Holy Sepulcher Church

Holy Sepulcher Church - Jerusalem

Holy Sepulcher Church in Jerusalem was built at the "traditional" site of Jesus' crucifixion and entombment. Not unlike the Nativity Church in Bethlehem, the Holy Sepulcher Church in Jerusalem is an odd looking structure comprised of three different Catholic and Orthodox church buildings that were built adjacent to - almost on top of - one another, apparently when those groups held sway in Jerusalem.

Today, the interior of the Holy Sepulcher Church is divided into 6 sections, each held by the Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox, Egyptian Coptic and Ethiopian church groups represented in Jerusalem.

I was dismayed to learn that the tensions between the priests representing the six groups often led to shouting matches and even occasional fist fights inside the church. Today there are strict demarcations between them, down to thick boundary markings painted on the floor and even the pillars, as well as set times for crossing those boundaries. The Muslim residents of Old Jerusalem mock that when they want to see a fight, they go to the Holy Sepulchre Church.

Photographed above is the top of the entrance to the supposed holy sepulchre, adorned by inexplicably detailed and European-looking portraits of the twelve Apostles as old men, when all of them were Middle Easterners and most of them were martyred before reaching old age.