Bethlehem, Palestine
by Troy Herrick
Set on the edge of a hill in the little town of Bethlehem, the gray stone Basilica of the Nativity is built over a cave housing the traditional site of Jesus’ birth. Divided between the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Armenian Churches, the layout of the present structure is as complex as the relationships between the three Christian sects. Tension is always in the air and the slightest incident, like adjusting another’s candlestick, can have major ramifications; and the respective clergy does not turn the other cheek. Fights have even been recorded.
St. Helena, the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, commissioned this basilica in the 4th century CE. Over a century later in 565 CE, the Byzantine Emperor Justinian rebuilt this structure after a Samaritan uprising destroyed it. Add some images from the Crusader Period and you find a hodgepodge of the ages. Even with the past renovations and upgrades, the Basilica of the Nativity remains the oldest continuously operating church in the Holy Land. Your tour begins outside the front door.
The Basilica of the Nativity
As I strained to enter the basilica through the main door, I suddenly remembered the parable of the camel and the eye of a needle (Matthew 19:24). Known as the “Door of Humility”, the main entrance measures a mere 0.2 by 0.4 square meters. Why would the second holiest site in Christendom require such a small door? Cynics might think that it was to prevent the congregation from exiting en mass during a boring sermon; but actually this centuries-old door was designed to prevent looters from loading up wagons with ill-gotten gains.
As you straighten up, you find yourself in a nave filled with 44 polished reddish white limestone Corinthian columns from the original 4th century CE structure, organized into four rows. The faded images of saints, painted during the Crusader Period, adorn the upper sections of each column. Unfortunately the poor lighting obscures some of these images. Tension between the three Christian sects has prevented their restoration. Another trace of the original church is the mosaic floor now hidden beneath a trap door. Feel free to take a look at the bird, flower and vine patterns.
The Altar of the Nativity at the front of the church, belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church, is decorated with angels and icons. This high altar is set directly above the traditional spot of Jesus’ birth in the Grotto of the Nativity below. You visit the grotto by descending the stairways on either side of the altar.
The Grotto of the Nativity
The Grotto of the Nativity has been hewn into the bedrock. I was somewhat taken aback upon entering this cave because the Gospel of Matthew indicates that the three wise men came into a house (Matthew 2:11) not a cave. Apparently the new parents lived as troglodytes during their stay in Bethlehem.
Visitors find several sacred spots inside the grotto. The most important of these is a raised marble platform with a fourteen-point silver star. The Latin inscription on the star identifies this as the spot where Mary gave birth to Jesus.
The nearby Chapel of the Manger has a white marble trough, set under the altar, as its focal point. This marks the spot where the original, now long gone, manger was situated (Luke 2:7). Visitors should note that the Gospels do not mention that farm animals were present at the Nativity. This inference likely arises because a manger is usually associated with farm animals. Perhaps the manger was moved into the house away from the farm animals?
A narrow hallway leads you from the grotto to two other notable chapels related to the Nativity story. The Chapel of the Innocents commemorates the children slain by King Herod’s soldiers who were trying to locate the infant Jesus (Matthew 2:16-18); and the nearby Chapel of St Joseph is dedicated to the angel appearing to Joseph in a dream and directing him to flee to Egypt with his family (Matthew 2:13).
Observant visitors will find a heavy wooden door with a peep hole in the hallway near the Chapel of the Innocents. At the height of the tension between the three Christian sects, this door was locked thereby barring Roman Catholics from visiting the Greek Orthodox shrine in the grotto.
Your next destination is the Church of St. Catherine set above these two chapels. Ascend the stairs near the Chapel of St. Joseph and find yourself just inside of the front door of the church.
The Church of St. Catherine
Built in 1861, the Roman Catholic Church of St. Catherine adjoins the basilica. This church commemorates Christ’s appearance to St Catherine of Alexandria. Jesus warned Catherine of her impending martyrdom in 310 CE. At the front of the church, the high altar is situated over the Chapel of the Innocents.
The church boasts a bas-relief of the Tree of Jesse outlining Jesus’ lineage from Abraham to Joseph. The upper portion of the bas-relief depicts Christ blessing the earth. Pope Benedict XVI gifted this bas-relief during his visit to the Holy Land in 2009.
When you complete your visit, exit the church complex and cross the road to Manger Square. Lining the periphery of the square is a number of shops where you can look for that perfect souvenir of your visit to Bethlehem. After purchasing our souvenir, it was time for Diane and me to return to Jerusalem because there was no room at the inn.
Private Full-Day Tour of Jerusalem and Bethlehem
If You Go:
Bethlehem is in the West Bank and controlled by the Palestinian Authority. To visit this city you have the option of traveling alone using bus #21, departing from the Arab bus station near the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem, to Bethlehem. Alternatively you can take a Bethlehem City Tour with a Palestinian tour guide. I recommend Green Olive Tours.
Remember to bring your passport with you in order to pass through the Israeli military checkpoint.
Admission to the Church of the Nativity is free.
You are invited to visit my Israel webpage. www.plan-a-dream-trip.com/travel-to-israel.html
About the author:
Troy Herrick, a freelance travel writer, has traveled extensively in North America, the Caribbean, Europe and parts of South America. His articles have appeared in Live Life Travel, International Living, Offbeat Travel and Travels Thru History Magazines. He also penned the travel planning e-book entitled ”Turn Your Dream Vacation into Reality: A Game Plan for Seeing the World the Way You Want to See It” – www.thebudgettravelstore.com/page/76972202 based on his own travel experiences over the years. Plan your vacation at his www.thebudgettravelstore.com and his www.plan-a-dream-trip.com sites.
Photo credits:
All photographs are by Diane Gagnon. She is a freelance photographer who has traveled extensively in North America, the Caribbean, Europe and parts of South America. Her photographs have accompanied Troy Herrick’s articles in Live Life Travel, Offbeat Travel and Travel Thru History Magazines.
Saida, or Sidon is of course very, very old, about 4000 years to be precise. One of the most important Phoenician city states Sidon has a long history of art, craft and trade. The skills of her craftsmen were even praised by Homer. Therefore it doesn’t come as a surprise that countless workshops are still productive to this day and they are all housed within the walls of the medieval old town.
The word saaabuuun again worked its magic and I was finally directed to the olive soap museum which I had particularly come to visit.
But the medina has even more to offer. Mosques, churches and palaces are wedged into the narrow alleys and sometimes only recognized by looking very closely. As is the case of the Palais Debbane, an Ottoman palace which reveals its treasures only once you have climbed a steep stone staircase and entered through a narrow door.
Straddling the shore of the Dead Sea, Highway 90 takes you through some of the most breathtaking desert scenery in the Middle East. You could be forgiven if you simply traveled southward and made an occasional stop to photograph the sandy brown cliffs and wadis (valleys) seemingly flowing into the salty water at the lowest place on earth. However en route, you also pass the unobtrusive sites of Qumran and Masada whose presence are only betrayed by signs denoting the park entrances. Neither site is visible from the road so if you are preoccupied with the scenery, you might miss them. And that would be a shame.
Masada has come to symbolize the tenacity of the modern state of Israel. Each year members of the Israel Defence Forces visit the ancient fortress and swear that “Masada shall not fall again”. But in 73 CE, Masada did fall after a prolonged siege. When the end came, 960 Jewish zealots chose death before slavery and committed mass suicide just hours before the Romans stormed the site.
Return to the top of the stairs and walk along the western casemate wall to the appropriately named Western Palace – the largest structure on the plateau. Built around a central courtyard, this palace houses the throne room. The floor features the remnants of a mosaic with floral and geometric patterns.
In 1947, a young Bedouin shepherd changed history when he threw a stone into a cave. Upon hearing the sound of shattered pottery, he climbed into the cave to investigate. Inside he discovered a number of earthenware jars containing 2000-year old parchment manuscripts. These documents, now known as the Dead Sea Scrolls, are some of the oldest Bible writings discovered to date. Eventually additional documents were also found in ten other caves, all of which are located near an isolated plateau holding the ancient village of Qumran.
Constructed of rough, brown stones and mud/clay mortar, all buildings at Qumran reflect the ascetic and communal lifestyle of the 200 Essenes living there. Believing that they were living in “the end of days”, their lives were focused on strict adherence to religious laws that included ritual bathing, voluntary poverty and an abstinence from worldly pleasures including marriage. Every day residents bathed before prayer and the noon meal. Dressed in white veiled clothing, each person descended steps and submerged himself into the cold water of a ritual bath (miqva’ot). Scattered around the village, ten ritual baths testify to the Essenes’ preoccupation with purity and ritual bathing. Ritual purity was so important that most of the baths had a division along the plaster-covered steps to prevent contact between those ascending (the purified) and those descending (the impure).
I have difficulties imagining what Neolithic people looked like, how they went about their business, how they built their houses, what they ate and how they made a living. Yet, they chose the picturesque location of Byblos although it’s not known what they called it at the time since Byblos is the Greek name and they came much, much later.
Even before that Byblos traded with Egypt and exchanged the famous cedar wood for papyrus, gold and other treasures of the Nile. In fact the word papyrus transformed into Byblos and into bible, all words for paper and for books. The Phoenician alphabetic script was invented here and most scripts today are still linear.
Climbing around the castle and walking along the city wall under the strong Mediterranean sun makes you dusty, hungry and thirsty, but in the blink of an eye, you can jump another 1000 years and rest your eyes and feet in one of the many outdoor fish restaurants or stylish bars and cafes which cater to the sophisticated taste of modern day visitors.
But if you stay in Doha, expect the best hotels especially the Swiss Movenpick suites with massive discount rates while they wait for tourism to kick in.
In its pre-oil days, Doha was a small, pearl fishing village. But since the 1930s, Qatar has become the richest country in the world per capita. And it has a side business of natural gas, which kick off soon.
Doha city architecture and skyline is marvelous. Standing on the curve of A1 Corniche, the road that runs around the bay, is a host of fascinating building such as the pyramid-shaped Sheraton hotel, the bullet shaped Doha Office Tower, and the Lagoon Plaza tower, or the Zigzag towers as they are called here.
The highlight of my trip was a foray into the desert – a dune safari followed by a dinner in the Bedouin camp. Expect to be tossed around like a fly in jar by 4×4 drivers who are extremely proud of their driving skills – such as negotiate 70 degrees sand dunes. Dinner in the Bedouin camp afterwards was fun and memorable.
Later, a visit to the old city’s Salah al-Din street revealed the Assah Lebanese Traditional Village, where we had fresh langoustines and steak tartare, that awful raw mince dish, in traditional village setting. There were also some odd edible ensembles, such as a garden salad featuring whole peppers, tomatoes and hunk of cabbage on a cake tray. A delight, though, was the saj, small, sweet and puffy Lebanese bread served warm. There are also the usual fast food outlets and noodle bars that one expects to find in any big city.
