Among the followers of the Christian faith and in general the cultured, educated people of the whole world, the places associated with the life and spiritual and educational activities of Jesus are considered especially revered and possessing undoubted historical and cultural value.
The Garden in Gethsemane
Gethsemane Garden is one of such shrines. The very name "Gethsemane" means "press for oil crops", "oil press". This is a place in Israel near East Jerusalem, located near Mount Eleon. The Kidron Valley, which lies at its foot, includes the very same land where the legendary Gethsemane Garden once grew. At present, a small fragment with a total area of 47x50 m remains of it.
Relationship with biblical events
In those days, about which narrates the New Testament, the so-called whole valley. The garden of Gethsemane now adjoins the tomb of the Mother of God. According to the Gospel, it was here that Christ spent his last hours before his arrest. Here he prayed to the Heavenly Father, asking him to take away from him the heavy cup of suffering and at the same time humbly accepting His will and the trials that had been prepared for him. The apostles-disciples knew that Jesus loves the Garden of Gethsemane and often secluded in it, to reflect on his own, to rest from the bustle of the city, to immerse himself in high fellowship with God. Therefore, Judas pointed to the guards precisely this place where one can find Christ and without problems, unnecessary noise to arrest. Modern studies were able to even fairly accurately indicate the corner of the garden where the legendary events took place. It is located among the most ancient olive trees, whose age is more than one hundred years.
Gethsemane Garden and Christian Traditions
In the Bible, many pages are dedicated to the narrative of what Christ did in the Garden of Gethsemane. For believers of all countries of Christian confessions this place is associated with the Passion of the Lord. Every year pilgrims from all over the world come here. This tradition has been practiced since Jesus was crucified. And in the 14th century, at the site of the constant prayers of Christ, the first small temple was built - from the Byzantine Orthodox Church. The new House of God was built there in a century, when the previous one was destroyed. In the 17th century, representatives of the Catholic Order of St. Francis (Franciscans) established surveillance over the terrain. And the corner where Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, from the middle of the 19th century was fenced off by a high wall, closing the entrance to it to all comers.
Gethsemane Temples
In the Holy Gethsemane, three large churches are now open and functioning, having a huge Christian significance.
- First of all, this is the so-called Church of All Nations. It belongs to the Franciscans and was erected in the first quarter of the 20th century. The main relic of the temple is a stone on which, as the legends say, Christ prayed tearfully before his arrest. The name of the church is connected with the fact that donations from believers from many European countries and citizens of Canada were collected for its construction. Before the church there is an altar. The sights of the temple are mosaic paintings on themes of Jesus' early days.
- Near the tomb, where the Virgin is buried, the Church of the Assumption is built. There are also places for the last calm of the parents of the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph. He built it in the 12th century. Elena. It belongs to the church of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem and the Armenian Orthodox faith.
- And one more Orthodox shrine, this time the Russian is the church of St. Mary Magdalene, built by Emperor Alexander III in the second half of the 19th century. It is decorated with icons of the famous artist Vereshchagin. The temple is crowned with a traditional dome for Russian architecture with crosses. There is a convent at the temple.
As we see, the shrines at all times remain sacred to people.