The Augusta Victoria

One of my favorite Sara Bareilles songs has a lyric about "see[ing] the doorways of a thousand churches." I'm beginning to think that by the end of these four months in the Holy Land, I'll break 1,000. No sweat.

Here are a couple of my favorite photos from one fot the first churches we visited. This is the Agusta Victoria, a beautiful Lutheran edifice built on top of the Mount of Olives to commemorate Jesus' ascension into heaven. It was built by the German Kaiser Wilhelm II & completed in 1910. It is truly a beautiful building and the acoustics in the chapel are truly awe-inspiring.

 

Random fact: the flights of stairs to the top of the bell tower are comprised of 222 steps. I counted. 

 

The view from the top.

 

View of the top. The ceiling was a combination of mosaic & painting.

You can read more about the beautiful Augusta Victoria here, via Wiki.