On our second day in Jerusalem, we were brought to the Church of St Anne's with the Pool of Bethesda, incidentally also the site where the Virgin Mary was supposedly born. Unfortunately, the place was closed that day as there was a graduation ceremony for priests, so this itinerary was shifted to our last day in Jerusalem.
It was also on this site that Jesus often went to visit with his maternal grandparents. The Church of St Anne was built on the site. We had the priviledge of going in to sing, and the church has the most beautiful natural acoustics in there! Anyone can just sing and the voices and hymns will sound so beautiful! Imagine going there to sing Christmas carols, how beautiful that will sound!
In any case, the birth place of the Virgin Mary was in the basement, in an erected room which was supposedly the exact site. Pool of Bethesda is in the outdoor compound, but the pools are mostly dried up now.
The church has a very beautiful garden in its grounds.
Entrance to the church
The altar. Look at the way the church is structured, the acoustics just flow!
The roof of the church
See this picture with a baby? This was supposedly the site where Mary was born.
These stairs lead down to the room where Mary was supposedly born.
These other stairs also lead down to the same place.
The compound of the Pool of Bethesda
Being a Catholic, I am more interested in the so-called "Catholic" sites that involve the Virgin Mary. Unfortunately, we did not manage to cover a lot in this trip. Hence I was pleased that Church of St Anne was included in the itinerary, and the tour guide kindly brought us back even when it was closed. Hopefully if I ever go back there I can cover more Catholic sites!
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