Above the edicule housing the Sepulchre is a strange black dome. If you turn around, you will see the Catholicon, a Greek Orthodox sanctuary facing the Holy Sepulchre. It is also called the Greek Choir, and during the Crusader period the air here resounded with hymns. Although this church is usually closed off with a chain you can still easily see its balconies and ornamental iconastasis. The Greek Orthodox believe that the center of the world is located in the Catholicon, and a large urn on the floor marks the spot.
Lines often form in front of the Holy Sepulchre.
The Sepulchre's atrium is called the Chapel of the Angel. After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. A podium holds a glass case containing a piece of the rolling stone used to block up the tomb. Greek Orthodox clergy had to enclose it in glass because pilgrims kept chopping off chunks to take home with them.