CHAPTER IV.

THE CHURCH OF THE RESURRECTION, AND THE HOSPITAL OF S. JOHN, WITH

THEIR ENVIRONS--HISTORY OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE FROM THE DEATH OF

CHRIST TO THE PRESENT TIME--GENUINENESS OF THE

SEPULCHRE--GOLGOTHA--EXAMINATION OF THE EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR OF

THE CHURCH--RUINS OF THE HOSPITAL.

After the publication of the works of the Rev. G. Williams, Professor

Willis, and M. de Vogüé, on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the fruits

of so much learning and research, it is perhaps rash to undertake to

write upon this subject; still, as I only enter upon its history so far

as it concerns things now to be seen and the explanation of my own

investigations, I venture to apply myself to the task; requesting the

reader, who is desirous of fuller information, to study the works of

these authors[372]. If I may happen to differ from them on any point, I

do not intend to discuss their theories, as that would occupy too much

time, but simply to state my own opinions, which have been formed after

a most careful examination of the place by different means, during a

period of eight years.

My principal aim is to establish the genuineness of the site now

reverenced as the Sepulchre of Christ, and to point out the position of

Calvary in its neighbourhood; therefore I begin from this point; the

more so, because the identity of the present tomb is disputed, and those

who disbelieve in it lean especially on the assertions, that its

situation with reference to the ancient city disqualifies it; as it is

within the circuit of the walls, instead of without in accordance with

the Jewish law; and that every trace was swept away by the destruction

of the city by Titus, and the alterations of Hadrian; so that the

basilica of Constantine did not cover the real Sepulchre of Christ. We

proceed then to examine the question.

The place of our Saviour's Passion undoubtedly was outside the city, in

accordance with the Jewish law, as is proved by the words of S.

John[373]: "This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where

Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city." According to the positions

which I have assigned to the walls, Golgotha was at that time without

the city, being very near the second line formed by the walls of Solomon

and Hezekiah; for it must be remembered that the third line was not yet

built, because King Agrippa I. did not arrive at Jerusalem till A.D. 42,

some years after the death of Christ, and the work commenced shortly

afterwards. The fact that a large crowd[374] followed our Saviour also

makes it probable that the place was near the city, for as the next day

was the Sabbath and 'an high day[375],' and as it was about the sixth

hour when He was brought forth to the people[376], and the ninth when He

died[377], they would have had to return home to prepare the Passover,

and not have had time to go any considerable distance.

It is not indeed in my power to state the exact distance of Golgotha

from the city, but at any rate I am certain that it was far enough off

to comply with the legal requirement, that sepulchres should be 50

cubits from the outside of the wall[378]. It was very probable that it

would not greatly exceed this distance, as the enraged populace would be

likely to place the cross where those in the city could glut their eyes

with the spectacle.

In tracing the course I have assigned to the second wall, I sought for

its remains on the spot, being guided by the testimony of Josephus,

without any desire of adapting it to the present position of Calvary;

which indeed (if admitted) is in my favour, as shewing that there were

gardens outside my gate _Gennath_[379], in accordance with the words of

the Evangelist[380], "Now in the place where he was crucified there was

a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet

laid." Therefore I firmly believe that the body of the Redeemer was laid

in the sepulchre now under the great dome of the Church: but of the

locality assigned to Calvary I will state my opinion presently.

As, however, there are some who contest this assertion, I must support

it by the aid of history and tradition. It is not probable that either

the Heathens, Jews, or Christians, would lose sight of the Sepulchre of

Jesus; for each, though from very different motives, would have reasons

for remembering the grave of One whose teaching had introduced a new era

into the world, and who had left behind Him such zealous preachers of

His doctrine. Now the body was obtained from Pilate and entombed by

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, men of note among the Jews, before

the eyes of the women who had followed our Saviour from Galilee[381]. It

is then not likely that this new tomb, belonging to one of them, would

ever be forgotten by any of these persons. We know that the Chief

Priests and Pharisees obtained a guard of soldiers to watch the

tomb[382], who were at the spot when Christ arose[383]. It is then very

improbable that the Sepulchre would be forgotten by that generation. The

number of the disciples augmented so rapidly in a very short time after

the Resurrection, that neither the sect itself, nor the life, history,

teaching, or prophecies of its Founder, could fail to be remembered. We

find it asserted in the Talmud[384], that the sentence against Jesus

Christ was proclaimed during forty days, and all who could bear evidence

in His favour were invited to come forward. If then this story be true,

it shews that the Jews did not deem Him an insignificant person. The

Romans, so much more highly civilized than the Jews, would be alive to

the important effect that the Saviour's teaching was likely to produce

on Paganism, and so would not regard His death and the place connected

with it, without interest.

But even if the Jews and Gentiles had been slow to recognize the

importance of the new doctrine, surely its disciples would remember, and

at the least regard with affection, the scene of the redemption of the

human race by the death of their Lord and Master. Can we believe that S.

Paul would not have conducted his new converts to this spot on his visit

to Jerusalem; that S. James, first Bishop of Jerusalem, (murdered by the

plots of Ananus[385] A.D. 62,) and S. Peter, would be ignorant of it?

Consequently there can be no doubt that the spot must have been well

known when the Christians, led by Simon their Bishop, retired to

Pella[386], A.D. 66, to escape the troubles that were about to fall on

their doomed city. From A.D. 70 to A.D. 135, the year of Hadrian's

visit, Jerusalem lay in ruins; but still it was not entirely deserted,

since we know that he drove the inhabitants away, to make room for his

colony of Roman veterans[387]. The garrison which Titus had left on Sion

to prevent any attempts at rebuilding the city, would not have

interfered with those who came peaceably to dwell near the ruins of

their Temple, or the scenes hallowed by the Redeemer's Passion. Again,

from S. James, the first Bishop, to the days of Hadrian, and thence to

Constantine, there was an unbroken succession of Bishops of the Holy

City[388]; so that it is impossible that the situation of the Sepulchre

should not have been correctly indicated by tradition to the first

Christian Emperor. Indeed, from the time of Hadrian the place was marked

in a manner that prevented all possibility of mistake, as we know from

the words of Eusebius[389]. "For impious men in former time, or, to

speak more correctly, the whole race of demons working by their hands,

were eagerly desirous of overwhelming in darkness and oblivion that

sacred monument of immortality, to which the angel, flashing forth

light, descended from heaven; and rolled away the stone from the stony

hearts of those who thought that the living (Christ) was still lying

among the dead; bearing good tidings to the women, and rolling away from

their hearts the stone of unbelief in the life of Him Whom they sought.

This Cave of Salvation, then, certain godless and impious men purposed

to destroy utterly, deeming in their folly that they could thus conceal

the truth. So having gathered together from different quarters a great

quantity of earth, they covered up the whole; and then having raised it

on high and heaped it up with stones, they concealed the Divine Cave

under this large mound. Then as if nothing further remained, they in

very truth constructed above the ground a grim sepulchre of souls;

erecting a dark recess of the shades of the dead to the unchaste goddess

Aphrodite.... (The Emperor) inspired by a Divine Spirit, and having

invoked God's help, commanded that place to be cleansed, which had been

pointed out to him; hidden though it was by unclean materials cast upon

it by the plots of enemies; not overlooking it though delivered over to

oblivion and ignorance.... And as soon as the order was given, the works

of deceit were thrown from on high to the ground, and the buildings of

error were pulled down and destroyed, together with their statues and

demons. Nor did the vigour of the Emperor rest here, but he ordered the

materials, wood and stone, to be taken and thrown away as far as

possible from the place."

From these passages it is evident that the Emperor Constantine found the

true position of the Holy Sepulchre, and erected over it a magnificent

basilica, which is described by the same author[390]. The work was

commenced A.D. 326, and completed A.D. 335.

The present position of Calvary does not however rest upon the same

indisputable evidence as that of the Sepulchre, as there are no marks of

antiquity nor any other internal evidences to support its claim. The

testimony of the Evangelists proves beyond question that it was near to

the Sepulchre, but gives us no clue to its position relative to that

place, nor tells us whether it was on a plain or a hill, on smooth

ground or on rocky. It seems very probable to me that the Cross would be

erected on a hill, in order to make it as conspicuous an object as

possible. The present Chapel of the Calvary, wherein are shewn the hole

in the rock made for the foot of the Cross, and (at the distance of

three feet towards the south) the fissure caused by the earthquake, are

indeed on higher ground than the Sepulchre; but we must presently

examine whether this elevation is natural or artificial. I will now only

remark that the hole is too small to admit a post large enough to

support the weight of a man, and is perfectly round; though it is very

unlikely that the executioners would have taken the trouble to make the

shape so regular. The holes in which the crosses of the two thieves were

planted are not visible, although the Greek monk in charge of the

Calvary pretends to indicate their position. Abbé Mariti[391], who saw

them before Oct. 12, 1808, writes as follows: "The Arabs call the

penitent thief _Leuss-el-Jemin_, which means the thief on the right

hand; the position of the cross of the impenitent thief is on the left.

If then our Lord was crucified with His face to the north, the other two

crosses would not have been in the same line with His; and the distance

between the holes compels us to suppose that they were placed at right

angles to it." The remark is correct, and I assert, in addition, that

the present Calvary is not large enough for three crosses to stand upon,

being about nine feet wide; therefore I regard the story, at any rate so

far as concerns the two side crosses, as a mere fable. It is impossible

to examine the rock cleft by the earthquake, as it is only visible at

the bottom of an aperture about three inches wide and two feet deep; all

the rest of it being encased in slabs of marble. Its shape therefore

cannot be ascertained, but by examining the place we shall see how far

it extends. It is difficult to say whether the level floor, raised about

two feet above the pavement, on which are pointed out the hole that

supported our Lord's Cross, the positions of those of the two thieves,

and the fissure produced by the earthquake, is one entire block or not.

As the bare rock is only visible at the hole of the Cross and the

fissure, we should suppose that it extended over the whole plateau; but

a close scrutiny gives rise to the suspicion that these blocks have been

brought from some other position and placed here. The platform is only

about nine feet from north to south, and five from east to west, so that

it would not require a large mass. My opinion was confirmed by observing

that two piers are built on the north and south of the platform, and

that on the east there is a wall separating the Golgotha from some of

the rooms of the Greek convent, and on the west the inlaid pavement of

the chapel. This arrangement suggested to me that either the piers and

wall rested upon the rock, or that it was altogether wanting beneath. In

order to determine this point I examined the Chapel of Adam, situated

under the Golgotha, and reached by a descending staircase on the west.

Here it is not difficult to ascertain that the aforesaid piers and wall

go down below the level of the floor, and that the vaulting is entirely

constructed with masonry. The fissured rock, seen from above, is in the

east wall; it is protected by a strong iron grating, which renders it

impossible to see whether it goes down to the level of the floor, or how

far it extends to the north and south. This however may be inferred

without difficulty, for on the south there is a wall, and beyond that an

apartment belonging to the Greeks, and on the north, another wall, and

then the open space inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. On the west

is the stone pavement below the wall supporting the grating, which is

3-1/2 feet above the floor. The rock is therefore concealed, but so far

as we can see, it does not appear to descend to the floor. Hence the

only direction in which it could extend is the east; but here, on the

other side of the rock, which cannot be more than 5 feet thick, is a

wall separating it from an ancient staircase, belonging to the Greeks,

leading to Calvary. It seems then very improbable that after levelling

all around so completely, they would have left, to exhibit the mark of

the Cross, a fragment of rock which could not stand without the support

of walls. I cannot believe this, and am therefore compelled to suppose

that the rock is only a piece of the true Golgotha, brought and placed

here for the veneration of the faithful, no doubt at the time of

Constantine. A farther proof that this block is not in its natural

position, but has been brought from another place, is that its mineral

character differs from that of the native rock, preserved in its

original roughness in the remains of an ancient cistern in the Chapel of

the Invention of the Cross, a little to the east of Golgotha.

Far better would it have been had S. Helena and Constantine left the

Sepulchre and Golgotha as they discovered them. Far more strongly would

the rough rock and the unaltered scenes have spoken to the heart, than

all the ornaments they lavished upon it, and those which now load and

disfigure it! From a mistaken notion of reverence they wished to adapt

the ground to the basilica, and not the basilica to the ground; thus

laying the foundation of all the doubts and contests that have since

arisen.

For my own part I am inclined to think that Golgotha was on the west of

the Sepulchre, because we still see, at a little distance in that

direction, some elevated rock in the Syrian chapel, whence it gradually

rises westward up to the Christian bazaar, presenting the same mineral

(calcareous) character as the block on Calvary. If it were in this

direction, it would not only comply with the data of the Bible, and be

more than fifty cubits from the walls, but also be on high ground, so

that the execution could be seen from a large part of the city; whereas

the present site is too near the wall and is in a low situation, so that

even though we allow that the ground may now be somewhat lower than it

used to be, it would be visible to a very small portion of the city. As

there were no strong natural features to mark the spot, and as this side

has frequently been devastated during the sieges of Jerusalem, one place

may easily have been mistaken for another in the same neighbourhood, so

that the tradition on this point is of little value. Therefore, although

I do not positively assert that the present position of Golgotha is not

the true one, I think that the evidence of the place itself is not

sufficient to render its identity unquestionable.

Let us now resume the history of the Sepulchre. Chosroes II., king of

Persia, A.D. 614, completely destroyed the magnificent buildings erected

by Constantine, took captive the Patriarch, and carried off the wood of

the Cross (kept as a relic at Calvary); but through the intercession of

the conqueror's wife, a Christian and sister of Maurice, Emperor of the

East, the faithful were allowed to rebuild the holy places. A monk,

named Modestus, successor of the Patriarch Zacharias, was enabled, by

the assistance of the Emperor Heraclius and John the Almsgiver,

Patriarch of Alexandria, to erect again four churches in less than

fifteen years; but they were much inferior to the originals. During this

period Heraclius conquered the Persians, recovered the Cross, and

replaced it in Calvary with his own hands. More than one description of

the sanctuaries built by Modestus has come down to us; the most

interesting is that of Arculf, who visited them; they were called the

Church of the Resurrection, the Church of Calvary, the Church of the

Invention of the Cross, and the Church of the Virgin[392]. These were

respected by the Khalif Omar, A.D. 636, but, according to the Mohammedan

chronicles, the conqueror took possession of the columns and other

marble ornaments which were lying about in the ruins of Constantine's

magnificent buildings, and ordered them to be worked into his new mosque

_es-Sakharah_. He granted freedom of worship to the Christians, and his

example was followed, if not surpassed, by Harûn er-Rashîd alone (A.D.

786-809), after whose death they suffered many persecutions; and their

churches, especially that of the Resurrection, were plundered and

greatly injured. The dome of that church was repaired by the Patriarch

Thomas, in the reign of El-Mamûn, with timber brought from Cyprus[393].

Hakem Biamr-Illah, Fatimite Sovereign of Egypt and Syria, ascended the

throne A.D. 996, and began an incessant persecution against the

Christians. In the year 1010 he ordered the total destruction of the

churches of Jerusalem. His barbarous decree was executed, and all the

buildings erected by the Patriarch Modestus were ravaged and burnt[394].

A second time the persecution was arrested by a woman, Mary, the mother

of Hakem, who obtained permission to rebuild the churches in the same

year that they were destroyed. The work was commenced, but proceeded

slowly for the want of funds; for when Daker or Daber, successor of

Hakem (through the influence of Romanus Argirius), ordered that the

injuries done to Jerusalem should be repaired, and that the wall should

be restored by the inhabitants at their own expense; and assigned one

quarter of the expense to be borne by the Christians, they were so

heavily burdened by this additional demand, that the works at the

churches were interrupted. It was not till A.D. 1048 that, with the help

afforded by Constantine Monomachus, the sanctuaries were completed

according to the plans of Modestus, in the reign of the Egyptian Khalif

Maabad-Abutamin Mustansir-Billa. They are described by Sæwulf, who

visited Jerusalem during the years A.D. 1102 and 1103[395].

The numerous pilgrimages, which were made annually to the Holy Sepulchre

after A.D. 1048, kindled a wide-spread enthusiasm in Europe and a strong

excitement against the Mohammedans, who had made themselves masters of

the Christian Holy Places. These found their vent in the Crusades, and

the soldiers of the Cross, who took possession of Jerusalem, acquired

the sanctuaries in the condition in which they had been left by

Constantine Monomachus; and it was not till A.D. 1130 that they united

them under one roof, nearly as they are at the present time[396]. The

Church of the Holy Sepulchre was not altered by Saladin on his regaining

the city, A.D. 1187. It was polluted and injured by the wild tribes,

especially by the Kharismian hordes, A.D. 1244; but in 1555 when Father

Bonifacius of Ragusa was Guardian of the Holy Land, the whole building

was repaired and the great dome restored at the expense of Philip II.,

King of Spain; as appears from the testimony of some valuable documents

preserved by the Commissary General of Madrid and the convent of S.

Saviour at Jerusalem. About the year A.D. 1607, Sultan Ahmet I. ordered

the whole church to be destroyed, and a mosque erected on its

foundations, by a decree inflicting the punishment of death upon all who

attempted to prevent its execution. One man alone had the courage to

raise his voice against it, Girolamo Capello, Venetian Ambassador at

Constantinople, whose nation, from its powerful navy, was more highly

respected by the Sultan than any other. By his firmness and energy, he

got the order revoked, and the punishment denounced against all who

tried to carry it into effect, or inquire into the reason of its

revocation. About a century later the great dome was again restored by

help of contributions from Spain. The cost would appear incredible, if

it were not established by authentic documents, and the chronicles of

the Holy Land, still preserved in the convent of S. Saviour at

Jerusalem. These state that, in order to obtain a firman from the Porte

(which was opposed and retarded during 21 years by the Greeks, who hoped

to procure it for themselves), and to complete the restoration 400,000

colonnati (about £92,000) were expended.

A firman was obtained from the Porte, A.D. 1757, by the Greeks,

excluding the Latins, partly or wholly, from some of the sanctuaries,

including even the Holy Sepulchre, which was sold to the Greeks by the

Grand Vizier Regib Pasha. France had already proclaimed her intention of

protecting her Church in the East, and the Chevalier de Vergennes was

charged with maintaining the rights of the Latins at Constantinople;

but, notwithstanding, the places then lost were never wholly recovered.

On the 12th October, 1808, a great part of the church was consumed by a

terrible fire, caused by the Armenians; and the Greeks obtained

permission from the Porte to repair the damage. An ignorant architect,

who has had the audacity to record his name, which however I will not

help to perpetuate, completed the work of destruction, by pulling down,

or covering up, the interesting remnants of Byzantine and Gothic

architecture, which the flames had spared. The tombs of the Latin Kings

of Jerusalem (of which I will speak presently) were demolished by the

Greeks on this occasion; who however try to make us believe that they

were destroyed by the fire.

I conclude this sketch of the history of the building, by stating that

the great dome is in danger of falling in[397]. Year by year it becomes

more and more dilapidated, and the large holes in it, caused by the want

of a covering of lead[398], admit the wind and the rain, so that the

floor below is sometimes flooded to a depth of five or six inches (as

happened in 1857 and 1860), causing so much annoyance to the Priests,

that the services have to be performed under umbrellas, and rendering it

impossible for the congregation to remain without injury to their

health. It has long been hoped that France, the official protector of

the place, would put a stop to these trials, and undertake the work of

repair: and in 1862, France, Russia, and the Porte, came to an

agreement, and the works appeared to be on the point of commencing, as

the architects of the three nations at Jerusalem had consulted together;

but some disputes on the question of ownership arose between the Greeks

and Latins, and the whole matter has been adjourned. While the question

is slowly dragging on at Constantinople, it is far from improbable that

the dome will fall, and it will be a very fortunate thing if this happen

without loss of life.

I will now accompany the reader round the outside and inside of the

church, and point out and remark upon the chief objects of interest

connected with the building; referring him to the Plans and their

description for those of less importance[399].

Before the façade of the church is an oblong open court[400] paved with

large slabs of Palestine breccia, which are all cracked, apparently by

the action of fire; no improbable cause, when we remember how many

Christians have suffered martyrdom by burning on this spot[401]. On the

south side is a number of bases of columns arranged symmetrically,

shewing that an arcade, if not a porch, formerly stood here. A flight of

three steps leads down from these, and the rest of the area is

perceptibly lower than the ground on the south, west, and north, and

very slightly than that on the east. I remark this to shew, that as the

place is in a hollow, it might have been used for a garden, but not for

public executions. Below the pavement is the rock, which lies at the

same level under the interior of the church, and under the floors of the

buildings on each side, east and west. The cistern at the south-east

corner of the place is a stronger proof that it was not used for

executions. The court is bounded on the west side by the chapels

belonging to the Greek convent of S. Constantine; and at the north-west

corner is the bell-tower, erected between the years A.D. 1160 and A.D.

1180, and mutilated A.D. 1187 by the loss of the lantern which

originally surmounted it. The Greeks have made rooms in it, which are

now occupied by the monks[402]. On the east side is the Greek convent of

S. Abraham; on the ground-floor of which are two chapels, one belonging

to the Armenians and the other to the Abyssinians: through the latter

the roof of the chapel of S. Helena, on the east, can be reached. Inside

the convent of S. Abraham the Greeks point out to the credulous the spot

where Melchizedek planted the first olive; on which one of those trees

is still growing. They also shew the spot where he made the first bread,

and that on which Abraham offered up his son Isaac.

The architecture of the south façade of the church belongs to the

twelfth century, and the work was evidently left unfinished. From what

remains it is difficult to deduce the architect's original plan. The

position of the bell-tower might lead us to suppose that there would be

another corresponding with it on the opposite (eastern) side; but then

the Chapel of the Agony, with its precious contents, would be covered

over, together with the part below the Golgotha, which must of necessity

have been mutilated, if, as would seem probable, other doors had been

made into the church. Let us however examine the building which is still

left to us. On the level of the ground are two doorways, and above them

two windows with arches similarly pointed[403]. The arches of the

doorways are composed of three archivolts finely carved, which spring

from three columns of verd antique, placed in the re-entering angles of

the piers of each door[404]. The capitals of these columns, which are

skilfully executed, are a Byzantine imitation of the Corinthian order.

The design of the cornice running along the top of the whole façade is

also ancient. The bas-reliefs on the lintels of the tympana of the two

doors are too well wrought to be the work of the twelfth century. The

profiles of the figures on that above the western door are admirably

executed, as well as their attitudes; they represent several scenes from

the Gospels, as the entry into Jerusalem, the raising of Lazarus, and

the Last Supper. The outlines of the leaves, flowers, fruit, birds, and

men, on the other, are exquisite. The eastern doorway is built up; the

other is the only entrance into the church, and consequently accidents

frequently happen there during the Easter season[405].

By the side of the closed doorway is a staircase leading into the Chapel

of the Agony, which is a square in plan, and is built against the south

wall of the Calvary, communicating with that sanctuary by means of a

window which has replaced an ancient door. This chapel was formerly a

small ornamental terrace-roof, which served as an antechamber to the

Calvary. Tradition asserts that the Emperor Heraclius brought back the

true Cross into the church through this entrance. The Latins believe

that the Virgin Mary remained upon this spot during the Passion of her

Son whence its name is derived. The Greeks call it the Throne of S.

Helena, but cannot give any reason for doing so. The rock does not lie

immediately underneath this chapel, but there is a small oratory,

dedicated to S. Mary of Egypt, which proves that the rock is not met

with in any place round the present Calvary, but only on its summit. In

the lower cornice of the Chapel of the Agony, towards the entrance to

the oratory, is a carving of two four-footed animals (ideal monsters),

which, in my opinion, is a _chef d'oeuvre_, and, like all the other

ornaments on the outside of this chapel, well worth notice.

Besides the two doors in the above façade, the church had another on the

west opening into Patriarch Street (the Christian bazaar). This, owing

to the difference in level, gave access to the lower gallery of the

great rotunda; it is now closed up. It is first mentioned by Edrisi,

A.D. 1154, that is, some years after the choir had been finished by the

Crusaders[406]. There is no doubt that it was made between the years

A.D. 1140 and A.D. 1150. It is ornamented by two columns with capitals,

from which springs a pointed arch closely resembling those in the south

façade[407]. There appears to have been another entrance from the

terrace of the Abyssinians on the east side, because a doorway can be

seen there, apparently of the time of the Crusades, which is now built

up.

I may also remark that the terrace-roofs over the church are divided (as

is shewn by the Plan) between the Greeks and the Mohammedans, and that

the latter have the right of entering the gallery under the dome in the

great rotunda. The Latins are now anxious to close the door

communicating with the roof, but the Greeks are unwilling to allow it.

Hence have arisen disputes that will greatly retard the repair of the

dome, which at one time seemed likely to be commenced without delay.

Most certainly the terrace-roofs of the church ought not to be private

property, but should wholly belong to the edifice; and when this change

is brought about, which will not be done without much difficulty and

great firmness, there will be fewer dissensions, and the church will not

be allowed to fall to ruin. But it is now time to take my reader within

the building.

On entering the church we see on the left side of the door a chamber

constructed of masonry, which is used as a _divan_ by the Mohammedan

guard, placed there to keep the keys and put down any tumults that may

arise in the building. The presence of these men not unfrequently hurts

the feelings of the Christian pilgrim, who is indignant at finding

Mohammedans in possession of the Holy Sepulchre, and is the more

offended by seeing them sitting there at their ease, gossiping, smoking,

and drinking the coffee supplied to them by the various religious

communities occupying the church. To the stranger, who is unacquainted

with the real state of affairs, it must, I allow, appear most unseemly;

but a longer residence in the country would shew him that it is in

reality wisely ordered, because these men do not enter into the disputes

which so frequently arise between the different sects of Christians, and

thus are able to appease strifes, and act with a moderation and

forbearance, which would be impossible to any member of the contending

parties. Indeed, there is much need of these at the Easter season, when

the pilgrims are thronging to or from the different services. Formerly

these guards demanded a considerable fee for admission into the

Sepulchre; and not only the religious communities resident in the city,

but also strangers who came to visit the Holy Places, were obliged to

pay a certain sum. The whole of the money thus received was applied to

the support of the poor in the Hospital of S. Helena (of which I shall

presently speak). The charge is however no longer made, but they are

glad to receive a small present from any one who enters the church at an

unusual time. This they never refuse, provided they can obtain the

consent of one of the religious communities on the spot.

On the right of the entrance is a staircase leading up to the Calvary,

built against the door which is walled up from the outside: it belongs

to the Latins, but they have no power to prevent any one from using it.

A little further on is the entrance of the so-called Chapel of Adam

(belonging to the Greeks), which, as I have already said, is situated

under the north wing of the Calvary, and shews, at its east end, the

fissure in the rock rent at our Saviour's death. Zuallardus, who visited

Jerusalem A.D. 1586, states that this place was dedicated to S. John,

but no one at the present day knows when the change was made. An altar,

built of masonry, stands in the middle of the chamber at the east end.

On its south side is a small hole, into which the pilgrim inserts his

hand to touch the rock enclosing the skull of Adam, while a Greek monk

relates to him that it was brought there by Noah, before the Flood

began. The whole chamber is worth notice, because before the

conflagration of 1808 it contained the tombs, which covered the dust of

Godfrey of Bouillon and his brother Baldwin[408]. These monuments were

removed by the Greeks, with the intention of destroying a conspicuous

and obvious proof that the Sepulchre had once belonged to the Latins

alone. The remains of the Latin kings however were not profaned, but

were deposited, (as I was informed,) in a recess in the chamber on the

south of the chapel under the south wing of the Calvary, where now the

Greek guardian of the Sepulchre sits to receive the offerings of the

pilgrims, and present them in return with trifles blessed within the

walls of the Sanctuary. It is to be hoped that when Russia and France

have completed the restoration of the dome, the Greeks will bring them

forth from their hiding-place, and erect over them new monuments bearing

the old inscriptions.

On quitting the Chapel of Adam we find, at a short distance, a slab

rising about six inches above the ground, called the Stone of Unction,

because it is believed that on it the body of our Saviour was wrapt up

with spices for burial. According to the monks, the actual stone cannot

be seen, as it has been covered up to preserve it from the pilgrims, who

would have carried it away piecemeal for relics. The account is

plausible; but it is hard to understand how the spot could have been

identified after the great changes wrought by the savage vandalism of

Hadrian. Sanutus[409], who wrote in the fourteenth century, mentions

this stone, but places it in the middle of the choir belonging to the

Greeks. It is the joint property of the Latins, Greeks, and Armenians,

who keep lamps and tapers constantly burning, that bear the devices of

the community to which they belong.

Passing over some unimportant objects, which are sufficiently described

by their titles on the Plan, we enter the western part of the church, in

which is the rotunda supporting the great dome[410]. This, as I have

already said, is an example of the usual bad taste of the Greeks at

Jerusalem. Its heavy and clumsy architectural features are not worth a

description, and it is to be hoped that at the next restoration of the

church, this structure will be replaced by one more worthy to cover the

Holy Sepulchre. On the ground-floor of the rotunda are some chambers

occupied by the monks of the different communities to which they belong,

together with three passages leading up to the lower gallery, and

another going to the so-called tombs of Joseph and Nicodemus. The two

galleries above are divided among the different religious communities.

The whole of the lower one, except the three central arches on the west,

belongs to the Greeks, and the greater part of the upper to the Latins;

the Armenians possessing the last six arches towards the east on the

south side. The property of each party is marked by pictures attached to

the pillars. Above the upper gallery are windows, some grated, the rest

built up. The former look upon the terrace-roof, which belongs to the

Greeks, and are employed by them; the latter used to communicate with a

chamber in the building called the Hospice of Saladin; these were closed

not many years ago. The dome is surrounded by a gallery belonging, as I

have said, to the Greeks, and at the top, in the middle, is a circular

opening enclosed by an iron grating, to prevent the Mohammedans who

occupy the neighbouring houses from throwing anything into the building.

However, the miracle-mongers relate that Jesus Christ was recalled to

life from this place, and that no human power can ever close it up.

Certain it is, that if the architect at the forthcoming restoration does

not find some other means of admitting air and light into the dome, (no

difficult task,) he will be obliged to leave an opening there, at any

rate not less than the present; and the rain will continue to flood the

pavement below, and injure the health of the Priests and acolytes who

pass their time there. In the middle of the rotunda is the monument of

the Holy Sepulchre[411], also an ugly Greek edifice of the date 1810. It

is cased with Palestine breccia of a yellowish and reddish colour, which

is found abundantly in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem; it takes as good

a polish and produces the same effect as marble. A small rude chapel,

belonging to the Abyssinians, rests against the west end of the

building; it was erected between the years 1537 and 1540, when the

Franciscan fathers, then the sole guardians of the Sanctuary, were

prisoners at Damascus. At the east ends of the north and south walls of

the monument are two oval openings; these are chiefly used in

distributing the Holy Fire on Easter Eve; that famous and scandalous

ceremony by which the Greeks and Armenians profane the Redeemer's Tomb.

The upper part of the monument is a flat terrace-roof, and at the west

end of it is a small tasteless dome, covering an opening that

communicates with the lower chamber of the Sepulchre; this, as well as

the other at the east end, has doubtless been made for ventilation and

for the escape of the smoke from the lamps and tapers, which are kept

constantly burning within: but, as every object in the church must have

its legend, the monks relate that from the first Christ was raised, and

by the second the angel departed, who had rolled away the stone from the

Sepulchre. Round the terrace-roof are holes, by which the rain, falling

from the opening above, runs off by drains into a cistern inside the

Latin convent, to the north of the rotunda. Before the door are a number

of standards for candles, belonging to the Latins, Greeks, and

Armenians. In the upper part of the front at the centre, is a picture

belonging to the Latins, who, as first, have the right of performing

service inside the Tomb. The Greeks, as second, are on the right, and

the Armenians on the left. On great solemnities the different

communities adorn the space allotted to them with gold and silver lamps

and flowers, so as nearly to cover the whole façade. A large awning is

extended over the building, and whenever a new one is necessary, as was

the case in 1859, these three communities share the cost and divide the

old one. With their portions the Greeks and Armenians recover the

greater part of their contributions from the Oriental pilgrims, who are

most anxious to possess a scrap.

We will now proceed to examine the interior of the Sepulchre. Directly

on entering the door we see on either hand two staircases, constructed

in the thickness of the east and side walls, and leading to the

terrace-roof. That on the north belongs solely to the Latins; the other

to the Greeks, who however are bound to allow the Armenians to use it on

certain occasions. Within are two chambers; the eastern is called the

Chapel of the Angel, the western is the actual Tomb in which our Lord's

body was laid. The former of these two is undoubtedly built upon the

rock, which I saw and touched immediately under the marble pavement,

when some slight repairs were being made. Its walls, where they can be

seen in the side staircases and the two apertures mentioned above, are

of masonry, but the other parts are concealed by a casing of slabs of

Palestine breccia. In the middle of this outer chamber is a small

pedestal, which (according to tradition) marks the spot where the angel

sat after rolling away the stone from the Sepulchre[412]. In the

building are a great number of lamps, supplied by the Latins, the

Greeks, and the Armenians; two only belong to the Copts. The upper part

of the walls of the Tomb itself is also masonry, but the lower is formed

by the native rock. I have been able to ascertain this for myself at two

points; one at the small entrance-door, which is entirely hewn in the

rock, and the other in the interior of the Chapel of the Abyssinians, in

which, after purchasing the privilege, I was on several occasions shut

up, so that I worked undisturbed, and was able to see the rock at a

height of about four feet above the ground. As the interior of the

building is covered with slabs of marble, it is at the present time

quite impossible to succeed in discovering the rock from within; and I

did not attempt it, being satisfied of its existence by the testimony of

most trustworthy witnesses who had seen it during the repairs in 1808

and 1810. One of these was the Franciscan father Tryphon, who died at

Jerusalem in 1857, at the age of 86; another was an aged Greek monk, an

Archimandrite, of the great convent of S. Constantine. From the

information supplied by them, and from my own observations, I have drawn

the line of the rock in the section-plan of the present tomb. In

confirmation of the accuracy of my informants, themselves men of

education, I can bring forward the following extracts from the accounts

of various authors and pilgrims in former times. Arculf[413], who saw it

in the seventh century, thus describes it: "It was a small round room,

hewn out of the solid rock, which could contain nine men standing in

prayer side by side. The roof was about a foot and a half above the

head of a tall man; on the east side was a small door. The tomb,

properly speaking, was hewn in the north wall of the room. It was formed

by a bed seven feet long, large enough to hold a man stretched upon his

back, placed under a low recess hewn in the rock. It might be termed a

sarcophagus open on one side, or a small grotto with the opening to the

south; the lower edge of the bed was three palms above the ground. The

rock was red veined with white, and still bore the marks of the tools by

which it had been hewn out." From the numerous notices of it during the

twelfth and thirteenth centuries, I select that of Willibrand of

Oldenburg[414]. "The rock ... which, still uninjured, and cased with

marble, is exposed in three places to the touch and kisses of pilgrims."

It was visited during the fifteenth century by Breydenbach, who writes

as follows[415]: "The cave, in which is the Lord's Sepulchre, is wholly

cased with marble on the outside, but inside is the native rock, just as

it was at the time of the burial." In the beginning of the present

century it was seen by Abbé Mariti, before the fire of 1808; his

account[416] agrees with those just quoted, and confirms the testimony

given me by eye-witnesses.

It seems then impossible to deny that the Tomb of Christ still exists

upon the traditionary site, and that it in all respects resembles one of

those sepulchral chambers, hewn in the rock, which can be seen at the

present day in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem[417]; in which the corpse

is extended upon a shelf, under an arched niche, excavated in one of the

side walls of the tomb, some little distance above the ground. The arch

above the shelf is indeed no longer to be seen, because it has been

destroyed, perhaps during Hakem's reign: but the two side walls, which

supported it at the head and foot of the shelf, still remain, and,

encased with white marble, form the altar at which the Priests celebrate

mass. It would be more satisfactory to the incredulous if this covering

were removed, but if this were done the rock itself would not long

remain. Each traveller and pilgrim would practise every possible device

in order to obtain a fragment as a relic; and it would be a hard matter

to persuade the Eastern pilgrims, and above all others, the Americans,

to keep their hands off it.

But still, although the rock is concealed, a strong proof of the

existence of a tomb is afforded by the shape of the entrance, which has

every appearance of the doorway of a sepulchral chamber, and closely

corresponds with that leading to the Tombs of the Kings, which was

closed with a large elliptical stone, still to be seen on the spot[418].

I consider however that its height has been since increased, in order to

make a more convenient entrance; because it is now higher on the east

than on the west, while in all the ancient sepulchres still existing the

interior is higher than the exterior. We may then observe with what

rigorous exactness the words of the Evangelists are verified by the

appearance of the Tomb. S. Matthew[419] relates that an angel "_rolled_

back the stone from the door," using the precise word which would

express the way in which the stone now at the Tombs of the Kings would

have to be handled. S. Mark[420] relates that when Mary Magdalene and

Mary the mother of James were on their way to the Sepulchre to embalm

the Lord's body, they asked among themselves, "Who shall _roll us away_

the stone from the door of the Sepulchre?" and that, "when they looked,

they saw that the stone was rolled away, _for it was very great_; and

entering into the Sepulchre they saw a young man _sitting on the right

side_," who shewed them the place where Jesus of Nazareth had been laid.

The stone certainly would be _very great_, if it resembled that at the

Tombs of the Kings; and without entering the sepulchral chamber they

would be unable to see the angel and the place where the Lord had been

laid, (on the _right_ side of the Sepulchre where it is now shewn,) both

by reason of the thickness of the wall, in which the doorway was made,

and because the niche was rather on one side of it. S. Luke[421] also

speaks of the rolling away of the stone, and the necessity of entering

the chamber before they could see that the Lord's body was not there. S.

John[422] also mentions that the stone was removed, and describes the

manner in which S. Peter and the other disciple looked into and entered

the Sepulchre; just as would still have to be done, if the door had not

been enlarged. Had not a pious vandalism been allowed to work its will

from the age of Constantine to the present day, no one would be able to

deny the existence of the Sepulchre; for all objections would be met by

the presence of the outer chamber, which was also excavated in the rock,

as in many examples still remaining in the neighbourhood of the city:

but unhappily those parts of it which had escaped the injuries done by

Hadrian, were completely swept away at the time when the first basilica

was built, in order to isolate the Tomb itself, and exhibit it as an

object of veneration in the centre of the rotunda. This can be inferred

from the words of Eusebius[423]: "Is it not surprising to see this rock

standing alone in the centre of a level space, with a cavern inside it?"

S. Cyril, in the fourth century, writes more expressly; "For 'the cleft

of the rock' he calls the cleft which was then at the door of the

Salutary Sepulchre, and was hewn out of the rock itself, as it is

customary here in the front of sepulchres. For now it appears not, the

outer case having been hewn away for the sake of the present adornment;

for before the Sepulchre was decorated by royal zeal there was a cave in

the face of the rock[424]." Therefore, from the above evidence, we may

draw the following conclusions: that an ancient Jewish sepulchre exists

at this place, that over it Hadrian erected a temple to Venus, and that

consequently this is the identical tomb in which the body of our

Redeemer was laid.

Within the Sepulchre itself, above the shelf, are three paintings; that

in the centre belongs to the Latins, that on the right to the Greeks,

and that on the left to the Armenians. In front of these the three

communities place a certain number of tapers, vases of flowers, crosses,

and other objects; and when they differ about the arrangement of these

things, or of the numerous lamps which hang in the middle of the vault,

that is to say, whenever one of the parties transgresses in the

slightest degree the limit assigned to it by the Sultan's firman, or the

agreements between the Convents, a quarrel soon breaks out; clamour,

yells, and threats, are heard in the Sanctuary itself; and the

combatants sometimes do not separate without broken bones. These scenes,

however, are now becoming more unfrequent.

In the middle of the west side of the rotunda is the entrance of a

chapel belonging to the Syrians, and through the south wall of this we

pass into a small grotto, hewn in the rock, in which are some tombs said

to have been made by Joseph of Arimathea, after he had given up his own;

in these he and Nicodemus are said to have been buried. On the truth of

the tradition I express no opinion; but certainly the existence of the

rock above the level of the ground, and still more the presence of the

tombs, is a strong proof of the genuineness of the Holy Sepulchre. Both

here[425], and in the neighbouring chapel, the rock on rising from the

floor mounts towards the west; thus indicating the lower level of the

excavations round the Sepulchre. The tombs shew that the place must have

been outside the walls before Agrippa traced out his new line on the

north, because, as I have already observed, the Jewish law did not allow

them to be among dwelling-houses. The antiquity of these tombs is placed

beyond question by their shape, and by the marks left by the tools of

the workmen who excavated them, which perfectly correspond with those

that may still be examined in the numerous burying-places in the

neighbourhood of Jerusalem. I must not omit to mention that two of the

above-named tombs are very small; these have been begun, and left

unfinished before reaching their full size; and any one who will take

the trouble to visit the Tombs of the Judges[426] will see that they

were excavated and completed in the same manner as these so-called

Sepulchres of Joseph and Nicodemus, and that the same kind of

instruments were used, of which I shall presently speak more

particularly. I mention the Tombs of the Judges, because sepulchres may

there be seen in different stages, finished and unfinished, of which

there is no other example near Jerusalem.

To the east of the rotunda is the Chapel of the Greeks[427], forming the

great nave of the church, in which the rock is found immediately below

the marble pavement. Its most remarkable feature is its regularity and

uniformity. On the east is the Iconostasis, dividing the 'Holy of

Holies' from the rest of the church. This, together with the side walls,

is profusely gilded and covered with pictures and other ornaments,

producing at first a striking effect, which however is soon effaced by

the bad taste, evident not only in them, but also in the two Patriarchal

thrones made of Palestine breccia. Above the choir rises a dome

supported by four massive piers; a rude iron gallery runs round the

drum, and it is lighted by four windows on the level of the Greeks'

terrace-roof. The exterior of the drum is crowned by a cornice,

apparently supported by little corbels ornamented with various incised

carvings, for which many have sought symbolical interpretations; but, in

reality, they are only fanciful Græco-Saracenic decorations. All the

outer surface of the dome is covered with strong plaster to render it

weather-proof; and a small spiral staircase winds outside to the summit,

whence a fine panoramic view may be obtained, which gives the visitor a

good idea of the topography of the ancient city. Inside the church a

small pedestal rises from the middle of the pavement containing a stone

ball encircled by crossing hoops, which is believed by the Eastern

Christians to be the centre of the world. The idea that Jerusalem was at

the centre of the universe has long prevailed among both Jews and

Christians, founded, perhaps, on the words of Ezekiel[428], "Thus saith

the Lord God, This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the

nations and countries that are round about her." It is alluded to by

Dante[429]:

Now that horizon had the sun attained,

By the high point of whose meridian clear

Jerusalem with golden light is stained.

The Greeks, undoubtedly, placed the pedestal to mark the centre of the

Church of the Resurrection.

Returning into the rotunda, and going out of it towards the north, we

find the Latin Chapel, at the place where our Lord is said to have

appeared to Mary after his Resurrection. It stands above the general

level of the church; and the rock is found below its pavement, extending

northward under the Latin Convent, where it rises toward the west; so

that if the buildings were removed, it would be seen united to that at

the tombs of Joseph and Nicodemus; thus affording another proof of the

levelling made around the Sepulchre by Constantine. Inside the chapel an

altar is pointed out, containing a fragment of the column, to which,

according to tradition, our Lord was bound when He was scourged. By a

door on the north we enter the Convent of the Franciscans, the guardians

of the Holy Places. It can accommodate twelve monks and some pilgrims;

but is unhealthy, being damp and ill ventilated.

Leaving this chapel, and passing along the north aisle of the church, we

find on the east, behind the Greek Church, a staircase leading down into

the Chapel of S. Helena[430], belonging to the Armenians, the south side

of which is partly formed by the rock. From the middle of it rises a

dome, supported by four columns (of Egyptian granite) with Byzantine

capitals[431], and surrounded by a terrace-roof occupied by the huts of

the Abyssinians. Near the north-east corner of the chapel is a wooden

altar, concealing a doorway, now built up; it communicated with a

building called the Prince's House, which I shall presently notice. In

the south-east corner is a kind of little balcony (erected by the

Armenians in the 17th century), where, according to a false tradition,

S. Helena stood while the workmen were seeking for the cross in the

neighbouring cistern. This chapel was united to the main building by the

Crusaders. In the south wall is a staircase, the steps of which are hewn

out of the rock, though they are now covered up with stone slabs; it

leads into a vault in which the Saviour's cross is believed to have been

found, together with those of the two thieves, after lying hid there for

293 years. The legend is strongly supported by very ancient Eastern

traditions. The interior, entirely excavated in the solid rock,

corresponds in form with the cisterns so abundant in Jerusalem, and the

holes still remain by which the water entered or was drawn out. The rock

is a soft limestone, and differs from the fragment on the top of

Golgotha; therefore I am inclined to believe that there is no connexion

between the latter and this in the Chapel of the Invention of the Cross.

The rough rock in this chamber, untouched and unaltered, appeals to my

heart at least, far more than all the other places, buried as they are

beneath marble and decorations; and I cannot but think that it would be

a noble work to sweep away all obstructions in the present Church of the

Holy Sepulchre, to clear the ground, and again expose the bare rock over

the whole area; and, defending the Sepulchre itself against the elements

with a dome, to enclose the whole with a cloister in a solemn and

appropriate style of architecture. If this were done, the original

appearance of the ground would be in some measure restored, and the

Golgotha and the Sepulchre, the true trophies of Christianity, would be

visible to all; unbelievers would be convinced by the evidence of their

senses; and while all would be obliged to admit the genuineness of the

sites, each one would be free to meditate in his own way upon the

teachings of the very place consecrated by the Passion, Death, and

Resurrection of his Redeemer. Will this hope ever be realized? Never, I

fear; for then the present Church would cease to be the source of a

large revenue, derived from the purses of ignorant and credulous

pilgrims, who pay to obtain a blessing, or to secure a place at the

distribution of the Holy Fire, or at some other ceremony, or to pass a

night in the Sanctuary[432].

I now pause to consider and describe, more fully than I have hitherto

done, the present appearance of the Calvary. The Golgotha is a platform

supported by vaulted arches of masonry, reached by two flights of steps,

one close to the entrance of the church, the other near the Stone of

Unction. The latter belongs to the Greeks, but they allow it to be open

to all. The whole area is divided into two chapels, north and south: in

the former, called 'The Adoration of the Cross,' is the place where the

cross was erected (as I have already said); it belongs to the Greeks;

the latter, belonging to the Latins, is called the Chapel of the

Crucifixion, because it is generally believed that on that spot the

Saviour was nailed to the cross. In this the altar is well worth notice,

as it is ornamented with a casing of bronze, on which are sculptured in

bas-relief eight different scenes from the Passion of our Saviour. Its

original shape has been altered, though without injury to the general

effect, for it was made four-sided, as it was intended to be placed as a

kind of fence round the Stone of Unction; but the Greeks would not allow

anything belonging to the Latins to be used in their possessions, lest

it should give their rivals a footing there. It is therefore now

arranged as three sides of an oblong. It was given by Ferdinand de

Medici, as is shewn by the following inscription on a plate at the foot

of the altar: "The gift of the piety of Ferdinand de Medici, Grand-duke

of Tuscany, 1588." The same inscription also occurs on the cornice

surmounting the upper part of the altar. The carving is admirably

executed; it is the work of Domenico Portigiani, a Florentine friar of

the convent of S. Mark, and a pupil of the famous sculptor John of

Bologna; as is recorded by the following inscription, placed beneath the

name of the donor: "Made by Fra Domenico Portigiani, a friar of the

convent of S. Mark at Florence in the province of Rome, in the year

1588." The arms of the Medici are sculptured at the four corners, and on

the shield is a Cardinal's hat, because Ferdinand was already invested

with this dignity in the year 1588.

Having now finished the description of the interior of the church, I

proceed to make some remarks upon the monks of the different communities

who dwell there, and upon the pilgrims (especially the Orientals) who

visit it. The monks of the Greek, Latin, Armenian, Coptic, Abyssinian,

and Syrian communities have different chambers in the church, in which

they live in order that they may keep constant watch over the Holy

Places, and offer up continual prayer and praise to God. Though the

space belonging to the Latins is roomy, it is nevertheless unhealthy

from the constant damp, caused by the rain-water falling through the

ruinous terrace-roofs above, which they cannot repair, as these do not

belong to them, but to some Mohammedans. The owners are very jealous of

their property, which brings them in an easy and ample revenue from the

sums paid by the Latin and Greek convents, in the hope of abating the

nuisance of the water. The Greeks and Armenians are better housed in

their upper chambers, as the terrace-roofs above them do not belong to

Mohammedans, and can therefore be easily repaired; but in their lower

rooms they suffer with the Latins. The three poorer communities are

exposed to constant damp, both from the bad repair of the dome, and from

the situation of the church itself, which stands on low ground,

commanded on all sides by higher buildings. All this, however, does not

hinder the monks from being very eager to enter the place, and from

leaving it with great reluctance when they are succeeded by others; and

the pilgrims eagerly seek permission to remain, if only for one or two

nights. The Latins give a chamber and bed to each visitor inside their

convent, but the same comforts cannot be obtained among the other

communities, both from the numbers that throng together, their station

in life, and also the Eastern custom, which allows men and women to be

crowded together in the same place without distinction of sex. Hence it

comes to pass that from the end of October to Easter the galleries round

the great dome belonging to the different sects (with the exception of

the Latins), though close to the Holy Sepulchre, are crowded, almost

every night, with pilgrims, who, after fervent prayer, eat, drink,

sleep, smoke, and make coffee there, as they would do in an inn; nay,

impelled by deep ignorance and blind fanaticism, carry into effect

certain vows, which I cannot more particularly describe without

offending my readers' modesty. In this way the Eastern pilgrims behave,

and would do still worse, did not their father confessors and the monks

in charge of the place, who are furnished with sticks and whips, make

frequent use of them to maintain order. It is a well-established fact,

and one of daily recurrence, that the rude Eastern pilgrim prays in the

interior of each Holy Place, and then when he has gone away a few yards,

forgets the sanctity of the building, and acts as he pleases. He may

therefore often be seen in any part of the church, talking and

discussing his private affairs with his friends; especially if it be a

rainy day, and he can enter without payment. But this is nothing,

absolutely nothing, in comparison with the scenes at the services before

and during the Easter festival; especially when all the religious

communities coincide in keeping it on the same day. The noise, the

clamour, and the confusion are inconceivable; in one corner they are

praying, in another walking about, laughing, and jesting. Sometimes it

happens that the Latins are performing a noiseless service around the

Sepulchre, and the Armenians are yelling like madmen, as they sing in

their chapels; while the nasal tones of the Greeks ring through the

building, and the frantic howls of the Copts and Abyssinians split the

ears. If a procession takes place, it rather resembles a riot; the

banners rise and fall, the tapers bespatter the spectators, the Turkish

soldiers with fixed bayonets clear a way for the officiating Priests,

the attendants belabour the noisier bystanders with sticks; some

struggle for places and tumble over upon those below them; and all is a

scene of pushing, struggling, and tumult, so that it is a lucky thing

when quarrels do not ensue. Sometimes the jealousy of the rival sects

breaks out around the very Sepulchre of Christ, and then occurs every

frantic act that a senseless and barbarous people can commit. In times

past it was not uncommon that lives were lost; either by suffocation in

the dense crowd as it pressed to go out by the only door, at the

conclusion of the services, or even by blows received in the fights. The

clergy of Jerusalem know this by sad experience, and yet take no steps

to put a stop to it, though it would not be difficult. The Greeks and

Armenians will not abandon the ceremony of the Holy Fire[433] on Easter

Eve, through fear that the number of pilgrims would decrease; since the

greater part of them come to the city simply and solely to witness this

so-called annual miracle. The Latins still continue to represent on the

evening of every Good-Friday the descent from the Cross, and the

interment of the Saviour's body; though, in Jerusalem, from the number

and nature of the spectators of different religious sects, the scene is

almost comic; when it is not rendered tragic by furious and sometimes

fatal quarrels[434]. Whoever has visited the place at the Easter season

will I am sure forgive me this description; and I venture to give the

following advice to any one who has not, that if he is going there from

a religious motive, he had better keep away at that time; but that if he

is actuated simply by curiosity, he should not omit to go there; in

which case he will admit the truth of my information. If during the last

few years the services have gone off more quietly, and the quarrels been

less violent, it is due to the careful oversight of Surraya Pasha, and

the energy he has displayed in quelling the rising tumults. It is a

thing much to be desired, that in this nineteenth century, the causes

which excite the scandals and strifes around the sublimest of monuments,

the Tomb of Christ, should be at last abolished.

I conclude this subject by pointing out what are the most frequent

causes of these furious disputes between the monks who occupy the

Sepulchre. Since the church is divided among the different communities,

each guards his rights with the utmost jealousy, and quarrels about the

smallest trifle. A nail driven a little too much on the one side or the

other of the boundary line, a slight repair of a wall or pavement

without the consent of all the parties interested, a candlestick knocked

down or taken away from a Sanctuary, a sweeper trespassing with his

broom on the property of another sect, and dusting where he has no

business, excites long and bitter recriminations, which are only put a

stop to by the interference of the local authorities, and sometimes of

the governments that protect the different religious bodies.

After this somewhat long digression we will go on to consider the

neighbourhood of the Church of the Resurrection. On the east is the

terrace-roof above the Church of S. Helena, the exclusive property of

the Abyssinians; to the west of this are some houses belonging to the

monks, who also possess some wretched dens on the south, abutting on an

old wall, in which is an arcade of five arches, supported by four

pillars with plain capitals; over this runs a cornice, above which are

five pointed windows of the time of the Crusades. From some notices in

Greek manuscripts preserved in the convent of S. Saba, it appears that a

church was erected on this spot by S. Helena, in honour of the Holy

Cross; but this present building, if standing at that time, could not

have escaped the ravages of Chosroes II. of Persia and of Hakem; and we

must therefore refer it to a later date. Accordingly I perfectly agree

with the opinion expressed by M. de Vogüé in his chapter on the

Hospital. This author thinks that the Church of S. Mary Latin occupied

this position, a building with a single nave; and this is strongly

corroborated by a passage in the Gesta Francorum[435], which asserts

distinctly that the first Crusaders found it at the south of the Church

of the Invention of the Cross, and a stone's throw from the Church of

the Holy Sepulchre. He therefore considers these ruins to belong to a

building erected in the middle of the twelfth century, on the site of a

church built by the merchants of Amalfi in the eleventh century; when it

was found necessary to establish a church, with a convent and hospice to

receive all the women who came as pilgrims, in order to keep them

separate from the Hospice of S. Mary the Great, presided over by monks,

at the south of this, which I shall presently notice[436].

The plot of land on which are the ruins of S. Mary Latin was acquired by

the Russians in 1858. In 1860 they began to clear away a quantity of

rubbish and earth, the accumulation of centuries, in order to lay the

foundations of a house for the Consulate; and, in the course of the

removal, fragments of walls and buildings were found of an earlier date

than the Crusades. History informs us that some houses were erected on

this spot by native labourers for the Amalfi merchants; and in

accordance with this we do not find in these remains that precision and

perfectness of execution which characterizes work executed with European

aid. I endeavoured to connect the walls with the mutilated building; but

I found it impossible to restore them sufficiently to draw out a plan of

any sort; the ruin wrought by time and man is too complete. I have

already mentioned that some remains of an ancient Jewish wall were found

during the excavations in this same plot of land, and now add that,

below it, near to the street on the east, there seems to have been a

portico, some fragments of columns of black granite having been found

there. M. de Vogüé, who arrived at Jerusalem after my departure, and

during the progress of the excavations, will no doubt have made further

discoveries; and it is to be hoped that before long we shall have them

described by so able and learned an explorer.

The 'House of the Prince' is a house to the north of S. Mary Latin,

shewing on the exterior architectural features of a period before the

Crusades; these, however, have all disappeared from the interior, where

now nothing is to be seen but some party-walls of Arab workmanship,

built at different periods, most of them not long ago, in order to

divide it into small separate tenements. It belongs to the Franciscan

convent, which gives free lodging there to the poorest of their nation.

How and when it obtained its name I have not been able to ascertain:

there is, however, a tradition that Godfrey of Bouillon occupied it

during his short reign; this is not improbable in itself, but is

unconfirmed by history; and William of Tyre[437] states that the palace

of the Latin king was near the Temple on the south side; meaning by the

Temple the present area of the _Haram es-Sherîf_. In a manuscript

belonging to the Franciscans (preserved in the Convent of S. Saviour) we

find that "from the House of the Prince to the Sepulchre was a

subterranean passage, through which they went to the Church of the

Sepulchre." From this I was led to examine the spot, and found, on the

west side of the house, an aperture level with the ground leading into a

subterranean passage, bearing the appearance of antiquity; but it was so

filled up with rubbish that I was unable to examine it thoroughly;

nevertheless I believe that it communicated with the Chapel of S.

Helena, just at the doorway now walled up, and that its entrance is

covered by the altar nearest to the north-east corner. On the west of

the House of the Prince is a Coptic convent, built upon a part of the

land formerly occupied by the Canons of the Holy Sepulchre; its chapel

is worth a visit; it is of the twelfth century, and no doubt was

originally either the refectory or the dormitory of the ecclesiastics.

From the interior of this convent the open court in front of the Church

of the Resurrection can be reached, by passing through a chapel at its

north-west corner.

Returning through the entrance gate into the street (which I call

Prince's Street) we come to the so-called cistern of S. Helena, on the

left hand. We enter a chamber serving as a refuge to some poor

Abyssinian families; the inner walls are ancient, together with the

small doorway on the north, by which we begin to descend a dark and most

ruinous staircase, that 'craves wary walking;' however, after going down

thirty very awkward steps, we enter the vault, and the staircase at once

becomes perfectly regular, so much so as to appear more like the way

into a comfortable house than into a cistern; for each step is 5 feet

long, 1-1/2 wide, and about 8 inches deep. The staircase (including its

vaulted roof) and the whole reservoir are excavated in the rock. The

latter is about 86 feet long, 72 wide, and 52 high. I was able to

examine it thoroughly in September, 1858, when it was dry. Holes are

made in the vaulted roof and walls, through which it is supplied by

rain-water from the terrace-roofs of the neighbouring houses and from

the street to the north. This I ascertained by descending into it during

a time of heavy rain. There are some small openings on the south-east to

carry off superfluous water. The construction of this is attributed to

S. Helena (like everything else in Palestine); but its magnitude induces

me to consider it Jewish work of an earlier period. Besides, what motive

could she have had for making it? It could not be for want of a

reservoir; there were plenty of them at Jerusalem then as now; and it is

not likely that she would have wasted money to no purpose, when there

were so many works of benevolence and greater utility, on which she knew

well how to spend it.

In the north-west corner of the Plan[438] is the mosque of Ibrahim,

situated in the interior of the _Kanki_, called the Hospice of Saladin;

because he richly endowed it to enable it to entertain the Mohammedan

pilgrims to the Holy City; and at the same time erected the minaret,

which is still standing, and restored the entrance-gate. During the time

of the Crusaders it was the palace of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, whence

the adjoining street is called Patriarch's Street. The lower parts of

its walls on the north and west are ancient and strongly built; but the

upper as well as the interior of the building, have greatly suffered

from wretched Arab alterations, so that it is difficult to form any idea

of its former internal plan. In the Christian bazaar on the west the

wall throughout its whole height and the pilasters are unquestionably of

the date of the Crusades, together with the chambers within on the

ground-floor and story above; as is proved by their pointed arches, with

the columns and capitals supporting them. They are now used as

storehouses for the grain received by the governor: and as the Hospice

has no longer any revenues, it will before long become the property of

one of the Christian communities. The staircase inside at the north

entrance is the only part of the building that retains its former

grandeur uninjured.

Let us now turn our attention to the Hospital. The visitor, on quitting

the court in front of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre by the door at

the south-east corner, enters a small street[439], and passing along

this to the east, comes, after a few yards, to a great doorway with a

semicircular arch, standing on the south side of the way, and adorned

with figures representing the twelve months of the year; above the arch

some traces of a lamb, the emblem of the Hospitalers of Jerusalem, can

still be distinguished[440]. This gateway is now walled up, and very

much hidden by the accumulated earth; and before the year 1858 it was

impossible for any one to go along that way without suffering from

nausea, besides wetting his feet with the foul mire, and encountering a

pack of savage hungry dogs that haunted the place--nuisances caused by a

tannery. The court within and the buildings round it were as bad as the

street; so that the place was hardly fit to be visited, being covered

with carcases of animals and the most abominable filth. The inhabitants

of Jerusalem are indebted to Surraya Pasha for the removal of this

pestiferous evil; and the Christians above all, who have thus obtained a

decent approach to their principal Sanctuary; and can visit, not the

prison of S. Peter, as the ignorant guides call it, but the remains of

the time of the Amalfi merchants and the Knights Hospitaler of S. John;

of which I will now give a brief account.

The amicable relations between Harûn er-Rashîd, Khalif of Bagdad, and

Charlemagne, were of the utmost advantage to the Christians at

Jerusalem, and induced the French Monarch to send large gifts thither,

A.D. 810, in order to restore the churches, to build hospices, and

purchase lands for their endowment. The monk Bernard, who visited

Jerusalem in the year 870 A.D., writes as follows[441]: "On our arrival

at Jerusalem we were entertained at the hospice of the glorious Emperor

Charles, where all are welcomed who visit the place from a devout motive

and speak the Latin language. To it is attached a church in honour of S.

Mary, with a noble library, due to the care of the same Emperor, with

twelve houses, fields, vineyards, and a garden in the valley of

Jehoshaphat. In front of the hospice is the market, &c." This

establishment was inhabited by Benedictine monks. In the year 1010 A.D.,

Hakem, Khalif of Egypt, destroyed this building, as it was near the

Church of the Resurrection; but when it was rebuilt, another hospice,

together with the Church of S. Mary, was also founded. William of Tyre

states[442] that "certain merchants of Amalfi, who had obtained the

favour of the Governors of the cities of Syria by importing useful and

needful goods and by their quiet and peaceable conduct, obtained

permission from Belfagar (Abu-'l-Giafar?), Sultan of Egypt, to rebuild a

monastery in the Christian quarter to receive pilgrims, minister to the

sick, and practise every kind of charity." To this building and the

church, which they dedicated to the Virgin Mary, they attached offices

for the inmates, together with a public market, in which any one could

establish a shop on paying a rent of two pieces of gold to the Patriarch

and his clergy. This was opposite to the Church of the Resurrection, and

a stone's throw to the south of the Church of the Invention of the

Cross, as I have already said[443]. When the buildings were finished

these merchants placed in them an Abbot with his attendant monks, and as

these performed the service in Latin, while the rest of the clergy in

the place followed the rites of the Greek Church, their church obtained

the name of S. Mary Latin[444]. Afterwards the monks assigned to an

order of nuns a convent which they had founded outside their property to

the north, and dedicated to S. Mary Magdalene; giving it the name of S.

Mary Latin the Less; but these institutions always bore the name of

'Latin[445].' In course of time the number of pilgrims became larger, so

that the monks were obliged to increase their accommodation, and built a

hospital and another church to the west, which they dedicated to S.

John, Patriarch of Alexandria, called 'the Almsgiver,' from the noble

liberality with which he had succoured the Christians who had taken

refuge in Egypt, when Palestine was invaded by Chosroes II. This new

foundation was supported by abundant alms, collected in Italy by the

help of the Amalfi merchants. When the Crusaders made their triumphant

and bloody entry into Jerusalem, they found the convents of S. Mary

Latin in the above situation, and quite uninjured[446]. The hospital at

that time was presided over by a monk named Gerald, and the nunnery by a

noble Roman lady named Agnes[447]. When the Latin kingdom was

established, Gerald found fellow-labourers in his works of benevolence;

who, together with him, were distinguished by a black dress, relieved by

a white cross on the breast, and devoted themselves to the relief of the

sick, the poor, and the pilgrims. Such was the origin of the Fraternity

of S. John. Agnes adopted the same rules, so far as concerned the

ministrations among the poor, and the two communities chose S. John the

Baptist as their joint protector[448]. So long as the brothers were poor

and few in number, they remained under the rule of the Abbot; but when

they found means, and had obtained powerful protectors on account of the

eminent services they had rendered, they spurned his jurisdiction (about

A.D. 1113), and between the years 1118 and 1159 formed themselves into

an organized body, respected for their prowess in arms as champions of

the Faith; and their white and black flag, an emblem of the faith they

professed and the death they menaced to its enemies, waved over many a

glorious field in Syria. The knights, being compelled to quit Jerusalem

after its capture by Saladin, removed to Margat, then to S. Jean d'Acre,

between the years 1187 and 1192; afterwards they remained about twenty

years in the city of Limasol in Cyprus; thence they went to Rhodes (A.D.

1309-1522); and being driven from that island by the conquests of the

Turks, they established themselves at Malta, and took the name of the

country they had adopted.

During the earlier part of my stay in Jerusalem (1855-6), a certain

member of the order, a man of a chivalrous and philanthropic spirit, was

desirous of re-establishing it upon its primitive footing; but the

obstacles in the way of his project appeared so great, that the attempt

was soon abandoned. His intention was to obtain possession of the

property that had formerly belonged to the knights; a matter itself of

the greatest difficulty, as the land was divided among several owners

(the Greek convent having the largest part), who would not give up a

foot without the fullest compensation.

It now remains for me to say a few words about the present condition of

these buildings. The Plan[449] shews the positions of the Hospital of S.

John, of S. Mary the Great, and S. Mary the Less, with reference to the

Church of the Resurrection. All three in the present day are but heaps

of ruins; only a few walls remain standing, the greater number being so

completely buried under a mass of earth and rubbish, that little or

nothing can be ascertained about their ancient arrangement. We will

however examine their exterior and interior. On the north side, towards

the north-west corner, are some regular Arab cottages; and going

eastward from them, we come to a minaret, built in the fifteenth

century, in memory of the spot whereon Omar offered up prayer, instead

of entering the Church of the Resurrection. Before the erection of the

minaret, Khahab-ed-Din, nephew of Saladin, built a mosque called

_Derkah_[450] on an adjoining plot of land; this had so completely

fallen to decay, that but a few fragments of its foundations were

remaining in 1855; over which the Mohammedans, actuated rather by

fanaticism than religious feeling, built the slight octagonal monument

called the Mosque of Omar. Opposite to the Church of the Resurrection is

the Greek convent of Gethsemane; in the lower part of its walls are some

fragments of ancient work. After this all along the little street

(except at the decorated entrance) are small ill-built shops, covered

with a great heap of earth, which often slips down during the rainy

season. Inside these shops a careful search will discover some poor

fragments of antiquity; such as mutilated capitals, broken bases, and

carefully worked stones, built into rough Arab masonry. The east side

exhibits similar cottages from the north-east corner as far as the door

leading into the bazaar, which, together with the others near it on the

east (though all are in the most neglected and ruinous condition), shews

signs of antiquity in the walls and vaulting. I consider them to be the

work of the Amalfi merchants, restored at a later period by the

Crusaders. In the shops occupied by the braziers, on the west side of

the bazaar bounding this plot of land, are some old passages which

communicated with the interior of the hospital; but now many of them are

walled up or obstructed with ruins. I managed however to get through

certain of them, after some trouble, in order to reach the building near

them on the west. At the eastern end of the south side are small houses

and Arab shops; which however soon give place to the building now called

from its use the Corn Bazaar; which in its well-laid walls, pointed

arches, and solid vaults, shews plainly the work of the Hospitalers. I

endeavoured to enter by the north side, where at the present time the

stalls are placed, but was prevented by the accumulated earth; however I

was able to ascertain that piers and vaulted roofs still remain in the

northern part of the bazaar. The sentence of death is executed on

criminals in this place. Going thence up the street westward, we see on

the north side a row of fine columns, supporting grand pointed arches,

now closed with Arab masonry. In the wall are doors opening into vaulted

chambers like those in the bazaar. These were formerly the storehouses

of the hospital; they now belong to different owners, the Greek convent

possessing the largest share. The arcade towards the west is broken by a

very high common Arab wall, enclosing the south side of the Greek

convent of S. John Baptist; the entrance to which is in the Christian

bazaar, which bounds the Hospital on the east. All the interior of the

convent is modern Arab masonry, but some debased Corinthian capitals are

built irregularly into the façade of the church; some more are to be

seen in other parts, placed upon ancient bases of columns. These were

discovered when the convent was enlarged towards the east. The crypt of

the church, reached by an external staircase on the south side, is an

uninjured building of the Hospitalers; in its east wall is a doorway

with a pointed arch, closed to prevent the earth falling in. The rock

lies about two feet below the pavement, and was discovered nearly at the

same depth to the south of the convent, when the Prussian hospital was

built; so that the correspondence of these levels proves the

nonexistence of Dr Robinson's Tyropoeon. Going northward along the

Christian bazaar, we come to a Turkish bath on the east side, supplied

during a large portion of the year from the pool commonly called the

Pool of Hezekiah[451]. The refuse water is carried off by a conduit,

emptying itself into that which runs along the Street of David. I have

examined it at the two ends, and also in the interior of the convent,

through the kindness of the Greek Prior. Its lower part is hewn in the

rock; but the side walls and vaulting belong to the period of the

Crusaders; it is too narrow to be traversed. From the bath up to the

north-west corner are storehouses and wretched buildings, all of the

commonest Arab work.

The present entrance into the precincts of the Hospital is near the

western end of the northern side. Within, a spacious plateau meets the

eye, formed by the earth which has accumulated at different periods; in

the north-east corner is a very ruinous building; on the east it is

bounded by the vaults of the bazaars below; these are very dilapidated

and covered by a luxuriant vegetation of creeping plants, which daily

makes the ruin worse; on the south are the fallen terrace-roofs of the

ancient halls mentioned above; in the south-west corner stand the walls

of the Convent of S. John; on the west, the low walls dividing it from

the little gardens, terraces, and Mohammedan houses; and on the north,

what we have already described. The plateau itself, on which there are

no houses, belongs to the Greek Convent of S. Constantine; the building

on the north-east is the property of the Governor, and in 1858 would

have been sold to the Greeks or the Armenians, if M. Edmond de Barrère,

the French Consul, had not actively interposed to prevent it, in the

hope that it might one day be restored, if not to the knights of Malta,

at least to France. Let us then enter it.

Its plan is that of a poor convent with an inner court, round which

still runs a cloister on the level of the ground; though it has been

transformed by the tanners, who have made the space between each pair of

pillars into shops. The upper floor of the cloister is perfect, with the

cells within. Opening into it on the south side is a long hall, little

injured, which was probably the refectory; and parallel to this are two

smaller chambers, in a tottering condition[452]. On the north of the

convent[453] are some ruins of a church, sufficiently perfect to give us

an idea of its ancient form. It had three apses at the east end; the

southern of these is still standing; the fragments of the others are

nearly covered by heaps of earth, as are portions of the side walls. We

can ascertain its original length from a part of the west wall, which is

still standing, though enclosed in a mass of Arab cottages, against

which are the remains of two piers with their bases perfect. From these

ruins I can infer that the church was divided into a nave with two side

aisles. I consider the remains, both of the convent and of the church,

to be the work of the Amalfi merchants. Their architecture, proportions,

and masonry are too contracted and insignificant to be of the period of

the Crusaders, who however undoubtedly built the great entrance gateway,

and perhaps restored the church; this latter point, however, cannot

easily be determined, as the building is in such a ruined condition.

Close to the apse still standing is a door, leading into a long dark

chamber, which is exhibited as the prison in which S. Peter was confined

by Herod Agrippa I. The tradition is worthless, and not so old as the

time of the Crusaders; who, on their entry into Jerusalem, found on

Mount Sion a church dedicated to the imprisonment of S. Peter, standing

on the supposed site of the prison. The place may be considered to be

the sacristy of the ancient church, which communicated with the convent.

At the present time there are some richly ornamented capitals within it

of excellent workmanship, together with some cornices; all however are

out of their proper places, being either built into the walls or lying

on the ground.

These ruins belong to the church of S. Mary the Great. All authors

previous to the fifteenth century are unanimous on this point. John of

Würtzburg[454], who visited Jerusalem in the second half of the twelfth

century, states that "near the Church of the Hospital of S. John is a

nunnery in honour of the Virgin, almost close to the end of the church;

it is called S. Mary the Great." This, formerly the monastery, was now

inhabited by the Sisters Hospitaler under the charge of an Abbess, and

was a dependency of the Grand Master of the Order. Agnes was the

foundress, as I have already said; and she was succeeded by other ladies

of rank: two of whom are mentioned by William of Tyre[455], one called

Sibylla, the other Stephania, a daughter of Jocelin (Senior) Count of

Edessa. The ruins of S. Mary the Great have been preserved because

Saladin founded a hospital there, which he richly endowed; but its

revenues are now exhausted. It is not fifty years, since a philanthropic

Mohammedan of Jerusalem endeavoured to re-establish the charitable

foundations of Saladin, but the managers have again squandered the

property. It is now quite deserted and has become a receptacle of filth,

waiting every day to be applied to some other purpose.

Let us now look for the position of the Hospital, which is well

defined[456]. It occupied a piece of land bounded on the north by the

court in front of the door of the Holy Sepulchre and by Palmers

Street[457], formerly the Tan-yard Street; on the west by Patriarch

Street, or the Christian bazaar; and on the east and south by a small

street which, beginning from Palmers Street, opposite to the Sepulchre,

ran southward between the convent of S. Mary the Great and the Hospital,

and turning to the west led into Patriarch Street[458]. The principal

buildings, with the church, were erected between A.D. 1130 and 1140,

under the superintendence of Raymond of Puy, Grand Master of the

Hospital. William of Tyre relates that they were so large, especially

those opposite to the door of the Church of the Sepulchre, that they

surpassed it in magnificence; besides which they had a large peal of

bells, whose sound drowned the voice of the Patriarch when he was

preaching on the Calvary. No part of these splendid buildings now

remains perfect; all are a mass of ruins, or covered with earth and Arab

cottages. Sir John Maundeville, who visited Jerusalem A.D. 1322, found

the hospital still standing, and states that it was supported by 124

columns of stone and 54 pilasters built into the wall[459]. I was

therefore very anxious to examine the ground in the hope of finding some

remains of these. I carried on excavations for many days in various

directions: I forced my way with great difficulty from vault to vault;

but found neither fragments of columns nor capitals, only very many

pilasters. I discovered a large crypt by chance; for the ground gave way

under my feet, and I fell into it; but it was so filled with earth that

I could not explore it. When the Greeks remove the ruins in order to

build upon this site, it may be possible to discover some remains of the

ancient walls, and perhaps to make out something about its arrangement.

FOOTNOTES:

[372] Note I.

[373] S. John xix. 20.

[374] S. Luke xxiii. 27.

[375] S. John xix. 31.

[376] S. John xix. 14.

[377] S. Matt. xxvii. 45, 46.

[378] Mischna, 4th part, _Bava-bathra_, c. II., § 8.

[379] Page 30.

[380] S. John xix. 41.

[381] S. Matt. xxvii. 60, 61; S. Luke xxiii. 55; S. John xix. 38, 39,

41, 42.

[382] S. Matt. xxvii. 62-64.

[383] S. Matt. xxvii. 66; xxviii. 4.

[384] Treatise Sanhedrim, fol. 43 (Venet. edit.).

[385] Ant. XX. 9, § 1.

[386] Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. III. 5.

[387] Ibid. IV. 6.

[388] Note II.

[389] Euseb. Vita Constant. III. 26, 28.

[390] Note III.

[391] Histoire de l'État présent de Jer. ch. IV.

[392] Note IV.

[393] Eutychius, Ann. Tom. II. pp. 421-423.

[394] So William of Tyre reports, Lib. I. c. 3, but Cedrenus attributes

their destruction to Azis, father of Hakem. I am inclined to credit the

former, because, according to historians, Azis shewed kindness to the

Christians, having married a wife from among them, the sister of John,

Patriarch of Jerusalem, (Dositheus' History of the Patriarchs of

Jerusalem); while all agree in depicting Hakem as a savage bloodthirsty

tyrant; so that it is in the highest degree improbable that (as some

assert) he restored the churches destroyed by Azis. Cedrenus betrays his

own mistake when he says that Azis burnt the patriarch and the church

together, A.D. 968; whereas he did not ascend the throne till A.D. 975.

[395] Note V.

[396] Note VI.

[397] Plate XXXI.

[398] Note VII.

[399] Plates XXX., XXXIV.

[400] Note VIII.

[401] As for example, Maria the Portuguese, a nun of the third order of

S. Francis, A.D. 1578, and Cosimo of Granada, a Franciscan friar, A.D.

1559.

[402] For details of the capitals of the columns in it see Plate XXXVI.

[403] See M. de Vogüé's excellent description, Les Églises de la Terre

Sainte, p. 199 et seq.

[404] Plates XXXII., XXXIII.

[405] Note IX.

[406] Note X.

[407] Plate XXXVI.

[408] Note XI.

[409] Liber Secretorum Fidelium Crucis, Lib. III. pars 14, c. 8; Note

XII.

[410] Plates XXXIV., XXXV.

[411] Plate XXXV.

[412] S. Matt. xxviii. 2.

[413] Mabillon, Acta Sanctorum, Sæc. 3, pars 2.

[414] Itinerarium Terræ Sanctæ in Leo Allatius, Symmikta, ed. 1653, p.

147.

[415] Itinerarium Hierosolymitanum, p. 40, ed. of 1486.

[416] Note XIII.

[417] Plates LVI., LIX.

[418] Plate LVI.

[419] S. Matt. xxviii. 2.

[420] S. Mark xvi. 1-6.

[421] S. Luke xxiv. 2, 3.

[422] S. John xx. 1, 4, 5, 6.

[423] Euseb. Theoph. See Lee's translation, p. 199, Camb. 1843.

[424] S. Cyril, Catechet. Lect. XIV. (Library of the Fathers, Vol. II.

p. 169).

[425] Plate XXXIV. (section).

[426] Plate LIX.

[427] Plate XXXV.

[428] Ezek. v. 5.

[429] Inferno, II. 1 (Wright).

[430] Plate XXXV.

[431] Plate XXXVI.

[432] I except the Latins from this reproach.

[433] Note XIV.

[434] Note XV.

[435] Gesta Francorum expugnantium Hierusalem (Gesta Dei per Francos,

Tom. I. p. 573, ed. 1611).

[436] Les Églises de la Terre Sainte. De Vogüé, pp. 249, 262 et seq.

[437] Lib. XII. c. 7 (Gesta Dei per Francos, Tom. II. pp. 819, 820, ed.

1611).

[438] Plate XXX.

[439] Note XVI.

[440] Plate XXXVII.

[441] Recueil de Voyages et de Mémoires publiés par la Société de

Géographie. 4to. Vol. IV. p. 789.

[442] Lib. XVIII. c. 4 (Gesta Dei per Francos, Tom. II. pp. 933, 934,

ed. 1611).

[443] Page 125.

[444] Note XVII.

[445] William of Tyre, Lib. IX. c. 18 (Gesta Dei per Francos, Tom. II.

p. 773, ed. 1611).

[446] Albert of Aix, Lib. VI. c. 25 (Gesta Dei per Francos, Tom. I. p.

281, ed. 1611).

[447] William of Tyre, Lib. XVIII. c. 5 (Gesta Dei per Francos, Tom. II.

p. 935, ed. 1611).

[448] See Sæwulf's description, Note V.

[449] Plate XXX.

[450] Mejir-ed-Din, p. 123.

[451] Plate XXXI.

[452] Plate XXX.

[453] Plate XXXVIII.

[454] Descriptio Terræ Sanctæ. Pez. thes. anecd. noviss. Vol. I. pt. 3,

col. 526.

[455] William of Tyre, Lib. XIX. c. 4 (Gesta Dei, &c. Vol. II. p. 958).

[456] De Vogüé, Les Églises, &c. p. 251.

[457] Note XVI.

[458] Note XVIII.

[459] Early Travels in Palestine. Bohn's Ant. Libr. p. 168.