Jerusalem is a place that must been seen, nay, experienced, at least once in one’s lifetime. Revered by Jews, Christians, and Muslims, it reflects the passion and devoutness of the three monotheistic faiths, each of which is bound to Jerusalem by a rich yet turbulent history.Jerusalem is many things to many people. For three thousand years, Jerusalem has been the center of the Jewish faith. For Christians, Jerusalem is the place where Jesus lived, preached, died, and was resurrected. For Muslims, the prophet Mohammed was miraculously transported from Mecca to Jerusalem, and it was from there that he made his ascent to heaven.
Through the ages it has been called by many names: Urusalim, Salem, Mount Moriah, Adonai Urah, Jebus, Jerusalem, Zion, the City of David. No other city in history has been loved and fought over as Jerusalem.
As a holy city, Jerusalem has always been of great symbolic importance. Among its 220 historic monuments, several stand out: the Dome of the Rock is recognized by all three religions as the site of Abraham's sacrifice, the Western Wall delimits the quarters of the different religious communities, and the Resurrection rotunda in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre houses Christ's tomb.
Sam Rohn, a photographer based in New York City, graciously supplied the accompanying panoramas from a trip he recently made to Jerusalem. Visit his website, nylocations.com, for the rest of his superb collection, including further panos of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jewish Quarter, Street of the Chain, El Wad, the Ethiopian Church and King David Street
Dome of the Rock
The Muslim shrine called Qubbat As-Sakhrah, the Dome of the Rock was built between 685 and 691 AD by the Caliph Abd al-Malik. It is the first piece of Islamic architecture sponsored by a Muslim ruler that was created as a work of art. The Dome lies on the site where the Prophet Muhammad ascended into heaven and is one of the holiest sites of Islam, (after Mecca and Medina). It is also considered to be the hill on top of which Abraham was called to sacrifice his son. The octagonal shrine is built over The Rock, which measures 12 x 15 meters and rises two meters above the ground. The courtyard around the outside of the mosque is called Haram ash-Sharif (meaning the Noble Sanctuary) and is considered a place holy to Muslims, Jews and Christians.
Church of the Holy Sepulcher
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, known as the Church of the Resurrection (Anastasis) by Eastern Christians and Al-Kaima by Muslims, is the holiest Christian site in the world. Most Christians believe this is the site where Jesus was crucified by the Romans, was buried, and rose from the dead. The first church was built here circa AD 330 after Byzantine emperor Constantine the Great sent his mother, Helena, to seek the site of Crucifixion. It was destroyed by Persian invaders in 614, rebuilt almost immediately, destroyed again by the Egyptian caliph El-Hakim in 1009, and once more restored, on a reduced scale, as a cluster of shrines not under one roof. In the 12th century the Crusaders unified the shrines under one monument in the shape of the cross. Much of what is standing today is from that period.
The Holy Sepulchre (Tomb of Christ)
Holy Sepulchre refers to the tomb in which the body of Jesus Christ was laid and it is located in the center of the Church, underneath the largest dome, enshrined in a chapel. The chapel is a tiny two-room structure: the first chamber is called the Chapel of the Angel and is where the angel announced that Christ had risen from the dead; the second, smaller, chamber is the Tomb of Christ, where a stone slabs marks where Jesus’ body was laid.
Western Wall
Solomon’s Temple (the First Temple) was built in the 10th century BC but destroyed four hundred years later. The Second Temple was built in the 6th century BC and it, too, was destroyed, around 70 AD. Known in recent centuries as the "Wailing Wall," it is what remains of the retaining wall of the Temple Mount complex dating from the time of the Second Temple. The Western Wall, also known as “The Kotel”, is for Jews the holiest accessible place on Earth as it is thought to be the only remnant of the Temple in Jerusalem and the closest site to the Holy of Holies. The plaza was created as an area for prayer when Israel captured the Old City in 1967.
Damascus Gate
In the 16th century, Ottoman ruler Suleiman the Magnificent built the wall that encloses the present-day Old City of Jerusalem. Damascus Gate, the largest and most ornate of all Jerusalem's gates and the main gate into the Old City, is located on the wall's northern side and includes slits for firing at attackers, thick doors, and an opening from which boiling oil could be spilled on assailants below. The road running off it leads to Shechem (Nablus) and then to Damascus; as such, many Jews call it Schechem Gate.
Damascus Gate Road
The steps of Damascus Gate Road lead past a crush of shops and cafes. Down the steps, Damascus Gate Road forks left into El-Wad Road (leading to the Via Dolorosa and Temple Mount) and right, into Suq Khan Ez-Zeit (the Holy Sepulchre and the heart of the market).
About the "Jerusalem Shoot"
Sam Rohn is a freelance location scout who works on television commercials, still photography, music videos and film. When he first encountered QTVR technology he thought it would be the future of location scouting but “came to realize that it was more like a post production special effect, with the amount of work involved”. He describes Jerusalem as “beautiful, fascinating, friendly, historical, and spiritual … like a Terry Gilliam movie”.
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Rohn used a Nikon D70 & Nikon 10.5mm f2.8 fisheye, with Kirk photo L-bracket QR plate, which, he writes, “made it real easy to quickly and accurately swap the camera off and back on the pano or ball head”. Rohn, who was on his first trip to Jerusalem, says he was able to work pretty quickly this way. “The light was strong and the shadows deep during the day, not to mention it was really crowded, so I mostly shot at dusk and at night, which worked out well, as the old city is very photogenic at night,” he says.
He shot the Dome of The Rock handheld as access to the Temple Mount is restricted, i.e. no tripods, but otherwise used his tripod rig: a Kaidan spherical arm (from 2002) w/ QR, Quickpan IV rotator (w/ QR plate on bottom), and an Acratech ballhead to level, sitting atop a Gitzo 1127 tripod. “The tripod rig was very easy to set up and tear down quickly, or just throw over my shoulder, not too heavy, and the old city is a relatively small area, so I could quickly shoot quite a few setups that I had scouted earlier,” he says.
He used a 12" Powerbook G4 867mhz in the field and a G4 2x1ghz back at home in New York City. “I was probably able to sort and stitch, etc, about two or three panos a night, plus tons of non-pano stills, and actually had most of these together by the time I returned to NY, and still had plenty of time for other activities while there.”
“I wish I had recorded sound while I was there,” Rohn adds, “as the sounds, prayers, music, street noise, etc were just as beautiful to the ear as the locations were to the eye.” We can only hope you visit again soon Sam.
