Church of St Peter in Gallicantu – Jerusalem

The Church of St Peter in Gallicantu lies on the eastern slope of Mt Zion right outside the Old City. The church overlooks East Jerusalem and on a clear day the Separation Wall can be seen in the distance (1). The church commemorates the Peter’s triple denial of Christ (and his repentance) in Matthew 26. Christ prophesied that Peter would deny him three times before “the cock crows.” Galli-cantu in latin means “cockcrow” and its imagery can been seen everywhere (2, 3). The church is versatile. It is built on four levels, the first being the upper church, a normal (traditional) worship hall (5). The middle church (7-10) is built around the ruins of a Byzantine basilica which is believed to mark the site of Caiaphas’s house, the high priest, and where Peter denied Christ. One floor lower is the guardroom (11, 12), which 0versees (through a peephole) the dungeon (13), which is believed to be the cell where Christ spent his last night. Outside the church are more excavations (14), and a courtyard with a sculpture depicting the denial (15).

~ by thecheekynaturalist on March 26, 2011.