The Lands of the Saracen: Pictures of Palestine, Asia Minor, Sicily, and SpainTaylor, Bayard
History
The Lands of the Saracen: Pictures of Palestine, Asia Minor, Sicily, and Spain
Taylor, Bayard
Middle East -- Description and travel; Spain -- Description and travel
I made the round of the Holy Sepulchre on Sunday, while the monks were
celebrating the festival of the Invention of the Cross, in the chapel of
the Empress Helena. As the finding of the cross by the Empress is almost
the only authority for the places inclosed within the Holy Sepulchre, I
went there inclined to doubt their authenticity, and came away with my
doubt vastly strengthened. The building is a confused labyrinth of
chapels, choirs, shrines, staircases, and vaults--without any definite
plan or any architectural beauty, though very rich in parts and full of
picturesque effects. Golden lamps continually burn before the sacred
places, and you rarely visit the church without seeing some procession of
monks, with crosses, censers, and tapers, threading the shadowy passages,
from shrine to shrine It is astonishing how many localities are assembled
under one roof. At first, you are shown, the stone on which Christ rested
from the burden of the cross; then, the place where the soldiers cast lots
for His garments, both of them adjoining the Sepulchre. After seeing this,
you are taken to the Pillar of Flagellation; the stocks; the place of
crowning with thorns; the spot where He met His mother; the cave where the
Empress Helena found the cross; and, lastly, the summit of Mount Calvary.
The Sepulchre is a small marble building in the centre of the church. We
removed our shoes at the entrance, and were taken by a Greek monk, first
into a sort of ante-chamber, lighted with golden lamps, and having in the
centre, inclosed in a case of marble, the stone on which the angel sat.
Stooping through a low door, we entered the Sepulchre itself. Forty lamps
of gold burn unceasingly above the white marble slab, which, as the monks
say, protects the stone whereon the body of Christ was laid. As we again
emerged, our guide led us up a flight of steps to a second story, in which
stood a shrine, literally blazing with gold. Kneeling on the marble floor,
he removed a golden shield, and showed us the hole in the rock of Calvary,
where the cross was planted. Close beside it was the fissure produced by
the earthquake which followed the Crucifixion. But, to my eyes, aided by
the light of the dim wax taper, it was no violent rupture, such as an
earthquake would produce, and the rock did not appear to be the same as
that of which Jerusalem is built. As we turned to leave, a monk appeared
with a bowl of sacred rose-water, which he sprinkled on our hands,
bestowing a double portion on a rosary of sandal-wood which I carried But
it was a Mohammedan rosary, brought from Mecca, and containing the sacred
number of ninety-nine beads.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account