How is Easter celebrated in Jerusalem?

Answer 1

Since the population of Israel is mostly Jewish, Easter is not celebrated by most of the residents of the city. Many Christians and people of all ethnic backgrounds and denominations; however, travel to Jerusalem to celebrate Holy Week where Jesus lived, died and was resurrected.

Meeting on the Mount of Olives on Palm Sunday, they reenact Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus agonized over the ordeal he faced, is also in this area,

On Monday, many visit the temple mount or "Dome of the Rock."

The place of interest on Wednesday is the probable place of the Last Supper, or Coenaculum.

On Good Friday, huge crowds move along to the Ecce Homo archway, once the gateway to the Roman fortress of Antonia, and now an unremarkable structure over the streets of the old city marking the place where Pontius Pilate washed his hands of the "Jesus affair" and turned him over to the crowd that had turned against him. This is where the soldiers mocked him. Crowds follow the footsteps that Jesus made as he carried the cross, stopping to worship at each of the 14 "Stations of the Cross."

On Saturday, people wait outside the locked Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where the last 5 Stations of the Cross took place. When the church is unlocked, the focus turns to a structure under the dome that is believed to be the Tomb of Jesus. It is accessible to the public on this day. In a special ceremony, Holy fire is taken from the sepulcher by the clergy and passed to the crowd. It is placed in special containers and taken throughout the world to represent the resurrection of Jesus.