#Storyo f hortus conclusus full

One simply flashes his/her passport to an Israeli soldier, places his/her bags into an x-ray machine, and then walks through a metal detector, much like airport security, to get into/exit Bethlehem. If entering from Jerusalem on a direct route, one will pass through the 'Rachel's Crossing' Israeli checkpoint into Bethlehem. Since Bethlehem is administered by the Palestinian Authority, an Israeli military checkpoint stands on the road connecting the two locations. Nearly all travellers arrive via Jerusalem. For example, if escalations in violence are occurring in Southern Israel and the Gaza Strip, this does not mean that trips to other Palestinian cities such as Bethlehem should be seen as unsafe Bethlehem is a safe place to visit for tourists to visit and tourist numbers are increasing to this hidden gem of the Holy Land. It should be noted as well that although Bethlehem is a Palestinian town, it is also a tourist-orientated town.Because of Bethlehem's immense potential as a tourism magnet, the Palestinian Authority maintains a constant tourist police presence in the city. Although Arabic is the language of Bethlehem's inhabitants, English, French and other languages are widely spoken and understood by many people in Bethlehem. Christians used to be a large majority but their numbers have declined throughout the 20th century. In the city itself, 41% of the population is Christian, while 59% is Muslim.

#Storyo f hortus conclusus full

On December 21, 1995, Bethlehem became one of the areas under the full control of the Palestinian Authority. The setback proved only temporary, and despite the turbulence of the 20th century the town has (as of 2000) grown to an estimated 184,000 inhabitants. Afterwards it grew slowly but steadily, achieving its pinnacle as a strong fortified city during the Crusader era, but the Ottomans razed the fortifications and reduced Bethlehem back into the village it was 2000 years earlier. Only in 326 was the first Christian church constructed, when Helen, the mother of the first Christian emperor, Constantine, visited Bethlehem. And things didn't change immediately afterwards: wrecked during the Bar-Kochba revolt (132-135 AD), the Romans set up a shrine to Adonis on the site of the Nativity. Somewhat surprisingly, aside from noting that the Nativity indeed took place there, the New Testament virtually ignores Bethlehem. Still, Bethlehem remained a small town in the shadow of mighty Jerusalem, and according to most estimates it had some 300 to 1000 inhabitants at the time of the event that gave Bethlehem its fame, namely the birth of Jesus. 1150 BC) has the first certain reference to Bethlehem it tells the story of Naomi, who left Bethlehem during a famine, and later returned with her daughter-in-law Ruth. The area has been settled since 5,000 BC and there is some evidence that the town is mentioned in the Egyptian Amarna letters (1400 BC).

However, it seems likely that both meanings have been retrofitted onto what was originally the House of Lachma, the Mesopotamian god of fertility. The name means 'The House of Bread' in Hebrew, and 'The House of Meat' in Arabic. The Old Town and the souq (market), which are best navigated on foot, stretch up the hill from Manger Square. Manger Square is flanked by the Church of the Nativity on one side and the Mosque of Omar on the other. South Georgia and the South Sandwich IslandsĪ long snake of town, the main thoroughfare of Bethlehem is Manger Street which stretches from Rachel's Tomb (and the road to Jerusalem) all the way to Manger Square, the focal point of the city.