The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-06 00:00:00

PALESTINE.

A letter from Jerusalem of the 14th ult., pub-
lished in the Monde, contains the following intel-
ligence :
The public places of Jerusalem, so lonely and silent for
ten months of the year, aro gradually assuming a more
Lively aspect at the approach of the Easter solemnities,
always attended by crowds of Christian pilgrims of all com-
munions, countries, and ages. As usual, the Greeks and
dissenting Armenians are the most numerous, but there
does not seem to be quite so many of them this year as in
1858 and 1859. As to the Russians, who come at all sea-
sons, and in yearly increasing numbers, about 600 have
already arrived, and half of them started last week on an
excursion to Nazareth and Samaria, with the intention of
returning to Jerusalem for the Holy Week. Among the 60
western pilgrims now here, nearly all of whom lodge at the
Casa Nuova, we have an Archbishop of Chili, Monsignor
Raphael Valdivieso, who, after visiting the tomb of the
Prince of the Apostles at Rome, has come with two of his
priests to venerate the sepulchre of Jesus Christ. His arri-
val at Jerusalem was preceded by that of three Italian
Benedictines and three missionaries from India. We may
also note the presence at the Holy City of the pious widow
of the Ban Jellachich, who, in a critical moment, ren-
dered such eminent services to the Austrian empire ; this
lady is visiting the sanctuaries of the Holy Land, in
company with the family of Count Charles de Sei-
tern. Among the travellers of distinction expected here
at Easter I may mention the Count de Paris and the Duke
de Chartres, who are travelling in Egypt under the names
of Counts de Villiers. The Russian Consul at Jerusalem
purchased for his Government some few months since a
piece of ground covered with ruins, situate intra muros,
of no great extent, but most important owing to its histori-
cal associations and its proximity to the Holy Sepulchre.
On this spot stood the celebrated church and monastery of
St. Mary, built by order of Charlemagne at the beginning
of the ninth century, and by him confided to the care of the
Benedictines of Cluny. Charlemagne gave the monasteryan
extensive library, and endowed it with a yearly income, be-
sidesland,vineyards, and gardens in the valley of Jehosaphat.
In this monastery western pilgrims used to find a generous
hospitality till the fanatical Khaliff Hachem swept
away nearly all the religious monuments of the
Holy Land. Some years ago several merchants of
Amalfi, in the kingdom of Naples, who carried on a
considerable trade with Egypt and Syria, obtained
from Mouzafer, the Sultan of Egypt, the ruins of
the Convent of Ft. Mary, and erected a new church
and monastery for the same purposes. The new
establishment being found too small to afford the
necessary hospitality, another was built by its side
to receive women with a church or chapel dedicated
to St. Mary Magdalen. The services of the church
were performed by the Benedictines in Latin. The
whole of these buildings received the name of St.
Mary Latin. After the capture of Jerusalem by
Saladin, St. Mary Latin underwent the same fate
as most of the Christian establishments, And was
almost totally destroyed. The ground now pur-
chased by Russia as a site for a new consulate con-
sists of only a part of the space formerly covered
by the Latin buildings.