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Mount Zion is a hill southwest of the Old City of Jerusalem. It contains three important religious sites.
Brief History of Mount Zion
Mount Zion is the home of the Cenacle, traditionally held to be the site of the Last Supper; the tomb of King David; and Dormition Abbey, where the Virgin Mary died.
The Church of Zion, which was a church or synagogue that may have belonged to a sect of Jewish Christians, stood on the site from the early 2nd to 4th centuries. Roman Emperor Theodosius I later built Hagia Sion, a Christian basilica, between 379 and 384. The basilica was damaged by the Sassanids in 614, repaired, and destroyed in 1009 by Caliph Al-Hakim.
The Crusaders built a cathedral on the site in the 12th century, but it was destroyed shortly after. Only the building containing King David’s Tomb (ground floor) and the Cenacle (upper floor) survived. Syrian Christians maintained the building until the 1332, when it was purchased by the Franciscans. They managed it until 1524, when the Ottomans turned it into a mosque.
Christians and Jews weren’t able to access the two sites until the creation of the State of Israel. King David’s Tomb was transformed from a mosque into a synagogue after the 1947-1949 Palestine War. The building is now managed by the Diaspora Yeshiva.
Cenacle
At the entrance to Mount Zion, a sign points the way to the Cenacle, which is also called the Room of the Last Supper or the Upper Room. We walked through a building, exited from the other side, then went up a staircase and through another door to enter the room.
The Cenacle is not only believed to be the site of the Last Supper, but also where Jesus washed the disciples’ feet and reappeared after the Resurrection. Catholics consider the room to be the very first church.
Islamic elements existing today from the building’s time as a mosque include the mihrab, stained glass windows, inscriptions on the walls, and the minaret.
Finally, a bronze olive tree sits on one side of the room. It has three trunks symbolizing peace between Christians, Muslims, and Jews, as well as a vine and shaft of wheat symbolizing the wine and bread eaten at the Last Supper. The tree was a gift from Pope John Paul II on his visit to Jerusalem.
King David’s Tomb
King David’s Tomb is on the ground floor of the same building containing the Cenacle. We visited the tomb after walking down from the Cenacle. A Sephardi synagogue established in 1948 sits just outside the entrance.
King David’s Tomb was considered Israel’s holiest religious site during Jordan’s annexation of the West Bank and Jerusalem, from 1948 to 1967. Jewish pilgrims were forbidden entry to the Old City at that time. Instead, they would climb to the roof of the building, above the Cenacle, to pray and view the Temple Mount.
There are separate sections for both men and women. I entered the men’s section, where kippahs are provided to all visitors. The men’s section contains a library and benches just outside the entrance to the room containing the sarcophagus of King David.
When the building served as a mosque, the sarcophagus was draped in an Islamic silk cloth. Ever since the tomb was converted to a synagogue in 1949, the sarcophagus has been covered in cloths with symbols and Hebrew text.
Historically, Mount Zion wasn’t regarded as the tomb of David until at least the 9th century. Most archaeologists don’t consider it to be authentic, and the sarcophagus has never been opened to analyze the remains inside.
Dormition Abbey
Our final stop on Mount Zion was Dormition Abbey, a German Benedictine abbey just around the corner from the Cenacle and King David’s Tomb. The abbey was built atop the foundations of the aforementioned Hagia Sion.
Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany purchased the land for Dormition Abbey from Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamid II in 1898. The current church was built between 1900 and 1910, and was designed by German architect Theodor Sandel (1845-1902). It’s a circular building with several niches and altars.
A pair of spiral staircases lead down to the crypt, where tradition says the Dormition took place. Catholics believe this was the location of the Virgin Mary’s assumption into heaven, while Eastern Christians believe she was buried in a tomb at Gethsemane before her assumption. In the center of the crypt is a symbolic tomb topped with an image of the Virgin Mary.
A dome decorated with beautiful mosaics covers the tomb. Other chapels surround the crypt, including the Hungarian Chapel.
