The upper part of the bell tower that collapsed in the Middle Ages damaged the marble columns at the entrance to the church. To the left of the door, you see a crack in the marble column. Tradition tells of the sacred fire phenomenon erupting from the fissure. It is a Shabbat ceremony of light in which the holy fire is burning in the church before Easter. According to the accepted status quo among the Eastern denominations of the Christians, the Greek Orthodox Church conducts the ceremony. The holy burning fire out of the column took its origin from the violation of the status quo. The quarrels surrounding the ceremony take place between the Greek and Armenian churches. By the way, the famous ladder outside, which stands on a cornice belonging to the Greek Church, and rests on the window sill of the Armenian community, symbolizes better than anything else the strictness of the status quo. The ladder was put in place randomly when determining the status quo between the churches. According to which nothing will change in the church, including the random placement of the ladder.
The trip takes us from the Jaffa Gate through the Christian Quarter to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. After that, we will visit Golgotha, the stone of anointing, burial, and resurrection, St. Helena Chapel - the site where the Holy cross was found. Further, the route passes through Muristan to the Jewish Quarter, Kardo Street, excavations of the walls of Jerusalem from the time of Jesus, the mosaic of Madaba, the Hurva Synagogue, the Menorah, the panorama of the Olive and Temple Mountains, the Wailing Wall. Finally, we return to the Jaffa Gate through the Muslim Quarter, the monuments of the Mamluk architecture, and the street of David.
