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     The next day we returned to the Old City to visit more of the traditional sites. The first of these - the 'Wailing Wall', or the 'Western Wall of the Temple Mount' -  is the most accessible sacred site to  members of the Jewish faith. I say accessible, because even though Jews are allowed to go up on the temple mount, most would not, for fear that they could accidentally walk upon ground that encompassed the Holy of Holies in the old temple, thereby defaming it. As the exact location of the Jewish Temple has not been ascertained, no devout Jew would chance walking upon ground that may have contained the Ark of the Covenant. That leaves the wailing wall. 

The Western Wall was not actually part of the temple itself, rather it served as a corner of the foundation for the surface of the temple mount. In order to build the temple it was necessary to 'square off' the area. This in turn required that a portion of the southwestern corner be filled in. The Wailing Wall was the outside western wall of this area. The picture just below is a close-up of the wall. It was at this point of our trip that one of the members of our party made a rather profound observation. Looking at the wall he said, "Here we are, standing in the present - surrounded by the past - with a blessed hope for the future."

     While everything was calm all around us, the security procedure we had to endure before entering this area belayed the fact that this whole area is in fact a tinderbox. In its' own way this next picture reveals the same thing. Notice the large group of blue shirted police officers near the center of the next picture. These are all security police who were ready to spring into action at even the slights hint of a problem.

     In fact, it was in this very area that some of the initial confrontations between the Palestinians and Israelis were to flare up only a few weeks after this picture was taken.

     As we continued traveling further north into the old city, we again passed through both quiet side streets - (note the man carrying a tray of bread on his head near the center of this shot.)

And more crowded sections filled with stalls carrying every sort of goods

And a little bit of everything 

When we reached this intersection, which happened to be station # 5 on the Via Dolorosa, we turned right and headed towarded the Monastery built over the traditional site where Jesus was whipped by order of Pilate. 
 

Here is an interior shot of the chapel.

     From here we headed back west across the old city, to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Aside from the Church of the Nativity, this church is perhaps the most honored of all the sites in Israel. It is located over the site traditionally believed to be the spot upon which Jesus was crucified and buried. The single Church of the Holy Sepulchre encompasess both locations. While it is located within the walls of the present 'Old City,' at the time of Christ this site was outside the walls. 

     To get a better understanding of how this church was built so as to encompas both sites, see the cutaway diagram below

     This next picture is of the entrance to the church, and the one after that is the enclosure within the church which encompases the tomb, and the last one is of the altar over Golgotha.

      While that may indeed have been the actual location of Christ's crucification and burial, both Alice and I had a better experience visiting the other site regarded as the location of Goglotha and the tomb of Joseph of Aramethia known as the 'Garden Tomb' and located north of the Damascus Gate near the bus station.

For purposes of comparison, here is a picture of the other 'Golgatha' near the bus station: Note the 'skull' inside the red square (I added the red square in order to highlight the area)

To the right of this location is the Garden Tomb:

This next picture is of the walkway which leads to the tomb, and the one after that shows the layout of the sepulchre, and final one shows the interior of the tomb itself.