Mosaic restoration depicting Jesus at Calvary an interfaith effort

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Mosaics cover tens of thousands of feet of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Cleaning, analyzing and restoring them is a painstaking process. Photo courtesy of the Mosaic Center.

Michele Chabin | March 25, 2016

JERUSALEM (RNS) The tens of thousands of Christians who visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre this month got a special Easter treat: the chance to view the newly cleaned and restored mosaic that covers the ceiling and walls of a Franciscan chapel dedicated to Calvary, or Golgotha, the hill where Jesus was crucified.

They might also pause to marvel at this: the work of restoring those mosaics involves a joint effort of Palestinian Christians and Muslims.

The church, whose original structure was built in the fourth century, stands atop the sites where, according to Christian tradition, Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected.

Each year pilgrims retrace the 14 locations — known as the Stations of the Cross — in Jesus’ final journey through Jerusalem, from the moment he was condemned to death to the moment he was laid in his tomb.

http://www.religionnews.com/2016/03/25/mosaic-restoration-jesus-calvary-jerusalem/