Sunday, December 17, 2017

Overhead work in the Holy Sepulchre

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In the 12th Station of the Cross I was surprised to see a man working ABOVE the heads of the many pilgrims and tourists.
I was there at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre a few weeks ago.
Had to take the pictures in the dark, so click a few times on the photos to enlarge them and see a bit of detail.


Everyone was waiting in line for a chance to kneel under the Greek Orthodox altar and touch the stone of Calvary.
Being Jewish and not Christian, this is not something I do, so I was quite happy to instead watch the work going on overhead.




UPDATE, CORRECTION!  The restorer's name is Georgios and he is from Greece (and not from the Jericho school, as I had wrongly assumed)!  Do see his wonderful comment below!
I also made a new post about him here.
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UPDATE: See also https://religionnews.com/2016/03/25/mosaic-restoration-jesus-calvary-jerusalem/
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(Linking to  inSPIRED Sunday  and Our World Tuesday meme.)
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17 comments:

  1. Very nice photos Dina The stained glass is beautiful.

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  2. Interesting post. Thanks for sharing.

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  3. How wonderful to be able to visit there. That is quite an intricate archway.

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  4. Is this above the spot where they've been doing some archaeological excavating?

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  5. Thanks Alice. Actually it isn't stained glass, although some of the mosaic tesserae are made of glass.
    Thanks Jim. Yeah, I do enjoy sharing with y'all, although lately it takes me a long time to sit down and actually write a post.
    Sara, yes, it IS wonderful to be able to visit the Holy Sepulchre and the other holy places in the Old City. I hate to think of how this status quo could change if the Palestinian Authority ever gets jurisdiction over the Old City as now much of the world seems to be pushing for.

    Petrea, no, the repair work and accompanying archaeological investigation is down below. The Chapel of Calvary (or Golgotha) I show here is one flight of steps up from the ground level of the church. The Holy Sepulchre has many different levels, from underground all the way up to the rotunda dome. I'll try to show more soon.

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  6. Thank you for always bringing us to the real in a world of smoke!

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  7. I sometimes love these kind of places even more when I am reminded of the work of humans it takes to keep them special! Great post, Dina!

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  8. Hello, the mosaic and artwork is beautiful. I hope they continue to take good care of this holy city. Enjoy your day and the new week ahead!

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  9. The mosaics look so intricate and detailed. Beautiful.

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  10. Check this December article about the recent dating of the tomb's slab:

    https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5050774,00.html?utm_source=Taboola_internal&utm_medium=organic

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  11. Not a task I could ever take on, but wonderful to see someone is working so hard at preserving these ancient places.
    Kay
    An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

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  12. Quite a place to be working in.

    One wonders how many visitors would notice him up there.

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  13. You're right, friends, it is an extraordinary privilege to be allowed to do any kind of work in the one and only Holy Sepulchre.

    William, no one seemed to even notice him up there. I think that's why he was looking at me, because I was the only one watching him. Granted, it is quite dark in the church. But I know and love it so well that I'm always looking for anything unusual happening.

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  14. Dear Dina .My name is Georgios and i am the man in the foto.I am Greek and i was working in the conservation of the wall paitings in Greekorthodox chapel in Golgotha.We were 3 professional conservators from Greece and we restored and cleaned the wallpaintings ,the icons and the Jesus on the Cross.It was an unbeliavable and fansinating experience.Thank you for your fotos.

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  15. Georgios, thank you for writing and solving the mystery of who you are!!
    Please see the new post I wrote about you and about my mistake:

    https://jerusalemhillsdailyphoto.blogspot.co.il/2017/12/correction-real-conservator-appears.html

    I will also correct the text where I mistakenly assumed you were someone else. Thank you for contributing to our understanding. Shalom to you!

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  16. Amazing photo shooting with my "old" friend and gifted art conservator from greece!!! Congrats "sunergatoulini".

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