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Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

The Front of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is supposedly the site where Jesus was crucified and buried. The church is shared between a number of different sects of Christianity, and they often don't agree with each other. The site houses a number of holy locations - the spot where Jesus was crucified, anointed, and also buried.

The church falls under an agreement called the "Status Quo" agreement, which prevents the groups from doing anything that other groups might consider infringing on their territory. For that reason, there is a ladder outside the entranceway which has been there since the 1800s.

The interior of the church is quite neat. It's built a little bit like a maze - the rooms don't seem to be connected in a very logical fashion. Each part of the church that's owned by a different sect is decorated very differently, which makes it quite neat to walk through the church and see all the different design styles.

Although violence often breaks out in the church, when we visited, it was a very busy tourist attraction, and was full of tourists. Tourists could walk through all areas of the site. I didn't feel uncomfortable there, or like I was in any danger.

Although there are a lot of tourists going through here, it is a church and not an attraction. This means that there are no labels or explanations anywhere. This is the kind of place you'd want to bring a guide, otherwise you'd have no idea what you're looking at or where to go once inside.

Cost

The rock where Jesus body was anointed

This is a free attraction.

Estimated Visiting Time

The altar where the cross was placed

Expect to spend 30-60 minutes walking around - the church is fairly large, and maze-like. It's a very popular tourist destination, so some of the "sites" inside the church have line-ups that will take additional time to wait in.