Church Of The Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem - 2nd October 2019

Stuart Bowditch Podcasts

My travelling companion and I have taken to booking a few weeks away in October both as a means of extending the summer and a chance to discover somewhere new. We’ve been keen to travel to Palestine and Israel to see for our own eyes what is happening there, as well as to visit some of the holy sites associated with a variety of religions, and this is where we travelled to in 2019. Being interested in the sonic aspect of places and people’s activities, I found time to record the sound of many of these locations, as well as the places that we stayed and travelled through. The original two hour broadcast on CAMP Radio is a collage of recordings made inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Dormition Abbey, Tomb of the Virgin Mary, St. Anne’s Church, Church of Condemnation, The Western Wall and St, James’ Cathedral Church, all in Jerusalem; The Milk Grotto and Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem; St. Joseph’s Church and The Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, as well as streetscapes from each of those cities. The single recording there is from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on 2nd October 2019. I’m not a religious person by any means but I felt strong emotions in these buildings, a palpable sense of their power and importance both historically and today. Following pilgrims throughout the cities we were able to witness some incredible services, rituals and ceremonies of people from the Catholic, Jewish, Greek Orthodox, Armemian Apostolic and Islamic faiths. We also sought out conversations and experiences with Palestinians and Israelis, had lunch with some Jewish people in Jerusalem and visited a settlement in Hebron and Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem to better understand both viewpoints of current and historical situations, although recordings of those encounters do not feature here. Listening to these recordings now brings back a lot of those memories and emotions and I hope that you too can get a sense of the religious and historical significance of this area at this time, as well as recognising that they are real and everyday places that continue to be home to one million people today.