The evening times., 1898-11-02
: JERUSALEM AS IT Is.
The Holy City as the German Kaiser



Times. speaking of it, says:
Greater activity in pushing forward
municipal improvements and other public
works exists just now in and about Jeru-
salem than has before been witnessed in
modern times. Roads throughout the
country are being repaired and new ones
constructed. The ancient mule tracks UP
Scopus and over the Mount of Olives,
which served Titus and his men of war,
| along which David fed from Absalom as
he was stoned and cursed by Shemei. and
which have been climbed by generations
Of Jebusites and Jews, Romans, MOslems
| and Christian knights, pilgrims and tour
lists. are being replaced by a modern car
rage road. built at the wish of the Ger
man empress that she may be able TO
! reach these sacred sites without fatigue.
| The Jaffa gate of Jerusalem, which has
| been used as a carriage roadway for en-
tering the city, is TO be appropriated to
! pedestrians, while wide entrance for
| carriages on the south of the ancient
| gate. and between it and the tower of Da-
vid, is being made by filling UP the Old
! moat of the citadel.
All this prepar alton. and much more, IS
| undertaken in view of the approaching
| Visit OF the German emperor, Which ilt -
| to dedicate the imposing new German
! church called the Church of the Reteem-
| er. which is just being completed The
| other several German enterprises here
| the new German hospital, the deac on
| esses school, Schneiler's orphanaSe aud
| the hospice of the Knights Of st. JONI
| are on tip-toe of expectation. esp ally
those which are to be honored by 4 royal
visit The expenditure of public money
and attention in view of this event shows
| the popularity which the German Empe-
ror enjoys in the Ottoman dominioas.
| Everything indicates most enthusiastic
receutiou from all classes OF the Sultan
subjects Even the fellaheen of the VII
lages and the boatmen OF Jatfa g adiy
pay. with many expressions of dey0tion,
the tax of about S shillings per head re-
Quired to pay for this road building
There is much in the history of the site
of the new German church that IS wen
worth noting 1t occupies the eastern
half Of the large inclnsure to the s0u,h
of the Church of the Holy SeDulche,
known as the "Muristan- Ihis plot mas
historic mention as early as the reign o.
Charlemagne. who devoted much atten-
tiou TO the holy places of Jerusalem On
this very ground he erected hospice tor
rilgrims Bernhard of t.ichstadt, 4 monk,
acknowledged Its hospitality lii SO anu
spoke of a church there, with western
rites called St Maria Latina, ~ cAarse
/ Of BenedictineS.
The peace that lasted during Charle-
/ nagne's friendly intercourse anu eN-
change of costly presents with hhaiii
/ Earonn EI Rachid ceased when the Holy
Land came under the power OF the Egyp-
! tan khalifs This hospice and church,
I'm common with all the churches OF Je-
} rusalem. were destroyed. This was IN
1910 under the rule of Hakem. AFTER MS
/ Feath intercourse was renewed Win t4!s
West through Italian seapoTtS, anu
| churches were rebuilt In 1858 merchants
| of ArnaIfi purchased the ground III ques-
ton and built hospiee. For It's services
there was founded a small brotherhood
of hospitaIlers. and this grew in a few
! years into the powerful and celebrated
order of the Knights of St. John, which
/ added warlike enterprises 10 its deeds OF
. mercy in caring for pilgrims and the sick
! This knightly spirit was fostcred by
the circumstances of those times when
the cruSades were undertaken by which
, Jerusalem was wrested from the Turks
, OF Asia Minor This new order of knights
filed their area with great struCtures-the
, Church OF St. John the Baptist a hospi-
, tai supported by l2i columns, whore Loo
pilgrims could find shelter: the palace al
the master of the order. the dwellings OF
Upon the northeast corner of the inClos-
ure stood the Church of ST. Mary Major
and adjoining il on the south the cloisteI
OF the affiliated order OF nuns This
church was built in the old French style
! and resembled the Church of St Anne
now standing near the St. Stephens gate
1t is this church OF which the ruin:
! were uncovered by the German archi
tects few years ago. Its restoration
at,l
completion under the patronage anC
. close personal interest of the German
Emperor. An ornamental arch beaIins
designs symbolic OF the twelve month.
, | of the year which originally formed tn.
= northern entrance, was found still stand
= ing. and now occupies its ancient plac,
in the new structure and forms its mos
interesting feature The cloister ais,
was found in good preservation. an,
e may now be seen much as it was in tht
n days when Baldwin was king in Jerusa
r lem
o Christian rule terminated within cen
, tury. In 1857 Saladin conquered the cit,
: and took up his quarters in the propert,
: which had belonged TO the knights of 81
: John The clOister, from which the nun
+ had fled, he converted into madhouse
called in Arabic Murstan, which nam
: the whole area has since borne. III
e Knights OF ST. John afterward establish
r ed themselves in Rhodes. and later il
e Malta whence they were finally dr.v5
n by Napoleon But they have never ceas
: ed to exist, though the Reformation di
: vided the order. The successors of thos
II in Malta. who are called the knights O
Malta and are Roman Catholics. az
{ found today in the house of the order an
: a hospital south of Jerusalem. at Santul
= a little more than halfway to Bethlehem
J. The Protestant representatives of til
6 order fiourished in Prussia and were ric
IN landed possessions until during the Ma
. | poleoniC wars these possessions were SER
" ed by the Prussian government Late
:, | the order was restored by Frederick Wi
- liam of Prussia. In its modern form it
a devoted to deeds of mercy, supportin
~ ! many hospitals and homes for the agel
- 1t has small but well-conducted hospiC
- in Jerusalem, and will probably build
. spacious one on this very site upo
- which the order was founded. The men
- bership of the German order is confine
, to princes and the nobility. The Englis
:. order bearing the same names include
. all classes and numbers women We
' as men in its ranks An ophthalmic no:
pital in Jerusalem is under the banner
l. ~ this English order.
; After tSaladin'S death the buildings
', the Naristan were neglected and becam
:. mere ruins, and part of the land wa
, sown with barley. Finally. the wester
:, half came into the possession of th
!. Greek patriarch. by whom the ruins
n the Church of ST. John the Baptist hay
=, n been recently uncovered.
As in recent years German Protestai
m interests have increased in the Hol
,g Land. the Emperor William turned h
eye upon this eastern half of the fornt
site of the Knights of st. John. But