city was under attack so that the people could continue living. We had the chance to walk down this tunnel. It is around a mile long, pitch black, and the water at some points came up to my thigh. It was so cool! While we were walking down the tunnel, we even got to sing. It was pretty incredible to be able to sing praises to God while walking right beside the city of so many biblical stories.

 Water Level in Hezekiah's Tunnel

Walking into the tunnel

 

After Hezekiah's Tunnel, we went to St. Peter's Gallicantu. What is that exactly? It is a church built over Caiaphas' house. This is the house where Jesus spent hi last night on Earth before his crucifixion. We were blessed to be able to walk down into this room and read from Psalms 88. This room was a solid cement hole. Back then, there were no doors or steps. They lowered Jesus down a tiny hole in the ceiling. It was awful.

Next, we went to the exact location of the Upper Room, also known as where the Last Supper took place. It was not the same building, but we are positive that it was the exact spot.

After that, we went to the supposed tomb of King David. We were told by our tour guide that we are pretty sure that David was not buried here, but for now this is the official spot of his burial. It was a very interesting but I got kind of aggravated because while we were in there it was very difficult to get a picture. People were worshipping the tomb like it was something special. I agree that David was an important guy and all but you are only to worship the one true God.

 Next, we went to the Dormition Church which is where some of the world believes Mary's tomb resides. In the world, there are three different views on where Mary was buried. Some people believe she was buried in Ephesus, some people believe she was buried in Jerusalem, and a few believe that she transcended.

After that, we went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This is an Orthodox church outside the city walls. Inside this church is where many people believe Jesus was crucified and buried. When you enter the church, there is a large building in the middle. Inside the building, there are two rooms, one where candles can be lit and the other is the room where Jesus laid in the tomb. Upstairs, there is an area marked off as Golgotha, the place where Jesus was crucified. You can go up and "touch tthe mountain" by reaching in a hole in the floor.

 Golgotha

 Golgotha

 Outside the Church

 Tomb of Jesus

 Entrance to the Tomb

 Entrance inside Tomb to the room where Jesus laid

 Table where he laid

 Room where Jesus laid

Outside of Tomb

To finish up our day, we went to the Garden Tomb, another possible place where Jesus could have been buried. It was very interesting because in the bible it mentions that Jesus was crucified on Golgotha which means 'Place of the Skull' and this place just happened to have a place in the rock that looked like a skull. They also found a tomb that could have possibly been where Jesus was laid. It may not have been the place where Jesus was buried, but it looked exactly how I imagined it to look.

 Golgotha

 Place in the tomb where Jesus might have laid

 On the door leading into the tomb

 Door leading into the tomb