. Holy Land, with glimpes of Europe and Egypt. early an hour, and— Lo, Bethlehems hill-site before me is seen,With the mountains around the valleys between;Where rested the shepherds of Judah, and whereThe song of the angels rose sweet on the air. Yes, that is Bethlehem ; and the bold ridge or elon-gated hill, stretching from west to east, on which it ispicturesquely situated, is in full view. The villagehouses stand along the western part, and the easternbrow and chief summit is crowned with an immenseconvent or pile of buildings, looking like some oldcastle of feudal times. The hill-slopes b
. Holy Land, with glimpes of Europe and Egypt. early an hour, and— Lo, Bethlehems hill-site before me is seen,With the mountains around the valleys between;Where rested the shepherds of Judah, and whereThe song of the angels rose sweet on the air. Yes, that is Bethlehem ; and the bold ridge or elon-gated hill, stretching from west to east, on which it ispicturesquely situated, is in full view. The villagehouses stand along the western part, and the easternbrow and chief summit is crowned with an immenseconvent or pile of buildings, looking like some oldcastle of feudal times. The hill-slopes below arequite steep, and the curved and stair-like terraces arewell kept, and covered with rows of thrifty olives, andintervening figs and vines. The eye glances downhence upon the fields once occupied by Boaz, whereRuth gleaned after the reapers, where David, hergreat grandson, kept his fathers sheep, and wherethe shepherds were watching their flocks when theywere startled by the strange and glorious displays at-tending our Saviours CHTTKCH OF THE NATIVITY. 273 After coming in sight of Bethlehem, we pass overa moderate valley amidst olive groves and vineyards,with occasional pomegranate and almond-trees, andascend the hill at the west end of the village; andproceeding through its one street, along which arevarious little shops and all sorts of people, we atiength come to the Church of the Nativity, the largebuilding already alluded to. It was erected in theyear 327 by the Empress Helena, mother of Constan-tine, and is one of the oldest monuments of Christianarchitecture in the world. It is supposed to cover theplace where our blessed Lord was born. We firstenter a large audience room, dingy and dilapidated,through which extend double rows of Corinthian col-umns of marble, evidently very ancient, and taken, assome think, from the porch of the Temple at Jeru-salem. Faded mosaics meet the eye on the walls, andabove are cross-beams or hewn timbers of the cedarsof Lebanon
Size: 1236px × 2021px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorphelpssy, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookyear1872
