Siyur to the Temple Mount and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

For my Monday siyur class about the history of Jerusalem, we spent the day learning about the holy sites for religions other than Judaism in the old city. 

Before visiting the main two attractions, our teacher took us to the site where supposedly the last supper took place:

And also where the tomb of King David is. It has also been said that he was buried in the City of David, but no one knows for sure.

After this we went to the Temple Mount to go see the Dome of the Rock. Our teacher doesn't go up there due to religious reasons, so the Director of Education came to teach us instead. Everything is very strict at the Temple Mount. Some boys in my group were wearing kippot and because of that the security guards wouldn't let us through without an attached guard with us. Since most of these guys were wearing kippot to show that they were Jewish up at the Dome and not because they are actually religious, they took them off. We didn't want to cause any trouble. A man that was before us in line for security actually got stopped because he had a siddur in his backpack. No "Jewish" items are allowed up and Jews are also forbidden from praying. If a Jew is caught it will end in arrest. I will admit that I was touching my "Shema" bracelet the whole time..... Also, my friend (who was dressed very modestly) was stopped at the entrance by an Arab guard who told her that her midriff was showing and that is unacceptable at such a holy place. Lastly, any non Muslims are only allowed up for one hour a day and are not allowed into the Dome of the Rock.

Some photos (absolutely breathtaking):

Next we traveled around the Muslim quarter and visited an Austrian Hospice. There we went up to the rooftop and saw all of the Old City which was absolutely breathtaking.

From there we visited a few churches on our way to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

This trip showed me a whole different side of the Old City and really opened my eyes to the fact that this is not just a holy place for Jews. Everywhere I turned, I would see tourists crying at the fact that Jesus may or may not have touched a specific spot on the wall on his way to being crucified. The whole experience was very intense.

Armenian Church:

Church of the Holy Sepulchre:

This is the holiest place for all Christians because it is supposedly the place where Jesus was crucified. There is a hole in the wall that exposes part of a rock that Jesus touched and there was a line of people who wanted to touch it as well. I personally could not do it because I was too scared to stick my hand in a dark hole that I can't see into. The Church was packed with people crying and praying and bringing Jesus gifts. It was beyond different than anything I have ever seen before.

The rock that Jesus laid on after he was crucified:

The "blood" of Jesus that drips into the rock: 

After a long day of learning about Christianity and Islam, a few friends and I decided to end our day at the Western Wall. We did this for two reasons. First, to say that we went to all three holy places in one day and second, to end our day at the Jewish holy place because of course it has the most meaning to us. Even though it was amazing to go to the other sites, there is nothing like the Kotel :)