Day 4

Began by taking a taxi back to the Mount of Olives to see the Russian Church of Mary Magdelene, since it was closed yesterday.

Then walked through the Lion (St Stephen's) Gate into the old city to explore the Via Delarosa without the crowds and with time to look at each station.

Here is a picture of the 'Prison of Christ', near the first stations - a set of prison cells from the 1st Century, deep underground below Pilate's palace.

We also stopped at the Orthodox birthplace of the Virgin Mary (the other side of the same cave as the Catholic one we saw the 1st day - and much more convincing since it was left in its orignial state).

Then along the Via Delarosa to the Church of St Veronica, the Coptic monastry of St Antony, the Greek Orthodox church of St Helena with a huge, natural underground cistern and a short cut through an Ethiopian Monastry to get to the Holy Sepulchre.

Just inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the Rock of Unction, held to be the stone on which Jesus' body was prepared for burial.

This shrine, up a flight of stairs, surrounds the rock of Golgotha, the place longest associated with the crucifixion.

You can kneel to touch the rock through a hole below the altar.

The Tomb of Christ was a little disappointing as the crowds made it a very rushed visit after a 40 minute queue, with a monk shouting 'Quick, quick quick' all the time. We may try to go back when it is quieter.

The sunlight through the roof catching the incense smoke was beautiful though.

The whole church was very impressive, with features from many periods over 1500 years.

This rotunda is one of the most recent parts, dating from 1927 but the walls and ceiling are largely Crusader.

The dangers and perils of the old city:

This is what 4 days of pounding the streets (in sensible shoes) does to Laura's toe! So after a short walk on the Christian Quarter rooftops, with beautiful views, we returned to the hotel.

We are going for a seafood bonanza at the well regarded (and posh) American Colony Hotel tonight.