Dominus Flevit Church
The Dominus Flevit is a Catholic site on the north part of the mount of olives, observing the old city of Jerusalem and the walls, the church has an excellent point of view over the old city including the temple mount and the church of the holy sepulcher, also, there is a huge collection of ancient burial caves from the times of the second temple.
Designed by Antonio Barluzzi and completed in 1955, is shaped like a teardrop to symbolize the tears of the master over the city
History of the church
When Jesus entered Jerusalem on Passover, just a few moments before he sent his disples to Bethpage to search for a donkey to ride on, in the gospel of Luke you can find more information about Jesus seeing the city of Jerusalem and predicting the future.
Luke 19:41-44
"As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
The hard words of Jesus surprised his followers but eventually came true since only after a few years after his crucifixion the Romans destroyed and burnt Jerusalem, the worst punishment for the jews.
Like other locations in Jerusalem, we cannot be sure about the exact location but the combination of the scripts and the view from the Dominus Flevit is probably the right place of this event.
Visiting in Dominus Flevit Church
The church is open to the public and held by the Franciscan order, the entrance is free of charge but a strict dress code is required.
This is one of the best sites to observe the temple mount and take a picture threw the window with a cross in the background.exept the altar there is an impressive mosaic floor dated to the byzantine period containing various Christian items in Latin and Greek.
Outside the church, you can find an impressive collection of Jewish burial caves dated to the times of Jesus extracted by the Franciscans called ossuaries and some may be the burial coffins of Jesus followers.