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Our tour of the principal Christian sites in and around Jerusalem started in Bethlehem , a suburb of Jerusalem.
Bethlehem is in the territory now under Palestinian rule, and we had to pass through a
checkpoint to get to it.  The town is located on a rocky slope with many natural caves. In the
center of town is Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity. A narrow staircase leads
down into a cave where a silver star marks the birthplace of Christ.
Approaching Jerusalem  from the east one crosses the Mount of Olives and sees the old town,
dominated by the gold and blue Dome of the Rock mosque.
The central shrine for Christians, in this city claimed by the three great monotheistic
religions, is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. A small building inside the church  houses the location where Christ's body
was laid after the crucifixion, the original rock tomb is now obscured by the
ornamentation applied by centuries of devotion. Not far away in the same church is the top
of the hill of Golgotha, where the Cross was placed.
We walked through the various quarters of the city, ending up at the only remaining
wall of the second temple, the Western, or "Wailing" Wall, sacred to Judaism.
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