Jerusalem Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the holy of holies of world Christianity. The sharper is the contrast between the expectation to find here something grandiose, outwardly similar to the shining golden Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. So, the last turn under the stone arch, and an inconspicuous blind courtyard paved with slabs opens up in front of us. It rests on a high rectangle of a gray unplastered wall lined with rough limestone blocks - the façade of the famous temple. The latter has no sides, in the usual sense, outwardly being only a continuation of the crowding buildings - bell towers, old residential buildings. Therefore, it is impossible to get an idea of the huge space hidden inside the structure from the outside.

Two steep stone arches. Under each of them there is an entrance. But one is walled up with stones. And the other, with heavy wooden doors, is opened every morning and locked in the evening by a friendly Palestinian in a red fez. The Gothic style dominates outside and inside the Church of the Resurrection - this was done by the Crusaders. For a century and a half that European knights owned the Holy City, they left visible traces of their presence. It was they who built most of the temples in the Old City and significantly rebuilt those already existing in those places that are associated with biblical events. So the famous Church of the Resurrection of Christ is a typical example of Gothic architecture. The first stone chapel on the site where Christ was laid in the tomb, and where He was resurrected, was built by Emperor Constantine at the request of his mother Helena back in the IV century. Throughout its centuries-old history, the temple was repeatedly plundered and destroyed, but then invariably revived again. Although each time in a new guise. The Church of the Resurrection acquired its current appearance in 1149. At the same time, it completely lost the original appearance of the Greek basilica.

To the left of the mighty wooden doors, one of the three columns supporting the arch is split from bottom to top. Many centuries ago, when the Orthodox were denied the opportunity to hold the Easter service, during which the Holy Fire descends, the column was cut by heavenly flames. It did not descend into the Edicule (the Holy Sepulchre), where the Armenians were unsuccessfully waiting for it, but into the hands of the Greek Patriarch, who lit an Easter candle in the street, from the temple column. A little to the left is a tower, from which the Turkish warrior Amir jumped, under the influence of this miracle he believed in the Lord and did not break, because the stones softened like wax. For this faith he was executed by the Muslims by beheading.

Immediately at the entrance to the temple, the Stone of Anointing lies on the floor, which is an oblong low slab. According to legend, the body of Christ was placed on this stone, now lined with marble, taken down from the cross, to be anointed with aromatic substances before burial. To the right of the Stone of Anointing, two stairs lead up, to the most terrible place on earth - Golgotha. The steps lead to the top of a hill hidden in the bowels of the temple. Here, according to legend, there was a cross on which Christ was crucified. In the depths rises a wooden Crucifix above an open altar. Under the altar in the floor there is a silver disc with a hole in the middle, indicating the place where the cross was inserted. Two black circles also indicate the places of the crosses on which two thieves were crucified at the same time as Christ. Below, under the altar of Golgotha, there is a dungeon where stone bonds are kept - in them the feet of the Lord were tied. These bonds are in the form of a stone slab with two holes for the legs. To the right of the bonds in the altar is the icon of the Sorrowful Mother of God. As they say, tears periodically appear on the face of the Mother of God, which flow from half-closed eyes.

Execution by crucifixion was the most painful, the most shameful and the most cruel in ancient Rome. Only the most notorious villains were executed with such a death: robbers, murderers, rebels and criminal slaves. The torment of the crucified man is impossible to describe. In addition to unbearable pains in all parts of the body and suffering, the crucified experienced terrible thirst and mortal spiritual anguish. Death was so slow that many suffered on the crosses for several days. According to Jewish law, a person hanged from a tree was considered cursed. The leaders of the Jews wanted to disgrace Jesus Christ forever by condemning Him to such an execution.

When everything was ready, the soldiers nailed Jesus Christ to the cross, piercing His hands and feet with long nails. Together with Him, they crucified two thieves. Thus the prophecy of "at-Tawra" (Old Testament, Bible) was fulfilled: "And he was numbered with the transgressors" (Isaiah 53:12) It was about noon, in Hebrew, at the 6th hour of the day. When they crucified Him, He prayed for His tormentors, saying: "Father, forgive them! Forgive them, because they don't know what they're doing." At the cross of the Savior stood His mother Mary (Mariam), the Apostle John, Mary Magdalene, and several other women who venerated Him.

Meanwhile, during the suffering of the Savior on Golgotha, a great sign occurred, reflected in the Injil (Gospel). From the hour when Jesus was crucified, that is, from the sixth hour (and according to our reckoning from the twelfth hour of the day), the sun darkened, and darkness fell over the whole earth, and lasted until the ninth hour (according to our reckoning, until the third hour of the day), that is, until the very death of Christ. This unusual, worldwide darkness was noted even by pagan writers and historians: the Roman astronomer Phlegon, Thales, and Julius Africanus. The famous philosopher from Athens, Dionysius the Areopagite, was at that time in Egypt, in the city of Heliopolis; observing the sudden darkness, he said: "Either the Creator suffers, or the world is destroyed." Subsequently, Dionysius the Areopagite converted to Christianity and was the first bishop of Athens.

When Jesus said, "I thirst." One of the soldiers ran, took a sponge, soaked it with vinegar, put it on a cane and brought it to the withered lips of the Savior. Having tasted the vinegar, the Saviour said: "It is finished," that is, the promise of God is fulfilled, the salvation of the human race from the power of sin is accomplished. After that, He said with a loud voice: "Father! Into Thy hands I commend My spirit." And bowing his head, he gave up his spirit, that is, he died.

Thus the ancient prophecy "at-Taurat" (Old Testament, Bible) was fulfilled: "He was despised and rejected before men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with sicknesses, and we hid our faces from Him; He was despised, and we didn't care about Him. But he took upon himself our infirmities and bore our sorrows; but we thought that He was smitten, chastised, and despised by God. But He was wounded for our sins; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we were healed. We were all wandering. Like sheep, each turned to his own path; and the Lord laid upon Him the sins of all of us. He was tormented, but he suffered voluntarily and did not open his mouth; like a sheep. He was led to the slaughter, and as the lamb is silent before his shearers, so he did not open his mouth. From bondage and judgment He was taken, but who can explain His generation? For He is cut off from the land of the living; but for the transgressions of my people he was put to death. A tomb with evildoers was assigned to Him, but He was buried with a rich man, because He had committed no sin, and there was no lie in His mouth. But it pleased the Lord to smite Him, and He gave Him over to torment; but when His soul offers the sacrifice of propitiation, He will see a lasting offspring, and the will of the Lord will be done by His hand" (Isaiah 53:3-11). Immeasurable is God's love for us, which shone forth from the Cross of His Son – Jesus!

As the Gospel (Injil) narrates, on the same evening, soon after all that had happened, the body of the Saviour was taken down from the cross, anointed with incense, wrapped in a clean shroud, and laid in a new tomb in the garden near Golgotha. This tomb was a cave that the rich man Joseph of Arimathea had carved out of the rock for his burial. Thus the Old Testament prophecy was fulfilled: "He was cut off from the land of the living; but for the transgressions of my people he was put to death. A tomb with evildoers was assigned to Him, but He was buried with the rich" (Isaiah 53:9). Then they rolled a huge stone to the door of the tomb and left.

After the Sabbath, on the third day after the crucifixion, early in the morning, the followers of Jesus, including Mary Magdalene, Salome, and others, came to the tomb of the Savior. Approaching it, they were surprised to find that the huge stone with which the entrance to the cave was blocked had been rolled away. In our time, Golgotha and the Holy Sepulchre, located not far from each other, are located on the territory of the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem. Entering it and going down the steps, you find yourself in a dark, harsh round hall - a rotunda. In the center there is a small domed chapel made of pink marble, placed over the cave of the Holy Sepulchre. The Greeks call it the Edicule, that is, "bed". The chapel has two limits: the angel's limit, where Mary Magdalene saw him sitting on the tombstone. The body of Christ was not in the tomb – the Son of God had risen! "And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord, having come down from heaven, came and rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb and sat on it; his appearance was like lightning, and his garments were white as snow" (Matt. 28:2-6). The angel said to the astonished women, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here: He is risen"

A cube-shaped pedestal with a part of the sacred stone rolled away that night by the Angel is located in the middle of the chapel and serves as a holy altar during the celebration of the hierarchal Orthodox liturgy. To the left and to the right, in the walls of the Angel's Chapel, there are gaping black oval holes – "pipes" for transmitting the holy fire that descends here on Holy Saturday. The second half of the Edicule is the tomb itself, where a low passage leads - walking along it, you involuntarily bow low. The Tomb, lit only by lamps, is dark and cramped, so the strict Greek monk lets the pilgrims inside strictly in twos or threes, so as not to cause a stampede. It is here that the main shrine of Christians around the world is located, a marble tombstone built into the wall - the Holy Sepulchre, the liberation of which from the Muslims was the main reason for the Crusades. It is a stone bed covered with a marble slab measuring 207 by 193 centimeters. This is a sarcophagus that is placed over the shrine to prevent its complete disappearance. The last person who saw the original uncovered bed of the Savior in 1810 during the repair of the Edicule, Maximos Simeos, testified that it was badly damaged by the unreasonable zeal of countless "God-lovers" who strove to break off, bite off, and take away a piece of the relic at any cost. So now we only see the modern slab over the bed of Jesus. But it is all "eaten up" and chipped by believers.

The Russian pilgrim Hegumen Daniel, who visited the Holy Land in the twelfth century, in his "Journey" gives detailed information about the church, which by that time was in the possession of the Crusaders. In 1099, the Kingdom of Jerusalem was formed in Palestine, which was headed by the leader of the First Crusade, Baldwin I. Here is what Hegumen Daniel wrote about the cave of the Holy Sepulchre, which was located in the Church of the Resurrection of Christ: "The Sepulchre of the Lord is carved in a stone wall, like a small cave, with small doors, so that a person can climb on his knees, bowing. The cave is square, four cubits long and four wide. And as soon as you get into this small cave with small doors, then on the right side there will be a small bench, carved out of the same cave stone. And on that bench lay the body of Jesus Christ. Now this holy shop is covered with marble slabs. To the side there are three round windows, and through these windows you can see the holy stone, and all Christians worship here."