0:00:03 > 0:00:07For centuries, pilgrimage was one of the greatest adventures.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11Epic journeys around the country...
0:00:13 > 0:00:17You're going the wrong way. This is the Pilgrim's Way to Canterbury!
0:00:17 > 0:00:19..and across the world.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31'I'll be retracing the steps of our ancestors...'
0:00:36 > 0:00:40It's the spot where Jesus is said to have been born.
0:00:42 > 0:00:44'Exploring the hidden...'
0:00:44 > 0:00:46WOODEN TAPPING
0:00:46 > 0:00:48Some people might think this is quite macabre.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51'And the darker side of pilgrimage.'
0:00:51 > 0:00:55If something went wrong, it could lead to war.
0:00:55 > 0:00:59'And discovering why so many modern pilgrims are taking to the road.'
0:00:59 > 0:01:01APPLAUSE
0:01:01 > 0:01:04Come on, now, that was incredible!
0:01:04 > 0:01:07'My journey has taken me from the north of England to Canterbury,
0:01:07 > 0:01:10'then though France into northern Spain,
0:01:10 > 0:01:15'across the Alps to Italy and on to the eternal city...'
0:01:15 > 0:01:16Rome!
0:01:17 > 0:01:21'I'll now travel east into Turkey, across the Mediterranean,
0:01:21 > 0:01:26'into the Holy Land, and on to my final destination - Jerusalem.'
0:01:27 > 0:01:30It's a gob-smacker. It's a breath-taker-awayer.
0:01:45 > 0:01:47The third and final part of my journey
0:01:47 > 0:01:51begins at the gateway to the East - Istanbul.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01I'm coming in to a city where for centuries, history,
0:02:01 > 0:02:06religion and even geography have co-existed, mixed, melted together.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08Sometimes collided.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12It's almost a bit of a cliche, but on this side is the West -
0:02:12 > 0:02:14it's Europe, it's Christianity.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17On that side is the East - and it's Islam.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22There are two main reasons why I'm here.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25The first is that Istanbul was a major staging point
0:02:25 > 0:02:27for pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30But the second is that Istanbul was a major destination
0:02:30 > 0:02:32for pilgrimage in its own right.
0:02:32 > 0:02:37For nearly 1,000 years, along with Rome and Jerusalem, Istanbul
0:02:37 > 0:02:40was one of the holiest cities in the entire Christian world.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51I really love this city.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02Before the city was called Istanbul, it was Constantinople
0:03:02 > 0:03:07and it was named after the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great,
0:03:07 > 0:03:09who was a convert to Christianity.
0:03:09 > 0:03:14He moved the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome, east
0:03:14 > 0:03:18to here, so this wasn't some dusty exotic outpost of Rome.
0:03:18 > 0:03:23This was the capital of the Roman Empire. The Christian Roman Empire.
0:03:26 > 0:03:28And it's here where in many ways,
0:03:28 > 0:03:31the story of Christian pilgrimage begins.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33Not with Constantine, but with his mother.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36So this is Helena.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40Helena is absolutely key to the story of pilgrimage.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43She was one of the very first Christian pilgrims,
0:03:43 > 0:03:46and she really helped to define pilgrimage as well.
0:03:46 > 0:03:51She went on a number of holy missions to the Holy Land,
0:03:51 > 0:03:53sent there by her son,
0:03:53 > 0:03:56and she brought back any number of relics from there.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59She also helped to identify key religious sites.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03At some point, in Constantinople, there was said
0:04:03 > 0:04:09to be hundreds of relics, including a piece of the true cross -
0:04:09 > 0:04:12the cross on which Jesus was crucified.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16All sorts of souvenirs, if you like, but relics, which had a holy power.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20And that drew hundreds of thousands of Christian pilgrims
0:04:20 > 0:04:23to Constantinople over the centuries that followed.
0:04:24 > 0:04:28MUSLIM CALL TO PRAYER
0:04:32 > 0:04:34Christian pilgrimage to Constantinople wasn't
0:04:34 > 0:04:36destined to last.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41Another religion swept through the Middle East.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48HE SINGS CALL TO PRAYER
0:04:53 > 0:04:56Constantinople came under Islamic control in 1453,
0:04:56 > 0:04:59becoming part of the mighty Ottoman Empire.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07Many churches were destroyed, but one was so spectacular that
0:05:07 > 0:05:10rather than being torn down, it was converted into a mosque.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15It's called Hagia Sophia.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20I think it's one of the most magnificent buildings in the world.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31Hagia Sophia has a massive dome that seems to float
0:05:31 > 0:05:33high above the ground.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37Designed by two Greek scientists and employing
0:05:37 > 0:05:42craftsman from across the known world, it was completed in 537AD.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48For 1,000 years, no other building had a floor space
0:05:48 > 0:05:51so vast under one roof.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54In today's money, it cost more than £2 billion.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00But it only took five years to build.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03Imagine the planning required that would be needed today.
0:06:08 > 0:06:12It's a stirring sight, and housed here were some of the relics
0:06:12 > 0:06:15that Helena is said to have brought back from her travels,
0:06:15 > 0:06:18including the true cross and the crown of thorns.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25The building was an extraordinary destination for Christian travellers,
0:06:25 > 0:06:27unmatched almost anywhere in the world.
0:06:31 > 0:06:37So this is a magnificent and very detailed mosaic showing Jesus,
0:06:37 > 0:06:41the Virgin Mary and St John the Baptist.
0:06:42 > 0:06:46It's a Christian mosaic of course but it wasn't destroyed
0:06:46 > 0:06:49when this building was turned into a mosque.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51It was hidden away and now it's revealed
0:06:51 > 0:06:54and I suppose it shows something of the complicated
0:06:54 > 0:06:57history of this building and also the city as well.
0:06:59 > 0:07:03Continually at the centre of a religious tug of war, today the
0:07:03 > 0:07:08Hagia Sophia is neither officially a mosque nor a church, but a museum.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13Minia Actogon has been bringing tour groups to
0:07:13 > 0:07:15Hagia Sophia for more than 30 years.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20Coming here now to a place of pilgrimage,
0:07:20 > 0:07:24the people I see here now in large numbers, I see them as tourists.
0:07:24 > 0:07:26I see them as pilgrims.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28- Do you?- Yes.
0:07:28 > 0:07:31Why? They look like tourists.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35Because we're all searching for something,
0:07:35 > 0:07:39and I think that most people leaving this shrine...
0:07:39 > 0:07:42will they remember the columns?
0:07:42 > 0:07:45Will they remember anything about the architecture?
0:07:45 > 0:07:51Probably not, but they will remember how good they felt here.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54They'll take away, I think,
0:07:54 > 0:07:59certainly a sense of an enormous beautiful space.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02And peace in this space,
0:08:02 > 0:08:06and that's all I think we're searching for - peace.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10- It's a rock on which our future is built, perhaps.- Fantastic.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13- You like that? - I didn't think of that. I thank you.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15I just had that thought. I offer that one up.
0:08:18 > 0:08:23There's a great story actually about a pagan Ukrainian prince who
0:08:23 > 0:08:27was thinking of converting to either Judaism, Christianity or Islam,
0:08:27 > 0:08:31so he sent out his minions to investigate the religions further.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35And they came here to Istanbul on a sort of pilgrimage I suppose,
0:08:35 > 0:08:36and they visited Hagia Sophia.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40Then they reported back that entering this building they felt
0:08:40 > 0:08:43like they were in heaven, and so the prince converted to Christianity,
0:08:43 > 0:08:47so did Ukraine, and ultimately, apparently, so did Russia.
0:08:47 > 0:08:52Never underestimate the power of a building like this to inspire
0:08:52 > 0:08:55and evoke incredibly strong feelings.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06As well as once being a destination of
0:09:06 > 0:09:08Christian pilgrimage in its own right,
0:09:08 > 0:09:12Istanbul's location has meant that it's always been a major crossroads
0:09:12 > 0:09:16for European pilgrims heading east to the Holy Land of Jerusalem.
0:09:21 > 0:09:22It's still exotic here now,
0:09:22 > 0:09:25and of course it was exotic in the past as well.
0:09:27 > 0:09:31For medieval pilgrims, many leaving Europe for the first time,
0:09:31 > 0:09:33this must have felt like another world.
0:09:33 > 0:09:38A mysterious land where people did things that seemed entirely
0:09:38 > 0:09:39ridiculous, like washing.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46Just a little bit apprehensive about this.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51Get yourself down.
0:09:53 > 0:09:55MAN SPEAKS TURKISH
0:09:57 > 0:09:59Stop shouting.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09SIMON LAUGHS
0:10:09 > 0:10:11I'll turn over.
0:10:15 > 0:10:21In medieval Europe, public bathing and washing generally had
0:10:21 > 0:10:26gone into marked decline since the era of the Roman baths.
0:10:26 > 0:10:30Partly because of Christian concerns... Whoa!
0:10:30 > 0:10:31..about public nudity.
0:10:33 > 0:10:38But then when the pilgrims started coming en masse through...
0:10:38 > 0:10:42Whoa! ..Constantinople, and the Near East,
0:10:42 > 0:10:46they rediscovered the joys of public bathing and
0:10:46 > 0:10:48re-introduced it to Europe.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52So, in a sense, pilgrimage didn't just involve
0:10:52 > 0:10:57the spreading of religious ideas, but very practical ones as well.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01'This is perhaps the closest I've come on my travels
0:11:01 > 0:11:03'to a true act of penance.'
0:11:09 > 0:11:11If it hurts it must be good, right?
0:11:25 > 0:11:29On my journey so far, I'd seen how a desire to get closer to saints
0:11:29 > 0:11:33and holy artefacts created a network of pilgrimage sites.
0:11:33 > 0:11:38Places like Canterbury, Santiago in Spain, Rome, and even Istanbul.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48But there's one destination above all others that for centuries
0:11:48 > 0:11:52has inspired pilgrims to venture on often distant, perilous journeys.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57It's where the story of Christianity began - the Holy Land.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03I've never been and I'm thrilled to be going.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06The place names are all so familiar to me
0:12:06 > 0:12:08as someone who was brought up as a Methodist.
0:12:08 > 0:12:13The Sea of Galilee, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16I'm very excited to be heading in that direction, but also
0:12:16 > 0:12:20there's a degree of trepidation as well, of course, because that
0:12:20 > 0:12:24patch of land is still the most hotly contested on the planet.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28In the past, pilgrims leaving Istanbul for the Holy Land,
0:12:28 > 0:12:32would most likely have travelled by boat across the Mediterranean.
0:12:32 > 0:12:38Today, a direct ferry isn't an option, so I took a flight
0:12:38 > 0:12:43to the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, but I still wanted to get a sense
0:12:43 > 0:12:47of what our ancestors might have experienced when they arrived here.
0:12:49 > 0:12:51So here we are. This is it!
0:12:52 > 0:12:54I'm not great at sea,
0:12:54 > 0:12:57so I don't find it hard to imagine the relief pilgrims would have
0:12:57 > 0:13:01felt in the past, arriving here on a dirty cramped boat
0:13:01 > 0:13:06and seeing the firm ground of the Holy Land for the first time.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09Over here is the modern, bustling city of Tel Aviv,
0:13:09 > 0:13:13but I'm heading over here to the ancient port city of Jaffa.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17That's where Jonah is supposed to have left
0:13:17 > 0:13:21when he went for his unfortunate encounter with a whale.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24This place has got serious history.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31British pilgrims first began arriving in the Holy Land
0:13:31 > 0:13:34in large numbers more than 1,000 years ago,
0:13:34 > 0:13:37but this has rarely been an easy place to visit.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43From the 11th to the 13th centuries, Catholic Europe launched
0:13:43 > 0:13:48the crusades to seize Christianity's holiest sites from Islamic control.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51Only the most adventurous of pilgrims would have stepped
0:13:51 > 0:13:53foot here back then.
0:13:53 > 0:13:57Fewer still came following the Reformation of the 16th century,
0:13:57 > 0:14:00after which the new Protestant Church discouraged pilgrimage.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07In fact, it wasn't until the 1800s
0:14:07 > 0:14:10when the Victorian passion for travel and exploration
0:14:10 > 0:14:13reignited British interest in what was then called Palestine.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19Some pilgrims arriving here for the first time were a bit
0:14:19 > 0:14:22underwhelmed by what they found.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26One Victorian traveller writing in the 1860s thought that Jaffa
0:14:26 > 0:14:31was rather disgusting and he wrote about how he saw cats and dogs
0:14:31 > 0:14:35lying dead on the streets, and dung hills outside people's homes.
0:14:41 > 0:14:45The person who was largely responsible for getting Brits
0:14:45 > 0:14:50back to the Holy Land was this man - Thomas Cook!
0:14:51 > 0:14:58Like many Victorians, he was a deeply devout religious Christian,
0:14:58 > 0:15:01and he had a burning desire to come here to the Holy Land,
0:15:01 > 0:15:05which he eventually did, and the result was this book.
0:15:05 > 0:15:11Cook's Tourist Handbook To Palestine And Syria. Published in 1876.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14There's a passage in the book that I think sums up
0:15:14 > 0:15:17the motivation for many Victorian pilgrims.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21It says, "We still experience a sort of patriotism for Palestine
0:15:21 > 0:15:24"and feel that the scenes enacted there were
0:15:24 > 0:15:26"performed for the whole family of man.
0:15:26 > 0:15:31"Narrow as are its boundaries, we have all a share in its possession.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35"What a church is to a city, Palestine is to the world."
0:15:37 > 0:15:40Of course the Holy Land has changed somewhat
0:15:40 > 0:15:42since Cook wrote his guide book.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46Then it was part of the crumbling Islamic Ottoman Empire.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49Now it's an area carved up by religion and politics.
0:15:51 > 0:15:55Leaving Jaffa, I headed for the town of Bethlehem, which lies in the
0:15:55 > 0:15:59West Bank, a territory controlled by the Palestinian Authority.
0:16:07 > 0:16:09I'm now coming up to the Israeli checkpoint.
0:16:11 > 0:16:13Can't see any soldiers.
0:16:14 > 0:16:16Generally, so I've been told,
0:16:16 > 0:16:19they worry about you coming into Israel rather than leaving.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26I'm not in the West Bank.
0:16:27 > 0:16:29I'm in the West Bank!
0:16:36 > 0:16:40I think one of the hardest things now for a modern pilgrim to do
0:16:40 > 0:16:47would surely be to come here and ignore the political situation.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53Modern guidebooks do try to explain the history of the region.
0:16:53 > 0:16:55Some like to point out there was conflict
0:16:55 > 0:16:58here at the time of Christ as well.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01Around 2.5 million people live in the West Bank.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05I met up with local guide Rafat Shamali,
0:17:05 > 0:17:09one of more than 200,000 Palestinian Christians living here.
0:17:09 > 0:17:11- Hello there. Simon.- Hello, Simon.
0:17:12 > 0:17:14Your first time in Bethlehem?
0:17:14 > 0:17:18First time. Oh, my goodness.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21That's the wall in Bethlehem.
0:17:21 > 0:17:26We're talking of more than 800 kilometres of land
0:17:26 > 0:17:27when it's finished.
0:17:28 > 0:17:34This is my first moment I've seen the wall. The famous barrier.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37It's bigger than the wall of Berlin, by the way.
0:17:40 > 0:17:46Just gone past some graffiti that said, "Make hummus, not walls."
0:17:49 > 0:17:52The Israelis say they built the wall as a security
0:17:52 > 0:17:55barrier to prevent bombers entering Israel.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02It's come to symbolise the conflict which still divides the region,
0:18:02 > 0:18:05ruining lives on all sides.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11Goodness me.
0:18:16 > 0:18:21It's an image and a feeling that is completely at odds with
0:18:21 > 0:18:25everything I grew up understanding and believing about Bethlehem,
0:18:25 > 0:18:29about the popular image of this place.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33This little town, as the birthplace of Jesus Christ.
0:18:42 > 0:18:47Despite the very raw politics of the region, close to 2 million
0:18:47 > 0:18:50Christian pilgrims are still drawn to Bethlehem each year
0:18:50 > 0:18:54to visit the site where the story of their faith began.
0:18:56 > 0:19:00It's the Church of the Nativity. I can't quite believe it.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05The Church of the Nativity! I'm in Bethlehem.
0:19:11 > 0:19:18This is the Door of Humility, and it's a small...
0:19:18 > 0:19:20Well, there's been several doors over the...
0:19:20 > 0:19:23I was going to say over the years, but over the centuries.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27You can see the archway just here where the door used to be
0:19:27 > 0:19:30much larger. Anyway...
0:19:30 > 0:19:36It's now tiny so that you can't ride in here on horseback and whoever
0:19:36 > 0:19:41you are, president, king or queen, you've got to duck when you go in.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52A Christian church has stood here for almost 1,700 years.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57The original church,
0:19:57 > 0:19:59largely destroyed in a fire in the 6th century,
0:19:59 > 0:20:03was commissioned by Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine,
0:20:03 > 0:20:06over the site where Jesus was believed to have been born.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11There is, of course, some dispute
0:20:11 > 0:20:13over whether this was actually the site
0:20:13 > 0:20:16of his birth, as there is dispute over almost everything relating to
0:20:16 > 0:20:18the life and works of Jesus Christ.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22But nonetheless, this is where people say, think,
0:20:22 > 0:20:26and are brought to, as his birth. And...
0:20:26 > 0:20:31I feel it actually. I'm really feeling it.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35Maybe it's just the sense that this is where humanity has decided,
0:20:35 > 0:20:36this is the spot.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39That's all that really matters. At least to me at the moment.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46In a crypt beneath the church is that spot.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49It marks a birth that is celebrated each year
0:20:49 > 0:20:53by an estimated 2.2 billion Christians around the world.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55WORSHIPPERS SING
0:20:58 > 0:21:02This is the place where Jesus was born.
0:21:02 > 0:21:04This is where he lay in a manger.
0:21:09 > 0:21:11I'm definitely touched by this in a way that
0:21:11 > 0:21:15I, as a non-religious person, wouldn't expect to be.
0:21:15 > 0:21:20I'm taken back to my childhood, to a time, a happy family time,
0:21:20 > 0:21:25unwrapping presents and the Christmas tree,
0:21:25 > 0:21:28and our own nativity scene.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31So as a...
0:21:31 > 0:21:34My lip is... My jaw is wobbling away.
0:21:35 > 0:21:42I suppose this is as much about childhood and the innocence of it.
0:21:42 > 0:21:44MAN SINGS
0:21:44 > 0:21:46My innocence anyway.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51Don't cry, Simon. Cry, Simon.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55Suddenly feeling very, very emotional.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59Still, even at this point,
0:21:59 > 0:22:01I feel very British and I don't want to push in.
0:22:10 > 0:22:12This was one of the very first shrines built
0:22:12 > 0:22:15specifically for Christian pilgrimage.
0:22:17 > 0:22:20It's now part of a network of sites that inspire modern pilgrims
0:22:20 > 0:22:22to journey around the world.
0:22:24 > 0:22:28So we pray at the places where the heroes of our faith either
0:22:28 > 0:22:31were born or died or did something significant.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34I've never heard anybody describe it like that.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37- The heroes of our faith. - Yes. Yes, yes.
0:22:37 > 0:22:43Are you doing the religious equivalent of those
0:22:43 > 0:22:46Hollywood bus tours where they take you around and show you...
0:22:46 > 0:22:51that's where Demi Moore lives, or that's where Michael Jackson died?
0:22:51 > 0:22:55Is it... I'm not trying to dismiss it, but do you,
0:22:55 > 0:22:57is it similar to that, do you think?
0:22:57 > 0:22:59It's similar to that in the way where, sure, we're seeing these
0:22:59 > 0:23:03places where people lived, but they don't change history.
0:23:03 > 0:23:05Whereas Jesus, he changed history.
0:23:10 > 0:23:12On my travels through the Holy Land,
0:23:12 > 0:23:15I was following Thomas Cook's 1876 guide.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21Like the pilgrims I'd just met, he was a man on a holy mission,
0:23:21 > 0:23:24and although over 12,000 Victorians signed up for his tour,
0:23:24 > 0:23:26he never made a profit.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31He believed it was his Christian duty to bring pilgrims to the
0:23:31 > 0:23:32land of the Bible.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43Heading out of Bethlehem, I ventured deeper into the West Bank.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48The desert!
0:23:48 > 0:23:51It crops up again and again in the Bible,
0:23:51 > 0:23:54both in the Old and New Testament.
0:23:54 > 0:24:00Of course, this is where Jesus came to fast for 40 days and 40 nights.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04And it's a place where pilgrims have often been drawn to
0:24:04 > 0:24:07because they think it's a place where they can be closer to God.
0:24:14 > 0:24:19Thomas Cook brought his pilgrims out here, deep into the desert.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23They came to visit the 6th century Christian Monastery of Mar Saba,
0:24:23 > 0:24:27where a community of monks live an isolated life of prayer
0:24:27 > 0:24:31and devotion in this bleak and forbidding landscape.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34My book has it beautifully here.
0:24:34 > 0:24:39"The convent of Mar Saba is in the midst of grand and wild scenery.
0:24:39 > 0:24:45"Utterly barren and desolate. It is a lofty, and gigantic structure.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47"Built in terraces,
0:24:47 > 0:24:50"in a kind of amphitheatre in the side of a mountain.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54"Whether viewed from without or within, it's one of the most
0:24:54 > 0:24:58"weird places in the world, and it's difficult to distinguish
0:24:58 > 0:25:01"which is the natural rock, and which the building upon it."
0:25:12 > 0:25:14Few modern visitors,
0:25:14 > 0:25:17let alone TV crews are ever allowed inside the monastery.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26It's no surprise this place is so wary of outsiders.
0:25:28 > 0:25:33Over its 1,500 year history, it's been caught up in crusades
0:25:33 > 0:25:38and countless Persian raids, and yet somehow it's managed to survive.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46Just seen inside their first chapel here,
0:25:46 > 0:25:50which dates back more than 1,500 years.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53They weren't too... They didn't want us to film in there.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55They very rarely show visitors in there,
0:25:55 > 0:25:57but it's an extraordinary place.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01It's a cave but it's also a shrine and in there,
0:26:01 > 0:26:07there are dozens of skulls of priests and monks who were victims
0:26:07 > 0:26:11of the various invaders who've come through here over the years.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15Very moving. Quite upsetting, actually.
0:26:15 > 0:26:17The power of faith.
0:26:17 > 0:26:18The power of religion,
0:26:18 > 0:26:21but a reminder of course for the monks who are here now
0:26:21 > 0:26:25of their part in the history of this extraordinary building.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36Evening, Father.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40'Today there are 15 monks at Mar Saba.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43'They live almost entirely off the land with little
0:26:43 > 0:26:44'contact from the outside world.'
0:26:44 > 0:26:46I brought this food out for them to eat.
0:26:46 > 0:26:47Oh, my goodness.
0:26:48 > 0:26:52It's nice. It's from our field.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54That's very kind.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56- You want?- Yes. Thank you.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02Father Nicholas first came to the Holy Land as a pilgrim,
0:27:02 > 0:27:04before he entered the Greek Orthodox Church.
0:27:06 > 0:27:13Do you feel very connected to that history? To those 1,500 years?
0:27:13 > 0:27:15We do feel, yes. We are connected.
0:27:15 > 0:27:17Even we want it or not, we are.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23For many people it's like a jail but for us it's like a paradise.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25Something very strong.
0:27:26 > 0:27:31Is it the location that gives you a closer connection with God?
0:27:31 > 0:27:32Yes.
0:27:32 > 0:27:37Or is it the location and your relative isolation?
0:27:37 > 0:27:41The isolation helps, because the...
0:27:42 > 0:27:47We have many things to deal with in the world, you know?
0:27:47 > 0:27:51Especially television and these things. Mix you up.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54We live cluttered lives now.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57Yes. We cannot go left and right, so we go up.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00We meet the heaven.
0:28:00 > 0:28:02HE CHUCKLES
0:28:02 > 0:28:04WOODEN TAPPING
0:28:08 > 0:28:12He's calling the monks for evening prayer, which is
0:28:12 > 0:28:15also a sign that it's time for us to leave.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19Unlike other monasteries on my journeys,
0:28:19 > 0:28:23Mar Saba doesn't offer accommodation for pilgrims.
0:28:25 > 0:28:29The same was true when Victorian travellers came here.
0:28:34 > 0:28:38With only two proper hotels in the Holy Land -
0:28:38 > 0:28:39both in Jerusalem -
0:28:39 > 0:28:42British visitors who came here during the 1800s
0:28:42 > 0:28:46often slept under canvas in a Bedouin-style camp-site.
0:28:48 > 0:28:50This feels a bit touristy.
0:28:55 > 0:28:58PHONE RINGS
0:28:58 > 0:29:02Even out here you can get a cellphone signal.
0:29:10 > 0:29:14Victorian pilgrims hardly went for the authentic experience either,
0:29:14 > 0:29:18preferring to take a little bit of Britain wherever they went.
0:29:18 > 0:29:25Here's a picture, a photograph, of a long table set here with some
0:29:25 > 0:29:28rickety little stalls next to it, but it's got a clean white
0:29:28 > 0:29:33tablecloth on, and some silver candlestick holders.
0:29:36 > 0:29:38These tours weren't cheap.
0:29:38 > 0:29:44They could cost £12,000 in today's money, which is a lot now,
0:29:44 > 0:29:49but then, given the average wage was next to nothing,
0:29:49 > 0:29:51was a king's fortune.
0:29:52 > 0:29:55So when we look back on that time as being,
0:29:55 > 0:29:59as some people do, as being the sort of golden age of travel,
0:29:59 > 0:30:03when servants were aplenty and there were distant lands to explore,
0:30:03 > 0:30:05it was only the very rich who could do it.
0:30:06 > 0:30:11Now, in my humble view, is the golden age of travel, when ordinary
0:30:11 > 0:30:15folk can travel around the world and have extraordinary experiences that
0:30:15 > 0:30:18our ancestors could only have dreamt of,
0:30:18 > 0:30:20unless they were rich, of course.
0:30:25 > 0:30:30That's not too bad. The pillow is a bit hard.
0:30:30 > 0:30:32Like a rock. But I've slept on worse.
0:30:40 > 0:30:42HE GROANS
0:30:42 > 0:30:45Not the finest night's sleep.
0:30:47 > 0:30:49There were cats.
0:30:49 > 0:30:54There were dogs poking around. Coming and having a sniff of me.
0:30:56 > 0:31:02I woke up at one point and there was a donkey coming into the tent.
0:31:04 > 0:31:06Ah!
0:31:10 > 0:31:14Thomas Cook's tours helped to pioneer modern tourism,
0:31:14 > 0:31:17and although his trips to the Holy Land were largely designed
0:31:17 > 0:31:20for pious Victorians,
0:31:20 > 0:31:23there are destinations within his guide that have little
0:31:23 > 0:31:27to do with conventional pilgrimage, like taking a dip in the Dead Sea.
0:31:34 > 0:31:35I've always wanted to do this.
0:31:37 > 0:31:40The sea is so salty that visitors can supposedly float under
0:31:40 > 0:31:42the blinding sun.
0:31:44 > 0:31:47Oh! They don't lie!
0:31:48 > 0:31:51So the book says, "Bathing in the Dead Sea -
0:31:51 > 0:31:54"every traveller should try the curious effect
0:31:54 > 0:31:58"of bathing in the Dead Sea, unless he is suffering from an
0:31:58 > 0:32:03"abrasion of the skin, in which case he would suffer excruciating pain."
0:32:03 > 0:32:06Open wounds and salt water not really mixing.
0:32:06 > 0:32:11It's fascinating because what this says to me, very clearly,
0:32:11 > 0:32:17is that for Victorian pilgrims, just as with medieval pilgrims,
0:32:17 > 0:32:22for example, going on pilgrimage was not purely a religious act.
0:32:22 > 0:32:25It was not just for the pious.
0:32:25 > 0:32:28It was for those seeking adventure and experiences.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40It was during the Victorian era when the line between pilgrim
0:32:40 > 0:32:42and tourist really started to blur.
0:32:44 > 0:32:48Now, with cheap flights bringing millions to the Holy Land,
0:32:48 > 0:32:51some travellers who come here are shying away from crowded
0:32:51 > 0:32:56churches and shrines in search of more personal experiences
0:32:56 > 0:32:58they can have in the land of the Bible.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04I headed north to Galilee and Nazareth.
0:33:07 > 0:33:10My first stop in this region was the modern pilgrimage
0:33:10 > 0:33:14destination of Yardenit on the banks of the River Jordan.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17More than half a million pilgrims travel here each year to the
0:33:17 > 0:33:20spot where some believe Jesus came to be baptised.
0:33:22 > 0:33:23We thank you for today.
0:33:23 > 0:33:27We thank you for the opportunity to be in the Jordan River.
0:33:27 > 0:33:29INDISTINCT SPEECH
0:33:33 > 0:33:34Wow.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37I baptise my sister in the name of the Father and of the Son
0:33:37 > 0:33:40and of the Holy Spirit, buried in the lightness of the...
0:33:40 > 0:33:44'The modern day John the Baptist here is Pastor Todd Horton.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47'He can be called out at 20 minutes' notice to perform the ceremony.'
0:33:51 > 0:33:52Good!
0:33:54 > 0:33:57Are you baptising pilgrims here, or tourists,
0:33:57 > 0:33:59or a combination of the two?
0:33:59 > 0:34:02Oh, it depends. Like, I've got someone coming in Wednesday.
0:34:02 > 0:34:05Specific. He's like, "I need to be immersed."
0:34:05 > 0:34:07But they come in all shades and colours.
0:34:07 > 0:34:10Some people didn't plan it and they get here and they're like,
0:34:10 > 0:34:12"Listen, I need to be immersed."
0:34:15 > 0:34:20Have you come here to the Holy Land as a pilgrim or as a tourist?
0:34:20 > 0:34:21How do you define a tourist?
0:34:21 > 0:34:24Well, a tourist is someone who's touring, if you like,
0:34:24 > 0:34:25and travelling around.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28I've travelled in Asia as well, and I'd say that can be
0:34:28 > 0:34:31a pilgrimage too, just taking time out to stop and reflect.
0:34:31 > 0:34:34Goodness of people, the wonder of nature. All of that.
0:34:34 > 0:34:35That's a pilgrimage.
0:34:35 > 0:34:38I suppose it's up to the individual to define it.
0:34:38 > 0:34:41What's a pilgrim? It's a perfect who's searching for faith.
0:34:46 > 0:34:49Just a few hundred yards from Yardenit,
0:34:49 > 0:34:52the River Jordan flows into the Sea of Galilee.
0:34:55 > 0:34:57It's beautiful.
0:34:59 > 0:35:03Sorry to make a statement of the bleeding obvious now and again.
0:35:06 > 0:35:11There's a magnificent passage in the book here.
0:35:11 > 0:35:13"Upon those waters he trod.
0:35:13 > 0:35:17"Those waves listened to his voice and obeyed.
0:35:17 > 0:35:21"Everywhere the gospel is written upon this divinely illuminated page
0:35:21 > 0:35:26"of nature, and the very air seems full of the echo of his words."
0:35:28 > 0:35:31It's poetry.
0:35:31 > 0:35:35They do not write guidebooks like this any more.
0:35:39 > 0:35:44As a devout Christian, Thomas Cook was passionate about this land
0:35:44 > 0:35:47and wanted his fellow Britons to re-engage with it.
0:35:49 > 0:35:53In the 150 years since he wrote his first guide,
0:35:53 > 0:35:56tourism and pilgrimage to the Holy Land has boomed.
0:35:57 > 0:36:01Here in the Galilee, Christians come to visit the place where
0:36:01 > 0:36:04Jesus preached and where four of his disciples are believed to
0:36:04 > 0:36:06have earned a living as fishermen.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17At dawn the next morning, I joined local fishermen
0:36:17 > 0:36:21Israel and Amnon as they went out to check their nets.
0:36:37 > 0:36:39THEY SPEAK EXCITEDLY
0:36:39 > 0:36:40- Fish!- Yeah!
0:36:41 > 0:36:46These gentlemen get very excited for people who fish all the time.
0:36:46 > 0:36:48- Big fish. Goody!- Goody. OK.
0:36:48 > 0:36:52'What Israel and Amnon are really after is St Peter's fish,
0:36:52 > 0:36:55'a native species that would have been eaten by Christ
0:36:55 > 0:36:56'and his disciples.'
0:36:59 > 0:37:01So will tourists who are eating in a restaurant,
0:37:01 > 0:37:04will they actually specifically order a
0:37:04 > 0:37:07St Peter's fish because it's a biblical fish,
0:37:07 > 0:37:11because it's a fish Jesus might have eaten?
0:37:12 > 0:37:13Why?
0:37:25 > 0:37:28The number of pilgrims coming to the Holy Land is increasing,
0:37:28 > 0:37:31and demand for St Peter's fish is at an all-time high.
0:38:00 > 0:38:04Most of the fish have gone. Why have most of the fish gone?
0:38:04 > 0:38:06Well, as they've said, too many fishermen,
0:38:06 > 0:38:09but also because so many people are coming here,
0:38:09 > 0:38:14and they want to eat the way Jesus would have eaten.
0:38:14 > 0:38:16It's extraordinary really.
0:38:16 > 0:38:22I think there's a profound shift here that I'm maybe noticing,
0:38:22 > 0:38:23which is that in the past,
0:38:23 > 0:38:28people would have come to the Holy Land to visit the holy sites.
0:38:28 > 0:38:34Now they're almost trying to immerse themselves in the life of Jesus,
0:38:34 > 0:38:36the life of the Bible.
0:38:37 > 0:38:41They don't just want to pray. They want to have an experience.
0:38:43 > 0:38:46Just a short distance away, in the town of Nazareth,
0:38:46 > 0:38:50some visitors to the Holy Land are taking that desire to immerse
0:38:50 > 0:38:53themselves in biblical life to the extreme.
0:38:55 > 0:38:57People like David Hull.
0:38:57 > 0:38:59- David.- You must be Simon.
0:38:59 > 0:39:01- Simon.- Right this way.
0:39:01 > 0:39:05- David...- Yeah? - Why are you dressed like that?
0:39:05 > 0:39:09Here in Nazareth Village we try to approximate as best as we can
0:39:09 > 0:39:13what it would be like to live in 1st century Nazareth.
0:39:13 > 0:39:17As far as what we wear, as far as the tasks we do, everything is about
0:39:17 > 0:39:20being as close to the 1st century and the time of Jesus as possible.
0:39:20 > 0:39:21Why?
0:39:21 > 0:39:27My own path was very self-centred and led me to the point of death.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30Overdose and drugs. I was actually dying in the hospital.
0:39:30 > 0:39:32Look at you now.
0:39:32 > 0:39:35Yeah. Little bit heavier. Little bit healthier.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38It led me from wearing pants to wearing a dress every day.
0:39:38 > 0:39:40It's crazy. It's kind of fantastic. SIMON LAUGHS
0:39:42 > 0:39:45Nazareth village is surrounded by the hustle and bustle
0:39:45 > 0:39:47of the modern town, but here,
0:39:47 > 0:39:51David tends to sheep, goats and donkeys.
0:39:54 > 0:39:56Your donkeys are out of control, mate.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59I definitely think it's your responsibility to...
0:39:59 > 0:40:02Nah, they're just playing. Two little boys.
0:40:05 > 0:40:08- It does for me feel a little bit like I'm on a film set.- Yeah.
0:40:08 > 0:40:10But I actually feel out of place.
0:40:10 > 0:40:12So it must be working then.
0:40:12 > 0:40:15That's fantastic. We can get you one of these if you'd like.
0:40:15 > 0:40:20Could do the rest with you walking around in some traditional garment.
0:40:21 > 0:40:25Just looking at Chris the director, who smiled all excitedly.
0:40:25 > 0:40:26THEY LAUGH
0:40:29 > 0:40:31There are traditional 1st century buildings here too,
0:40:31 > 0:40:34complete with a carpenter's workshop.
0:40:35 > 0:40:38And is this, as far as is known,
0:40:38 > 0:40:41something that is vaguely historically accurate?
0:40:41 > 0:40:45Yeah, everything here has been researched by a team of scholars
0:40:45 > 0:40:46and archaeologists.
0:40:46 > 0:40:50'Visiting Nazareth Village is a strange experience.
0:40:50 > 0:40:53'At first it feels like a historical theme park,
0:40:53 > 0:40:58'until you realise that the main performers aren't all actors.'
0:40:58 > 0:41:00- You're Hannah, the weaver. - I'm Hannah the weaver.
0:41:00 > 0:41:02Well, it's very nice to see you, Hannah.
0:41:02 > 0:41:04The weaver of the village here.
0:41:04 > 0:41:07'This is pilgrimage as I've never seen it before.'
0:41:09 > 0:41:11Goodness me. What are we doing?
0:41:11 > 0:41:12We're shearing a sheep.
0:41:12 > 0:41:14- Shearing a sheep?- Yeah.
0:41:16 > 0:41:19- He's going to hold the legs. - Am I?
0:41:19 > 0:41:20Yep.
0:41:22 > 0:41:24Sure can.
0:41:28 > 0:41:33David, what do you learn about biblical life from doing this?
0:41:33 > 0:41:37It teaches me the biblical life isn't pie in the sky.
0:41:37 > 0:41:41That it's dirt and sweat and blood
0:41:41 > 0:41:44and that it isn't separate from real life.
0:41:46 > 0:41:52This feels absolutely surreal to me, but timeless as well.
0:41:52 > 0:41:54You'll be glad to have it off.
0:41:54 > 0:41:58- It's too hot to have all this. - Whoa!- It's all right. It's OK.
0:41:59 > 0:42:03I think for me this looks immersive and interesting
0:42:03 > 0:42:06and like an exciting experience for a time.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09- I'm not sure how long I could... - Yeah.- ..keep it up.
0:42:09 > 0:42:11I think that's the point of pilgrimage, right?
0:42:11 > 0:42:14Because it means all life is an adventure.
0:42:14 > 0:42:17It means that there's no final destination.
0:42:17 > 0:42:22It means that I get to grow and learn and shear sheep
0:42:22 > 0:42:26and chase donkeys and climb mountains and explore rainforests...
0:42:27 > 0:42:29until the day that I die.
0:42:29 > 0:42:32- Good luck on your travels, David. - Thank you.
0:42:34 > 0:42:36Throughout my journey,
0:42:36 > 0:42:40I've seen how people's definition of pilgrimage can vary.
0:42:40 > 0:42:43For some it's about connecting to Christianity through
0:42:43 > 0:42:45the natural landscape of the Bible.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48For others it's about a connection with God through the small
0:42:48 > 0:42:51patches of ground where holy acts were performed.
0:42:54 > 0:42:57But there's one place that unites all Christians, and has been
0:42:57 > 0:43:01a magnet for pilgrims from the very birth of the religion itself...
0:43:03 > 0:43:06There it is. Look.
0:43:06 > 0:43:08Oh, my goodness.
0:43:08 > 0:43:09Jerusalem.
0:43:20 > 0:43:22I can't quite believe I'm here.
0:43:23 > 0:43:28This is a city the like of which does not exist anywhere
0:43:28 > 0:43:29else on the planet Earth.
0:43:29 > 0:43:35A city that's holy for Christianity, but for Judaism and Islam as well.
0:43:36 > 0:43:41What must the travellers of our past have thought?
0:43:41 > 0:43:45They would have got here after long, difficult,
0:43:45 > 0:43:49dangerous journeys across the continent, travelling
0:43:49 > 0:43:55thousands of miles by land and sea and then finally to arrive.
0:44:00 > 0:44:03It's a gob-smacker, it's a breath-taker-awayer.
0:44:09 > 0:44:13We simply don't know how many of our medieval ancestors made it
0:44:13 > 0:44:17all the way to the epicentre of Christian pilgrimage,
0:44:17 > 0:44:20but there are some clues to Jerusalem's popularity.
0:44:22 > 0:44:26In Chaucer's fictional account, the Canterbury Tales,
0:44:26 > 0:44:30written in the late 1300s, the lusty Wife of Bath is
0:44:30 > 0:44:33described as having travelled here no less than three times.
0:44:36 > 0:44:38There's another book to show you here.
0:44:38 > 0:44:41This is the book of Margery Kempe,
0:44:41 > 0:44:46and Margery Kempe is an extraordinary woman, who in
0:44:46 > 0:44:50the 1400s visited almost all of the major sites of Christian pilgrimage.
0:44:51 > 0:44:56In truth, I haven't really known where to tell you about her, because
0:44:56 > 0:45:00she's been almost everywhere that I've been on these journeys.
0:45:00 > 0:45:02Except she went in the 1400s,
0:45:02 > 0:45:06travelling around the world on pilgrimage.
0:45:06 > 0:45:11She had adventures 600 years ago that women today in many
0:45:11 > 0:45:14parts of the world would be unable to have.
0:45:16 > 0:45:20According to her own account, Margery Kempe was so filled
0:45:20 > 0:45:24with holy awe in Jerusalem, that she kept falling to the ground in
0:45:24 > 0:45:29a series of dramatic fainting fits, accompanied by wild religious rants.
0:45:30 > 0:45:33Psychiatrist Dr Moshe Kalian
0:45:33 > 0:45:36believes that she may have been suffering from Jerusalem Syndrome -
0:45:36 > 0:45:39a condition that he treats on a regular basis today.
0:45:41 > 0:45:45Many people consider Jerusalem, spiritually,
0:45:45 > 0:45:47as the centre of the world.
0:45:49 > 0:45:54They use Jerusalem as a stage where they perform their act.
0:45:54 > 0:45:59So these are people who are drawn magnetically almost to
0:45:59 > 0:46:03- Jerusalem and...- Yes, more or less because they believe that this is
0:46:03 > 0:46:08the place where they should deliver their message to humanity.
0:46:10 > 0:46:12- There are people now in the city... - Definitely.
0:46:12 > 0:46:15..who think of themselves as the new messiah?
0:46:15 > 0:46:18They come, they live in some hostel or in some hotel.
0:46:18 > 0:46:22If they have means, sometimes they find some work to
0:46:22 > 0:46:25provide themselves and they're waiting for the day to come.
0:46:25 > 0:46:28What, so they'll be working in a shop or something,
0:46:28 > 0:46:31meanwhile telling all their colleagues, by the way, I'm...
0:46:31 > 0:46:33- Could be. - ..I'm the son of God?- Mm-hmm.
0:46:33 > 0:46:35- Extraordinary.- Yep. Yep.
0:46:35 > 0:46:38How many patients have you treated with Jerusalem Syndrome?
0:46:38 > 0:46:40It's not a big number.
0:46:40 > 0:46:44I think it's, like, sometimes between 20 to
0:46:44 > 0:46:49let's say, for the most, 50 people a year.
0:46:49 > 0:46:52- A year?- Yeah, because people are...the 50...
0:46:52 > 0:46:54- That's nearly one a week!- Yeah.
0:46:56 > 0:46:57Yes.
0:47:00 > 0:47:05The power and pull of this city and this land cannot be underestimated.
0:47:06 > 0:47:09The experiences of Victorian pilgrims,
0:47:09 > 0:47:12thousands of whom came on Cook's tour,
0:47:12 > 0:47:15helped to revive and shape British interest in the Holy Land.
0:47:16 > 0:47:20And by the early 1900s Britain had enormous power across this region.
0:47:24 > 0:47:26Everywhere you look in Jerusalem
0:47:26 > 0:47:30there are signs of the British influence and legacy.
0:47:30 > 0:47:32Visits to the Holy Land encouraged
0:47:32 > 0:47:35senior figures in the British establishment,
0:47:35 > 0:47:37including Arthur Balfour - Edwardian Prime Minister
0:47:37 > 0:47:40and later Foreign Secretary - to support a religious movement
0:47:40 > 0:47:42called Christian Zionism.
0:47:43 > 0:47:46Followers believed in a biblical prophecy that
0:47:46 > 0:47:49if the Jewish people return to the Holy Land, it would start a
0:47:49 > 0:47:53chain of events that would culminate in the second coming of the Messiah.
0:47:55 > 0:48:00Their beliefs, forged for many by pilgrimage to the Holy Land,
0:48:00 > 0:48:04led in part to the Balfour Declaration.
0:48:04 > 0:48:08The Balfour Declaration of 1917 gave official British approval
0:48:08 > 0:48:12for the creation of a homeland for the Jewish people.
0:48:12 > 0:48:15This was the result of pilgrimage at its most political
0:48:15 > 0:48:18and it's left a lasting legacy to this day.
0:48:25 > 0:48:28The status of Jerusalem is at the heart of
0:48:28 > 0:48:32the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,
0:48:32 > 0:48:35but millions of Christians, Jews and Muslims still
0:48:35 > 0:48:40come here every year to worship in the holy sites of the Old City.
0:48:40 > 0:48:43It's an area of just over a square mile that's one of the most
0:48:43 > 0:48:47contested and controlled patches of land on the planet.
0:48:50 > 0:48:54I was allowed to see inside the eyes of the city where
0:48:54 > 0:48:57I met up with British-born Israeli police spokesman,
0:48:57 > 0:48:59Superintendent Micky Rosenfold.
0:48:59 > 0:49:01Wow.
0:49:01 > 0:49:05- Here we are.- So, Micky. This is, this is your, well, command centre.
0:49:05 > 0:49:08Yep, and the most important aspect, as far as we're concerned,
0:49:08 > 0:49:11is making sure that the status quo is kept
0:49:11 > 0:49:15and is guarded in the best way possible
0:49:15 > 0:49:18with the eyes of the 320 cameras that are watching over
0:49:18 > 0:49:20in and around the Old City.
0:49:21 > 0:49:26And here we have our co-ordinating officer, who as you can see
0:49:26 > 0:49:29on the map over here, we can see the different cameras.
0:49:30 > 0:49:33That are located in and around the Old City.
0:49:33 > 0:49:38I mentioned 320 cameras. The cameras are facing in different directions.
0:49:38 > 0:49:42- Right.- So this is the Church of the Sepulchre as we see it on the map.
0:49:42 > 0:49:46- So the holiest site in Christendom, right?- In Christian religion.
0:49:46 > 0:49:49So we're now on camera 69, which we can see next to us
0:49:49 > 0:49:52on the larger screen.
0:49:52 > 0:49:56And this is in fact the Church of the Sepulchre entrance itself.
0:49:56 > 0:49:59- Goodness me.- And we can see exactly what is going on.
0:49:59 > 0:50:02We can now switch over to the Western Wall
0:50:02 > 0:50:04and the holiest site to the Jewish communities.
0:50:04 > 0:50:07And we can see it's relatively quiet at the moment.
0:50:07 > 0:50:09- This is the holiest site... - Holiest site.
0:50:09 > 0:50:12- For Jews in the world. - In the world where we're watching.
0:50:12 > 0:50:15In just a flick of a button you go from one faith...
0:50:15 > 0:50:17Touch of a screen. And also, from where we are...
0:50:17 > 0:50:20We can now go from the men's section to the women's section
0:50:20 > 0:50:22and see how many women are praying,
0:50:22 > 0:50:24what's going on at the Western Wall itself.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27It's as live as it's taking place right now.
0:50:27 > 0:50:29And by the touch of a button,
0:50:29 > 0:50:32we can look at the third most holy site...
0:50:34 > 0:50:38in the Muslim world - The Temple Mount itself -
0:50:38 > 0:50:40and all the movements that are taking place.
0:50:40 > 0:50:44You have responsibility for protecting sites where,
0:50:44 > 0:50:47if something went wrong, it could lead to...
0:50:47 > 0:50:49it could lead to war.
0:50:50 > 0:50:56It could lead to a major, major situation in the Middle East.
0:50:59 > 0:51:03We have to be very careful, especially with crowd control
0:51:03 > 0:51:07and making sure that everyone is on time for prayers,
0:51:07 > 0:51:10whether it's Christian, or Muslim, or Jewish.
0:51:10 > 0:51:12The prayers take place at specific times
0:51:12 > 0:51:16and therefore we have to make sure that everyone is there on time.
0:51:21 > 0:51:24I've walked small sections along some of the holiest
0:51:24 > 0:51:27Christian pilgrimage trails in the world now.
0:51:27 > 0:51:30To Canterbury, along the Pilgrims' Way.
0:51:30 > 0:51:33To Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain,
0:51:33 > 0:51:36but I'm now joining perhaps the holiest of them all.
0:51:38 > 0:51:43I was on my way to the start of the Via Dolorosa - the Way of Sorrow.
0:51:43 > 0:51:46It's the route that Jesus is said to have taken
0:51:46 > 0:51:50while carrying his cross through the city to the site of his crucifixion.
0:51:54 > 0:51:56Every Friday afternoon,
0:51:56 > 0:52:00Franciscan monks lead a procession along the 600 yard route.
0:52:06 > 0:52:09This is the Second Station Of The Cross
0:52:09 > 0:52:13where Jesus received the cross and then he began to walk...
0:52:13 > 0:52:14MONKS SING
0:52:14 > 0:52:17Which I'm about to do. I won't be on my own.
0:52:31 > 0:52:34As we all made our way through the narrow streets,
0:52:34 > 0:52:37I kept catching glimpses of a man dressed in biblical robes.
0:52:37 > 0:52:40He's an American called James,
0:52:40 > 0:52:43who's been living in Jerusalem for the past six years.
0:52:45 > 0:52:48Forgive me for asking, but given what you're wearing
0:52:48 > 0:52:51it's perhaps a natural question, but are you...
0:52:51 > 0:52:56do you consider yourself a chosen person or are you
0:52:56 > 0:52:59a person of ordinary faith? Or are you a...
0:52:59 > 0:53:03- Well, I don't think faith is ordinary.- A disciple, prophet or...?
0:53:03 > 0:53:06I don't, you know, I avoid exalted titles
0:53:06 > 0:53:07because that's the assumption.
0:53:07 > 0:53:10Oh, he must think he's something, you know, something unique, special.
0:53:10 > 0:53:13You're not one of the people who think they might be the son of...?
0:53:13 > 0:53:16- Jerusalem Syndrome?- Yes. - No, actually.- OK.
0:53:16 > 0:53:18THEY SING
0:53:18 > 0:53:22Walking the allies of the Via Dolorosa is a strange experience.
0:53:22 > 0:53:26It's like a channel continually streaming Christian pilgrims
0:53:26 > 0:53:30of every type and nationality to the heart of their faith.
0:53:32 > 0:53:33THEY SING
0:53:33 > 0:53:37We are from Nigeria, but we live in London.
0:53:37 > 0:53:39Jesus, we love you.
0:53:43 > 0:53:46Are you having the experience you expected?
0:53:46 > 0:53:48Are you feeling you're on the Via Dolorosa?
0:53:48 > 0:53:50Oh, yeah, definitely. Oh, yes. Yeah, the spirit.
0:53:50 > 0:53:53The spirit of the Lord is here, and we know we can feel it.
0:53:55 > 0:53:57I feel my spirits lifted a bit
0:53:57 > 0:54:00by the joy of some of the pilgrims we've met.
0:54:01 > 0:54:04Although I don't know where on earth I'm going at this point,
0:54:04 > 0:54:05I'm enjoying it.
0:54:06 > 0:54:08And which way is it?
0:54:09 > 0:54:11I know a man who'll know!
0:54:11 > 0:54:13Just right up here.
0:54:13 > 0:54:18At the end of the Via Dolorosa is the main attraction.
0:54:18 > 0:54:20It's drawn pilgrims here from around the world.
0:54:20 > 0:54:23It's the place that has inspired countless Britons across the
0:54:23 > 0:54:28centuries to risk their lives on a perilous 2,000 mile journey.
0:54:41 > 0:54:43And here it is.
0:54:43 > 0:54:46The culmination of every Christian pilgrimage to the Holy Land
0:54:46 > 0:54:48for hundreds of years.
0:54:57 > 0:55:00Medieval Britons in particular believed
0:55:00 > 0:55:02that in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,
0:55:02 > 0:55:05the gap between Heaven and Earth was at its thinnest.
0:55:05 > 0:55:07A place of unlimited power,
0:55:07 > 0:55:10where bodies could be healed and sins cleansed.
0:55:13 > 0:55:18This is everything we've heard about medieval pilgrims doing.
0:55:18 > 0:55:23People praying directly onto the stone where Jesus was said to
0:55:23 > 0:55:26have been laid after he was crucified.
0:55:26 > 0:55:31People rubbing their hands, their bits of cloth, to gain holy power.
0:55:33 > 0:55:38Here, in the holiest site of Christianity,
0:55:38 > 0:55:43you see the final proof that we are just like our ancestors.
0:55:52 > 0:55:57It was here that the Roman Empress Helena claimed to have found
0:55:57 > 0:56:01the true cross, and where she built a church to be
0:56:01 > 0:56:04a beacon of Christianity throughout the world.
0:56:21 > 0:56:24At the centre of the church is Christianity's
0:56:24 > 0:56:26holiest of holies -
0:56:26 > 0:56:29the tomb where Jesus is said to have risen from the dead.
0:56:38 > 0:56:41I feel my hands, my nails, gripping in.
0:56:43 > 0:56:45I feel quite tense being here.
0:56:46 > 0:56:49This is the holiest site in the holiest shrine
0:56:49 > 0:56:52in the whole of Christianity.
0:56:53 > 0:56:59This is the cave where Jesus was placed after his death on the cross.
0:56:59 > 0:57:06It's where he rose again and became Christ and Christianity was born.
0:57:08 > 0:57:11This is the birth of a culture, of a civilisation.
0:57:11 > 0:57:17So many paintings, so much music, so much joy, so much suffering.
0:57:17 > 0:57:25So many wars. So much of human history comes from here.
0:57:28 > 0:57:32It's utterly overwhelming.
0:57:52 > 0:57:56I've come to the end of my journey. It's been fascinating.
0:57:56 > 0:58:00I've learnt so much about the value of pilgrimage for a believer.
0:58:00 > 0:58:03About the adventure, the excitement, the joy,
0:58:03 > 0:58:05but even for a non-believer
0:58:05 > 0:58:07I think pilgrimage has so much going for it.
0:58:07 > 0:58:11It offers a very real sense of purpose and achievement.
0:58:11 > 0:58:12So go on.
0:58:12 > 0:58:16Follow our ancestors to somewhere holy
0:58:16 > 0:58:20and learn about the history and the culture that shaped us.
0:58:20 > 0:58:23Or strike out on your own. Find your own Jerusalem.