DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10357#0144
JERUSALEM.
119
sometimes run into wild excess. The Karaim or Karaites, who do not acknowledge the
authority of the Talmud, form a small community apart from the other sects.
Much has been done during the last twenty years to ameliorate the condition of the
Jews at Jerusalem by Sir Moses Montefiore, Baron Rothschild, and other wealthy European
Jews, and every year sums of money are sent for distribution amongst the poor.
The Christians are divided into a number of sects, of which the Orthodox Greek Church
is the most influential. The Greek community consists of monks, nuns, shopkeepers, &c, very
few of whom are natives of the country. The Patriarch of Jerusalem, who has several sees in
Palestine subject to him, resides in the great monastery of St. Helena and Constantine.
The Armenians are few in number, but they form a thriving community, and occupy one
of the pleasantest quarters of Jerusalem (see page 102). The Armenian Monastery, with its
church dedicated to St. James, is the largest and richest in the city. The spiritual head of the
Armenians is the Patriarch of Jerusalem, a well-educated man, who resides in the monastery.
The Georgians are now an insignificant body, but they had at one time eleven churches
and monasteries in the Holy City, and even as late as the commencement of the sixteenth
century had many rights and privileges not accorded to other Christians. All that now
remains to them is the Convent of the Cross, about half an hour's ride from Jerusalem.
The Syrians or Jacobites, so called from Jacobus Baradseus, a heretical monk who lived
in the sixth century, are few in number, and have as their sole possession in Jerusalem the
little monastery known as the House of St. Mark.
The Copts have a large monastery close to the eastern end of the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre, which was repaired a few years ago with funds provided by wealthy Copts in
Egypt; they have also a monastery near the Pool of Hezekiah.
The Abyssinians occupy a few cells in the ruins of a monastery above the Chapel of
Helena. They are extremely poor, and are said to have had much of their revenue and some
of their buildings taken from them by their powerful neighbours the Copts.
The Latins or Roman Catholics are the most numerous of the Western Christians. They
possess the well-known Monastery of St. Salvator, the Church of the Scourging in the Via
Dolorosa, the Convent of the Sisters of Sion, the Garden of Gethsemane, and other places.
There is an excellent printing-press attached to the monastery, schools for both sexes, an
industrial school, and a hospital. The monastery and other establishments are in the hands of
the Franciscan monks, most of whom are Spaniards or Italians. Some of the monks are
men of education and culture, and the printing-press has produced useful works in different
languages. In 1847 the Latin patriarchate, which had been in abeyance since the latter part
of the thirteenth century, was revived, and Monsignor Valerga, who died in 1873, was appointed
Patriarch. The Greek Catholic and Armenian Catholic Churches are affiliated to the Latin.
The Protestant community, though small, is active in good works, and there are several
excellent Protestant establishments in the city and its vicinity. The schools especially have
had a marked effect, not only in supplying a good education themselves, but in inciting other
119
sometimes run into wild excess. The Karaim or Karaites, who do not acknowledge the
authority of the Talmud, form a small community apart from the other sects.
Much has been done during the last twenty years to ameliorate the condition of the
Jews at Jerusalem by Sir Moses Montefiore, Baron Rothschild, and other wealthy European
Jews, and every year sums of money are sent for distribution amongst the poor.
The Christians are divided into a number of sects, of which the Orthodox Greek Church
is the most influential. The Greek community consists of monks, nuns, shopkeepers, &c, very
few of whom are natives of the country. The Patriarch of Jerusalem, who has several sees in
Palestine subject to him, resides in the great monastery of St. Helena and Constantine.
The Armenians are few in number, but they form a thriving community, and occupy one
of the pleasantest quarters of Jerusalem (see page 102). The Armenian Monastery, with its
church dedicated to St. James, is the largest and richest in the city. The spiritual head of the
Armenians is the Patriarch of Jerusalem, a well-educated man, who resides in the monastery.
The Georgians are now an insignificant body, but they had at one time eleven churches
and monasteries in the Holy City, and even as late as the commencement of the sixteenth
century had many rights and privileges not accorded to other Christians. All that now
remains to them is the Convent of the Cross, about half an hour's ride from Jerusalem.
The Syrians or Jacobites, so called from Jacobus Baradseus, a heretical monk who lived
in the sixth century, are few in number, and have as their sole possession in Jerusalem the
little monastery known as the House of St. Mark.
The Copts have a large monastery close to the eastern end of the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre, which was repaired a few years ago with funds provided by wealthy Copts in
Egypt; they have also a monastery near the Pool of Hezekiah.
The Abyssinians occupy a few cells in the ruins of a monastery above the Chapel of
Helena. They are extremely poor, and are said to have had much of their revenue and some
of their buildings taken from them by their powerful neighbours the Copts.
The Latins or Roman Catholics are the most numerous of the Western Christians. They
possess the well-known Monastery of St. Salvator, the Church of the Scourging in the Via
Dolorosa, the Convent of the Sisters of Sion, the Garden of Gethsemane, and other places.
There is an excellent printing-press attached to the monastery, schools for both sexes, an
industrial school, and a hospital. The monastery and other establishments are in the hands of
the Franciscan monks, most of whom are Spaniards or Italians. Some of the monks are
men of education and culture, and the printing-press has produced useful works in different
languages. In 1847 the Latin patriarchate, which had been in abeyance since the latter part
of the thirteenth century, was revived, and Monsignor Valerga, who died in 1873, was appointed
Patriarch. The Greek Catholic and Armenian Catholic Churches are affiliated to the Latin.
The Protestant community, though small, is active in good works, and there are several
excellent Protestant establishments in the city and its vicinity. The schools especially have
had a marked effect, not only in supplying a good education themselves, but in inciting other