What I Saw In The Holy Land, 17.1
At one time there were separate small chapels at Calvary and the Holy Sepulchre, and lesser shrines such as one for Joseph of Arimathea, St. Helen's chapel, etc., but now the large Basilica encloses all these places. Just as I was surprised at the great distance between the cenacle and Gethsemane, I was amazed at how close the sepulchre is to Calvary. No distance at all.
My impression is that most visitors to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre visit Calvary & the tomb, but give the rest of the church short shrift. As I say, you owe it to yourself to come early in the morning. Visiting priests get themselves put on the schedule to celebrate masses at Calvary or in the Holy Sepulchre itself beginning at about 4:00 am, so if you're not fussy about what language it's in, you can always find a mass to attend. Then you'll have some time afterwards to explore in silence.
I found it easy to rise early, not only because of the time difference, but because my hotel room happened to have a minaret close by, and the voice of the muzzein summoned me at 4:30 am each morning. Arabic chanting is certainly strange to Western ears, but my guy had a rich baritone, and when you're out on the street in the dark, with the city otherwise still, it's hauntingly beautiful. If you stay at Notre Dame Institute, it's a short walk through the deserted streets of the Old City (except for loads of more or less feral cats --reminiscent of Rome). A left, a right, a left, one more left at the Mosque of Omar, and there you are.
The stone of anointing, where Christ's body was prepared for burial, is facing you as you enter. If you go right, you climb up to Calvary, which I've described. If you head forward past the stone and turn right, you'll pass the exposed rock of Golgotha, which I think most people miss, and if you continue that direction you can go down to the Armenian chapel and grotto where St. Helen found the True Cross and other artifacts of the crucifixion.
Heading back to the entrance and heading off left this time, you'll see the chapel built over the Holy Sepulchre itself (as above). The sepulchre is one site where the records are so clear that no one doubts this is the spot; it's more than pious tradition. In fact, at the back of the sepulchre you can sometimes enter the network of funeral caves where other people were buried --including Joseph of Arimathea. There's no longer a cave surrounding Christ's tomb, because a mad caliph hacked away at it, but the slab where the body lay is there and a tiny chapel --room for no more than 5 people-- is erected over it. You have to stoop to enter, and there you are: at the site of the Resurrection. A piece of the stone rolled over his tomb is preserved just outside.
There are dozens of other chapels to explore, too. And on Saturday night if you're feeling pious, curious, ecumenical or simply like a night owl, a cool thing to do is go to the Church at 11:00 pm to watch the various Christian rites celebrate the vigil of the Resurrection. It's grueling -- and you'll be locked in except for the times the doors are opened to receive the faithful for services-- but you can watch the Coptic rite, the Syrian rite, the Armenian rite and the Greek rite in sucession. (Latin rite comes at the civilized hour of 6:00 am.) Christians in the Holy Land are there to proclaim the risen Christ --and they do it in the wee hours every Sunday morning for 4-6 hours straight, depending on the liturgical season.
