Today we are going to present to you a daily trip plan in Mount of Olives churches and a few nice vantage points.
The day begins with a view from Mount Scopus over the Judean Desert, the Jordan Valley, and the Dead Sea. We will continue to visit the Augusta Victoria complex and the impressive church in it, enjoy a great view of Jerusalem from the Rehavam Zeevi’s lookout, visit an amazing burial cave and enter the Dominus Flevit (The Lord Wept) church down the Mount of Olives. The route should be done by car, with quick stops in all locations, and suited for all ages.
The tour is suitable for all weather conditions except heavy winter days (because of the two open vantage points). It takes around three hours and you can skip or add sites according to your level of interest.
The trip visits several Mount of Olives churches so please dress modestly (long pants). Entrance to the churches is possible only according to the visiting hours indicated below and to visit them all in one day, it is recommended to start the trip early in the morning.
Starting Point – The French Hill in Jerusalem
From the French Hill Junction in Jerusalem, turn right (south) onto Haim Bar-Lev Boulevard in the direction of the Old City and Ma’ale Adumim. At the next junction, turn left onto the Hebrew University Boulevard according to signs pointing to Ma’ale Adumim. Continue along the road and keep to the right lane so as not to enter the Mount Scopus tunnel. Arrive at the T-junction (Martin Buber St.), turn left, and immediately stop on the right is a small plaza where there is a nice view to the east. Here we can start our daily trip.
Looking east we can see the Judean Desert, Ma’ale Adumim, and on a good-visibility day even the Dead Sea. This point is part of the watershed (drainage divide), an imaginary line separating two drainage basins. The watershed line usually passes at the topographic peak of the area, from which the water flow is distributed on both sides. In our case, water that falls west of this line will find its way to the Mediterranean Sea, and everything that falls east of the line will reach the Dead Sea.
It is amazing to see the sharp transition between the green richness of the vegetation on one side of it and the dryness, aridity, and the desert yellow color on the other one.
Looking northwest, we can see the Hebrew University’s observation tower on Mount Scopus, at the foot of which the amphitheater stage where the university’s inauguration ceremony was held on April 1st, 1925. The first chairman of the university’s board of trustees was Haim Weizmann and its members included Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Martin Buber, and other world greats.
Returning to the car, we will turn south on Martin Buber Street towards the Mount of Olives. after a short drive of about 500 meters, we will see on our left the entrance to the Augusta Victoria complex (with a hospital entrance sign), where we should find parking, and enter the through the building gate.
Augusta Victoria Church
Opening hours: Monday-Saturday, from 8:00 to 13:00.
Probably the most famous of the Mount of Olives churches, this complex was established following the famous visit of the German Emperor Wilhelm II there in 1898. The emperor named the place after his wife Augusta Victoria who accompanied him on the visit.
In the complex, there is a church with a bell tower that rises to a height of over 50 meters and can be seen from a distance. At the time, the compound was used as a hostel for pilgrims, in a building that now serves as a hospital. The compound also houses the “German Protestant Institute of Archeology in the Holy Land.”
During the First World War, the place served as a hospital and as the main headquarters of the Turkish-German forces in Jerusalem. During the British Mandate, the compound housed government institutions, and the first High Commissioners even lived in it. After the War of Independence, the place moved to Jordanian territory which turned it into a military outpost. Following the Six-Day War, the place moved back to Israeli control.
Here was the historic meeting of Herbert Samuel, Winston Churchill (then Colonial Minister), Lawrence of Arabia, and Emir Abdullah Hussein (King of Jordan I) regarding the future of the Middle East.
On the metal gate at the entrance to the complex, you can see the inscription with the inauguration of the building in 1910. We will walk along the path that leads to the entrance to the hostel, which was converted into a hospital in 1950. The gate has impressive stone carvings on it, with two angels on either side, each one with a cross on the chest and a crusader armor. The arch above the entrance hall is decorated with carvings of angels.
The complex is built in Romanesque style as an imitation of medieval German castles that include arches, vaults, and a gray tiled roof. We will not enter the hospital. We will continue on the path to the church, built on the south side of the building. At the outer entrance to the church stand two stone eagles, the symbol of the Prussian Empire. Someone has smashed the beak of the left eagle but he is still standing, watching over the coming visitors.
The church is magnificent and decorated with magnificent mosaics and murals, and on the ceiling are paintings of Jesus and his disciples and of the Emperor and Empress Wilhelm and Augusta in the form of Byzantine emperors. We can enter the building (The ticket is not expensive, around 5 ILS last time we checked). inside the building, you can see great murals, and you can walk around the whole building, and also go up to the top of the tower.
Inside the Curch
The ceiling above the nave is divided into three surfaces. The central square is where Jesus sits, his feet on the sun and moon and behind him a rainbow. He holds a book, around which are the four angels – Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael, guarding the gates of heaven. In the outer ring are portraits of the twelve apostles.
On the ceiling above the altar, a painting of Jerusalem is surrounded by a wall and in the center is the Temple, with three angels playing in the sky and the Latin inscription “Jerusalem the Holy City”. The description of the temple is taken from a painting by Raphael. Above the eastern stand is depicted King Solomon accompanied by the prophets Jeremiah and Daniel. Above the western stand is King David accompanied by Isaiah and Melchizedek, above the arch facing the apse (the arch in the center of the altar) appear the portraits of the apostles – Peter and Paul.
We will leave the church, return to the car and continue driving south for about 2 kilometers until we will reach the Seven Arches Hotel where we will park, and continue on foot to Mitzpe Rehavam Zeevi.
Mitzpe Rehavam Zeevi (The Seven Arches)
From this vantage point, we see Jerusalem spread out at our feet: the Temple Mount, the churches, the cemetery of the Mount of Olives, the city walls, the four quarters of the Old City, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Church of the Redeemer and the Dormition, City of David and buildings in the new city.
After enjoying the sights and taking pictures, we will walk in the direction from which we came by car (north) until we see a narrow road that turns left down the Mount of Olives into the cemetery. We will pass the road for another 40 meters and go down a few steps, to our left is the entrance to the tomb of the prophets.
Tomb Of The Prophets
Opening hours: Monday-Thursday, 9:00-15:00.
The Tomb of the Prophets is the name given to a huge burial cave where according to Jewish tradition the prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, the last three prophets of the Bible, were buried. The cave is in a private courtyard. The entrance to the cave is on a narrow staircase, hewn in the rock behind which hides a monumental, cool, and dark burial cave with a high ceiling, corridors, and burial niches in which coffins were buried. Archaeologists believe that the cave served as a burial place for fourth to fifth-century pilgrims who died during their journey.
We will get back in the car, follow our footsteps, and turn left on the narrow road in front of the stairs (right after the hotel, a very sharp turn). We will drive very carefully on the narrow, winding two-way road down the Mount of Olives. Halfway to the left, we see an entrance to the church of Dominus Flevit – we will park in the small space.
Dominus Flevit Church
Opening hours: Every day between 8:00-11:45, and 14:30-17:00.
The name Dominus Flevit means “the Lord wept” in Latin. The name is taken from the New Testament where it is said that Jesus wept on the Mount of Olives when he prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem.
Immediately after the entrance, on the right path, there is a burial cave with many coffins used to bury the bones of the deceased. More than fifty burial sites from the Second Temple period and the Byzantine period were discovered in the area around us. We will continue on the path to the church.
The church is Catholic and shaped like a tear. It was built in 1955 by Antonio Barluzzi, an Italian architect who has planned several beautiful churches in Jerusalem and around the country. The church is built on the ruins of a Byzantine church from the seventh century whose remains can be seen to the left of the front door.
We will enter the church. In the western wall is a window overlooking Jerusalem and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (the church with the two gray domes, one smaller than the other, located to the right of the Golden Dome). As a rule, churches face east, the place where the sunrise, but the modern church faces west because when Jesus stood on the Mount of Olives and mourned Jerusalem, he had to stand facing west.
We will leave the church and return to the car. We will continue driving down the narrow road to a T-junction, where we turn left and park the vehicle next to the entrance to Gat Shemanim Church.
As the place is filled with tourists, sometimes a young man stands there, actively directing traffic and parking. He offers to keep an eye on the vehicle and expects in return for a few shekels. You don’t have to pay.
Church of Mary Magdalene (The Russian Orthodox Church)
If your trip is held on Tuesdays or Thursdays before noon, it is recommended to visit the Church of Mary Magdalene. The distinctive seven gold onion domes of the beautiful Church shine out on the landscape of the Mt. of Olives. The building was constructed in 1888 in honor of the Russian czar’s mother. The church has a traditional Russian 17th-century tent structure and within the church are exquisite mosaics.
The church is open for visits only these days and only between the hours of 10:00-12:00. The entrance to the Church of Mary Magdalene is about 150 meters before the T-junction. You have to park and walk back on foot.
Church of All Nations (Basilica of the Agony)
Opening hours: Every day from 8:00 to 12:00, and from 14:00 to 18:00.
This is the most prominent and most beautiful of Mount of Olives churches. it is recognizable by the stunning gold mosaic on the church façade. The church is adjacent to the Garden of Gethsemane and marks the place where Jesus prayed on the night of his arrest. A large rock near the high altar is said to be where Jesus prayed. The church’s construction was funded by 12 nations, hence the name of it. Within the Church of All Nations, each of the nations is remembered by a mosaic inlaid in the gold ceiling of the church’s 12 cupolas.
Gethsemane (Gat Shemanim) was an agricultural place, an olive grove, and possibly a cloth house. The Jewish religion requires that Passover be celebrated inside the city, so Jesus goes to the most remote place that is still in the city as told in the New Testament. With him come his most faithful disciples, Peter, John, and Jacob. Jesus asks them to pray so that they will not fall asleep and he moves away from them a bit and fills with sadness and distress due to the sins of man. That is why the church is also called the Basilica of the Agony.
The church was built in 1919 by the architect Antonio Barluzzi (who also built the Dominus Flevit Church). during the construction of the church, the remains of an early church from the Byzantine period were discovered (325-638). The works were stopped, excavations were made, the plans were changed and the church was built. As we enter the dim church, we will look to the floor for the glass windows covering the mosaic of the original Byzantine floor.
We will leave the church, go down the stairs, and with our backs to the fence, look up and see the front gable with a mosaic depicting Jesus as a link between the Creator and humanity. Left – rulers and scholars who acknowledge their nothingness in the face of Jesus. One of them bears a plaque that says “ignorance” in Latin. In the center – Jesus is praying, above him the letters alpha and omega.
From Mount of Olives Churches Back to the City
That is it for our daily trip to the Mount of Olives churches! What an amazing day. now it’s time to return home.
To exit the city, drive from the parking lot down the road to the junction. Turn right (via Jericho road) and drive about 50 meters to the traffic light, turn left (to the Ophel promenade). To our left, we will see again the Dominus Flevit church from before, and to the right, we will see the old city walls. We will continue on the same road without deviations to the right or left until the junction where we turn right onto Hativat Yerushalayim Street. Enter the tunnel and continue with the road – from this point, there are clear signs in the direction of Tel Aviv.