Halfway down the western flank of the Mount of Olives, among terraces of ancient olive trees just above the garden of Gethsemane, stands one of the most unexpected buildings in Jerusalem: a Russian Orthodox church whose gilded onion domes belong visually to Moscow rather than to the Judean hills. It was built in the nineteenth century by the Russian imperial family and dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene, at the height of Russia's engagement with the Holy Land, when churches, hostels and monasteries were founded to receive pilgrims arriving in great numbers. The interior follows the Russian idiom — iconostasis, painted panels, gilding, candlelight — and the convent community that lives here maintains the church, the gardens and the terraces. The site holds imperial tombs and remains a place of pilgrimage for the Orthodox world. Its position, halfway up the slope facing the walls of the Old City, gives it exceptional visual command: the domes catch the light against the grey-green of the olive groves, with Jerusalem beyond. Filmed in 4K, it is one of the most immediately arresting images the Holy Land can offer.
