Monday, September 3, 2018

Israel Day 8/13: St Peter in Gallicantu

The Church of St Peter's in Gallicantu is the traditional site of Caiaphas' house. He was the High Priest on the night of Jesus' betrayal. The Assumptionist church was built in 1931 over the ruins of a 5th century Byzantine basilica.









It is built into four levels: upper church, middle church, guardroom and dungeon. The upper church walls are covered in brightly colored mosaics and a large cross-shaped stained-glass window.









The middle church...



Jesus was brought to Caiaphas' house after His arrest in the Garden. You can look down into the dungeon, or pit, where many believe that Jesus was kept between His meeting with the Sandedrin and Pilate. Jesus would have been lowered and raised by rope through the narrow shaft into the cistern.



Unlike the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, one can truly contemplate the sufferings of Christ in this solemn place. Pastor Greg said of the pit, "This is what love looks like."



In the courtyard outside the church is a statue of Peter at the fire where he denied Christ three times. Because of the passage in Matthew 26:75, the symbol of the church is the rooster...




These steps down to the Garden of Gethsemane were found during excavations and most probably were used during Jesus' time and would have walked on by our Savior...



other excavations of ruins


these reliefs were on either side of the top of the steps













No comments: