Embassy of France in Vienna

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Flags at half-mast this morning at the French embassy in Vienna.

Many Austrian police at the gate.

"Je suis Paris" and hand-written letters were being brought by citizens.
(Photos can be much enlarged with a click or two.)

This afternoon I passed the embassy again.  More flowers.  More people standing in silence, in shock and in sympathy.

What a sad day for France and for the civilized world.
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Feeling linked

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Israel feels   linked  to France on this day of the historic Paris solidarity rally.
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Paris Square by day and by night

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 Happy 14 July to all the French citizens! 

 For Bastille Day, here is Jerusalem's own  Paris Square.

The square is also known as  "Kikar Tsarfat" in Hebrew and "Place de France" in French.
 More about it here  in my earlier post.

See other French places  in Jerusalem here:
the French Consulate
and
the fascinating old  French Hospital St. Louis
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Many City Daily Blog bloggers around the world are posting today about the holiday.

See Google's 14 July doodle too.

Bonne fête!
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Jerusalem's Christian treasures take a trip back home to Europe (until July 14)

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UPDATE 2, April 19:   A short video by the Franciscan Media Center  about the Treasure of the Holy Sepulchre exhibit became available just now:
http://www.terrasanctablog.org/2013/04/19/holy-sepulcher-exhibit-opens-at-versailles/
You can choose your language. 

Recently I ventured into this nice Franciscan museum  in the Old City for the first time.

This old (17th century?)  scale model*  of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, crafted from olive wood, ebony, and ivory, is one of the many unusual things on display.

It's a good thing I saw this while it was still in Jerusalem, because recently it and 250 other "unknown" Christian masterpieces were carefully crated up and shipped to Europe and as of yesterday are  being shown at the Chateau de Versailles!
Yes, in Paris!

You can click to read more about it,  see a slideshow, and  view a video at the website of the Palace:  http://en.chateauversailles.fr/news-/events/expositions/tresor-du-saint-sepulcre-en

And the Custody of the Holy Land explains it thus: 

The Treasure of the Holy Sepulchre in Paris

Paris, 16th April 2013

An important exhibition of Christian treasures from Jerusalem opens today in Versailles, in the presence of the Custos of the Holy Land, Fra Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Guardian of Bethlehem, Fra Stéphane Milovitch and the Franciscan friars of the Commissary of Paris.

The Halls of the Crusades in the Palace of Versailles, just outside Paris, house an exhibition called Treasure of the Holy Sepulchre. Gifts from European Royal Courts to Jerusalem from 16th April to 14th July.
This is a particular event: for the first time 250 “unknown” masterpieces that were sent to Jerusalem over the centuries are on display in one place. They are offered to the public for three months by the Friars Minor of the Custody of the Holy Land, who still use many of these precious implements at the most solemn celebrations in the basilica which encloses the Calvary and the empty tomb of our Risen Lord.

The pieces are sumptuous chalices, crucifixes, lamps, candelabra, ciboria and liturgical vestments given by European sovereigns as a mark of devotion to the Saviour, but also to assert the power of their lineage and nation.

The works will be displayed according to their origin – in particular from the Holy Roman Empire, the kingdoms of Spain, France and Portugal, the Republic of Genoa – showing how the European court rivalled in generosity.

Open every day, except Monday, from 9 a.m. to 6.30 p.m., the exhibition is organized in collaboration with the General Council of the Hauts-de-Seine Department and also has a second venue: the House of Chateaubriand, in Châtenay-Malabry. Here the public will be able to admire nine pictures, also belonging to the Custody. The lengthy work of preparation for the Paris exhibition began three years ago and in the end will also be of benefit for the nascent Terra Sancta Museum, which the Custody intends opening in Jerusalem in 2015.

* UPDATE: Meanwhile I find this good information at http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/sbf/SBFmsm.html:

 A striking example of more recent Palestinian art occupies the central spot of the northern hall. It is a small model of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre with inlaid work, in olive wood and mother of pearl, from the 17th-18th century.
The model represents the Basilica of the Resurrection after the Crusader restoration of the 12th Century, separated from the surrounding buildings. During the 17th century a number of similar devotional objects were produced by craftsmen in Bethlehem and sold to western pilgrims as souvernirs of their pilgrimage. 
The craftsmen based their work on the detailed plans of the sacred edifice drawn and published by the Franciscan Architect Fr. Bernardin Amico, who served the monasteries of Bethlehem and Jerusalem from 1593 to 1597.
Various sections of the roofing can be lifted, so that the inside can be seen.
 The model which is one of best preserved, is an excellent example of the type of work initiated by the Franciscans in Bethlehem, in the handicraft of applying mother of pearl inlay to olive wood.

Le quatorze juillet -- Bastille Day

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Wanting to wish all my blog-friends in France a happy Fête Nationale.

But over the years I have already published all the French flags and things I could find in Jerusalem.
So instead, let's show today's Google logo!
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HT/hat tip to Doodle Tracker, Latest Google Logos.
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Foreign flags fly over the French Hospital

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In the previous post we went inside Jerusalem's French Hospital St. Louis.
Today I want to tell you, for ABC Wednesday, that foreign flags fly over the French Hospital!
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There's the flag of the Vatican.
Enlarge the photo if you don't believe me.

See the tricoleur above St. Louis? It was flown for le 14 juillet, France's Bastille Day.
And sometimes (or so the guides like to tell) you can even see our very own Israeli flag up there.

I'm pretty sure that the French Hospital is the only Vatican property in Jerusalem whose food is certified kosher by the rabbinate.
Jews and Muslims as well as Christians are hospitalized in this hostel for chronically- or terminal-ill patients, so the kosher certificate is important.

Six Sisters of Joseph runs the hospital together with 25 foreign volunteers and 60 staff.
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Sr. Hannah, an Israeli Arab, was very kind in guiding our group from Yad Ben-Zvi.
She even let us see the panoramic view from the roof.

Fortunately we hit the roof AFTER 16.00 hours.

In back of the laundry on the roof you can see another Vatican territory, that of the huge Notre Dame de Jerusalem.
(More about that pilgrim house under my label "Notre Dame.")
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Turning to the south you see the New Gate into the Old City.
The photo below is from 2009, when the tracks for the new light rail were still not complete.
This month the trams are making test runs along the tracks. Progress!

UPDATE Feb. 2014: An excellent little video about the hospice just came out.
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French Hospital Saint Louis

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For our That's My World tour, let's go inside the French Hospital.
It is just outside the Old City, across the street from the New Gate.
You can't get in unless you are part of a rare special tour.

French Baron de Piellat, Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition, and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem built the new hospital in the 1880s, complete with "Oriental flourishes" around the wooden-shuttered windows.

Today it serves as a 50-bed hospice for chronic or terminally ill patients of all three religions.
Six Sisters of St. Joseph are in charge, helped by 25 volunteers (mostly from Germany and France) and a staff of 60.
Israel's Ministry of Health and Kupat Cholim pay for the care of the sick.
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Catholic Online has a nice article about the devoted staff.

King Louis IX led two Crusades to the Holy Land in 1249-1252 and was taken prisoner by Muslims in Egypt.
The books say he was canonized "for his piety and righteousness."
Saint Louis' statue stands high in the chapel of the hospital named after him.
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Baron de Piellat (who paid for half of the hospital), he himself painted the walls of the church with patterns incorporating the cross and the fleur de lis.

The Baron lived in the hospital for many years.
On the walls of the top floor he painted Hospitaler and Templar knights

and shields of the Crusader knights who conquered Jerusalem.
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During World War I, before the Ottomans lost Jerusalem in 1917, the Turks covered this hated "Crusader art" with black paint.
De Piellat was not one to give up. He returned after the war and restored his paintings.
He died in his own hospital, Hopital Francais St. Louis, in 1925.
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Come back tomorrow for more strange stories about the place. Shalom!
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UPDATE Feb. 2014: An excellent short video about the hospice just came out.
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UPDATE May 2014: Old frescoes were just discovered inside the hospital!
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Bastille Day at the French Hospital

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Walking up Sultan Suleiman St. (also now know as Paratroopers Way), I wondered why the hospital was flying a French flag today.
Aha, it must be July 14, Bastille Day, le 14 juillet!
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Normally the French Hospital St. Louis flys the Vatican flag.
The dedicated nun-nurses and volunteers care for terminally ill patients, whether Christian, Muslim, or Jewish.
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But for a funny story about this hospice, see the beginning of an article by Aviva Bar-Am.
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Vive la France!

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Today Jerusalem Hills Daily Photo is flying the French Tricolor in honor of Eric Tenin.
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City Daily Photobloggers are celebrating the 5th anniversary of Eric's blog, "ParisDailyPhoto, the blog that started the City Daily Photo community."
Click here to view thumbnails for all participants in this special Blog Day. We are all trying to post a picture imitating the Tenin technique/perspective.
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Consulat Général de France à Jérusalem stands proudly at 5 Paul Emile Botta Street.

The writing of the iron fence announces territory of the République française.
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The Consulate's website has photos of the interior and the more ornate side of the grand old building, built in 1930.
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(Other posts of French interest are about Paris Square in Jerusalem and Ben-Gurion Square in Paris.)
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Mazal-tov to Eric Tenin and many thanks for inspiring 1,178 of us to begin blogs about our hometowns. Together we are making foreign countries less foreign and more friendly.
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Ben-Gurion Square in Paris

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Bust of David Ben-Gurion at Hebrew University, Mount Scopus

We CDP bloggers are getting ready for tomorrow's Blog day: The Tenin Technique.
It is a 5th anniversary tribute to Eric of Paris Daily Photo. Eric started the "city daily photo blog" idea, and it has grown to 1,178 members.
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And what luck! Just in time! A Paris-Jerusalem connection!

Ynetnews writes that the French have decided to name a big central Paris square after David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, and that the inauguration ceremony will be on March 13. [Hmm, on Shabbat?]

The Yediot Aharonot daily says, "The square, which has a large fountain at its center, is located on the banks of the Seine River opposite the Quai Branly Museum. A statue of Ben-Gurion is expected to be placed in the square.
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Come back tomorrow for a look at France in Jerusalem.
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"La Ville-Lumière"

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On my way home from Jerusalem last night, I was happy to see the new fountain all lit up.

And across the street, the 1926 Terra Santa College Building, after its recent renovation by the Franciscans, was also warmly illuminated.

This small square is squished between many intersecting busy streets.

Because of its exposure to passing traffic it is often a venue for political demonstrations.

The rock says "Kikar Tsarfat" in Hebrew and "Place de France" in French, but it is also known as Paris Square.

The story goes like this, quoting the fun guide book Jerusalem--Step by Step by Batya and Avigdor Kornboim:

"The mayor of Paris visited Jerusalem in 2006 and announced that he would donate an 82-foot (25 meters) model of the Eiffel Tower to be displayed at the site in honor of the 40th anniversary of the city's liberation. The city declined the phallic monument, and a replica of a famous fountain was promised instead."

So on June 1, 2008 a more modest 13-foot (4 meters) was dedicated by Mayor Bertrand Delanoë, this time in honor of the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel.

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But what I really wanted to show you is the temporary big Chanukah menorah put up in Paris Square by Chabad! (They have many all around the city.)

Chanukah comes early this year. On Friday afternoon the first of eight lights will be lit and the 8-day holiday will begin.

Then both Paris, "La Ville-Lumière," AND Jerusalem can be called the City of Lights.

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