Dominus Flevit
"The Lord wept"
Halfway down the Mount of Olives is the Church of Dominus Flevit (The Lord Wept), recalling the Palm Sunday account of Jesus riding the donkey from Bethphage to Jerusalem, and stopping to view the city, weeping over it because he knew of its future destruction. Our Lord's prophecy was fulfilled within 40 years when the Romans destroyed both the city and the Temple.
The church is said to be in the shape of a tear drop, and was designed by Antonio Barluzzi. The large photo above shows the view from the east window of the church, focussed on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Some of the photos on this page show breathtaking views of parts of the Old City
of Jerusalem from Dominus Flevit.
A view of Jerusalem from Dominus Flevit, showing the Dome of the Rock (where Jesus would have seen the Temple) and just to the right of it, the two grey domes of the Holy Sepulchre.
Also from Dominus Flevit, the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives.
Exterior of Dominus Flevit on the Mount of Olives.
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 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. 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. 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.”
[St Luke 19]