Fenced-in falling facade

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This was the Russian hospital in its better days, in the 1920s.

The historic photo is by the American Colony photographers, whose wonderful collection is now available online through the Library of Congress.
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The Russian hospital was built in 1863, making it the first such institution outside the walls of the Old City.

I walked through Russian Compound today and was dismayed to find the old building's facade draped with chicken wire.
And a protective roof had been put up over the entrance.

"Fenced-in facade" I thought, as I took a picture for ABC Wednesday F-day.
It's no fun, though, because it must mean that chunks of masonry are starting to fall off.

I think that today some offices of the Israel Police use this building.

But the gable is still topped by the symbol of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society which was founded in 1882 in St. Petersburg for the purpose of studying Eretz Israel and the holy places, aiding Russian pilgrims, and establishing institutions in the Holy Land.

Encircling the khi rho (XP) cross and the alpha and omega is the first verse of Isaiah 62, written in old Cyrillic script:
"For the sake of Zion I will not be silent, for the sake of Jerusalem I will not be still."
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Russian bridge to a WC in Jerusalem

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Will this qualify for Louis la Vache's Sunday Bridges, you think?
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Here's the story as told by Aviva Bar-Am in The Jerusalem Post:

"Russian pilgrims began visiting the Holy Land en masse in the middle of the 19th century.
To provide for their needs, several hostels were constructed inside the Russian Compound within walking distance of the Old City's holy sites.

But none of these hostels was fancy enough to house the Russian aristocracy.

The nobility preferred the elegance of Beit Sergei, built in 1890 on the initiative of Prince Sergei Alexandrovitch, brother of the ruling czar.

The complex included stately visitors' rooms, bathrooms and showers, dining rooms and cisterns.
The first floor was the service area, with a reception hall, kitchen and other rooms.
On the second floor were 25 rooms, half of which were fairly plain and the other half elaborately furnished with Persian rugs, silk wall hangings, plaster sculptures and brocade curtains.

On weekdays, you can walk inside to view two squat towers within the courtyard that held the bathrooms; indeed, bridges leading to the upper stories are still in place."
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And today, 120 years later, the public toilet is located in the bottom of one tower!
It is one of my favorites, always clean and with TP. : )
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(More pictures of Sergei's Courtyard here, here, and here.)

Russian Orthodox prayer, the video!

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Holy Trinity Church was built in 1872 and served as a spiritual center for the many Russian pilgrims who came to Jerusalem in the 19th century.

All too often the door of the castle-like Holy Trinity Cathedral is locked.
Recently I was walking past it, in Jerusalem's Moscow Square, when I saw a nun come out. Without thinking twice, I grabbed the door and asked in sign language if I might enter and she nodded.
Wow, I was finally inside! And a service was in progress!
I was unfortunately not wearing the required head scarf and skirt, so I stood in the narthex, sort of hiding behind the door. The men's choir upstairs was so glorious that, after two hours, I could no longer resist my blogger's temptation and took out the camera for a furtive 19-second video.

When the Russian Orthodox priests in their splendid vestments came around incensing the several dozen worshipers, the head priest and I--our eyes locked in a second of intense mutual curiousity.
Soon a nun came and, smiling, excitedly asked me a long question in Russian. I shrugged and said, "English? Hebrew?" She knew only Russian, and that was the end of it. I still wonder what she asked. . . .

The story of the church in the Russian Compound, now in downtown Jerusalem, can be read at

http://www.rusdm.ru/en/cathedral.php?item=1 and

http://www.gojerusalem.com/article_435/The-Russian-Holy-Trinity-Church

and in Russian: http://www.rusdm.ru/ .

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This post is a gift to Irina at the wonderful Moscow Daily Photo. Today she showed us a replica of the Western Wall outside the Moscow Synagogue!

Their synagogue was built about the same time as our Holy Trinity Church!

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(Linking to inSPIREd Sunday church meme.)
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Big Theme Day

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It's not just big . . . it's COLOSSAL!

The sign calls this strange thing lying in a Jerusalem street a colossal monolithic column.
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Today it is between the police station and the Russian Orthodox Cathedral. But several thousand years ago this was a lonely place--a quarry.
The column cracked while it was being shaped and was thus rendered useless. The stonecutters left it in situ, still attached to the bedrock--all 12 meters / 40 feet of it.
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Perhaps Herod had wanted it for the colonnades of the Second Temple . . . .

September 1 is Theme Day at City Daily Photo. See what the CDP bloggers have posted for our BIG theme.Click here to view thumbnails for all participants
I'm so happy to say "our"! This is my first official participation!

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Today is also That's My World Tuesday where blogger friends offer a little guided tour of their corner of the world. Lots to visit today!
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