From Damascus Gate to Holy Sepulchre: a black and white tour through Jerusalem (Israel)
The starting point of our B/W tour: the Damascus gate
Through the Arab Souk
Off the beaten path in the Arabic quarter.
Back to the via dolorosa, the path that Jesus walked, carrying his cross
Third station of the via dolorosa
Sixth station of the via dolorosa
Back to the Bazar
Through the gate towards the Golgotha
Opening the door of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
The Stone of Anointing.
The rock of Calvary, last station of via dolorosa.
The ceilings above the Golgotha
From the Calvary down to the Chapel of Saint Helena
The Tomb of Mary in the Church of the Sepulchre of Saint Mary.
The Holy Sepulchre
Click each picture to magnify
A night in Jerusalem, from the Cenacle to the Western Wall Tunnel
Every year around 100 visitors in Jerusalem get trapped by the so-called syndrome of Jerusalem, “a psychosis characterised by an intense religious theme that typically resolves to full recovery after a few weeks or after being removed from the area” …
Beside the Hagia Maria Sion Abbey, where the Holy Mary died.
The road to the Greek Orthodox cemetery, close to the location of the Last Supper of Jesus Christ.
Olive trees in King David’s garden beside the Walls of Jerusalem.
The tower of King David and Jewish graves on the outer side of Jerusalem Walls
In the narrow streets of Jerusalem …
… on the roofs above the Arab Souk towards the Western Wall.
At the Western Wall, remnant of the ancient wall that surrounded the Jewish Temple
Into the Western Wall Tunnel, the closest point to the Holy of Holies
With such historical places and prominent names, it is easy to understand where the Jerusalem syndrome comes from. I personally got a déjà vu after crossing the Jaffa gate, closeby David’s tower. Next stop: a day in Jerusalem!
Through the rough Judean desert to the calm shores of the Dead Sea (Israel)
Through the desert where Satan tempted Jesus for 40 days and 40 nights …
you can meet the ruins of an abandoned settlement at the side of the motor road:
a black, hot ribbon that cuts through a couple of check-points to reach the shores of the Dead Sea.
Pools of water evaporation
stretch from Israel border East to Jordan, at the other side of the Dead Sea.
Enjoy the colours and shapes of this waters containing 34% of salt (10 times more than Mediterranean sea)
and its atolls made out precipitated salt
Relax by floating on the water surfaces
but keep this extremely salty water out of mouth and eyes… otherwise …
Click on each picture to magnify. Pictures shot with D800 plus 70-200 f/2.8 or 16-35 f/4
Come to Acre (Israel): 5000 years of history await you.
First traces of Acre date back to Heracles, who once upon a time healed his wounds exactly here (!) …
Here the markets met Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, King Herod, Paul the Apostle and Marco Polo.
These walls and tunnels were built and destroyed and re-built by crusaders and mamluks, conquered by Richard the Lionheart and Philip II Roi de France.
Pay a visit to Acre Mosque, erected by the Sultan Jazzar Pasha, aka “the Butcher”
This is Acre harbour, where the defeated Napoleon watched for the last time the towers of Acre …
