Bethlehem

Bethlehem is within an hour of Jerusalem, and made for an easy morning trip.  I'm glad we went, because I would have regretted it otherwise [who goes to Israel without visiting Bethlehem??] but the city itself was not that noteworthy.  (as mentioned in my previous post).  The main attraction is Manger Square, which is an open plaza in front of the Church of the Nativity.

Manger Square

 People first identified this site as the place where Jesus was born within a few centuries of the event.  Churches were built (and rebuilt) by the fourth and sixth centuries.  It was then looted by Ottomans, but eventually restored.  Since the mid 19th century it's been shared by the Roman Catholic, Armenian, and Greek Orthodox churches.  Below are some exposed mosaic floors that date back to the 4th century.

 The interior is decorated with a lot of light fixtures--chandeliers, hanging lamps, strings of lights, etc.  The church was dark (I never said they used the light fixtures) and crowded.  We waited 15 minutes in a crowd of people just to pass by the silver star in the floor that [they say] marks "the spot".

This is called the Door of Humility, and is the actual entrance to the church.  The normal (larger) doorway was re-done during Ottoman rule so that carts couldn't be driven in to loot the church.  

Next to the main church is another one called St Catherine's Church.  These are the cloisters of that church.  

Entrance to St Catherine's Church.  On the right you can see a statue of St Jerome, who traveled to Bethlehem in 386 and completed a new version of the Bible, known today as the Vulgate.  Traditionally, St Jerome did his studying and translating next to the Grotto of the Nativity.  

And of course Manger Square is surrounded by little shops selling nativities and Christmas ornaments.  It was fun to look around at everything made out of olive wood.  

We did a lot of walking through the streets of Bethlehem.  

Bethlehem is in the West Bank, under the control of the Palestinian National Authority.  It was an interesting town; I would hate to drive a car on those roads.  There are people everywhere--walking, selling stuff, pushing carts, shopping, etc.  It was entertaining to see everything going on around us.