Dominus Flevit – The Tear Drop Church on The Mount of Olives

The Church of Dominus Flevit is situation half way down the Mount of Olives, along the path known as The Palm Sunday Walk.

Dominus Flevit – direct translation The Lord Cried – is also known as The Tear Drop Church. The present church was built in 1952 according to the plans of the Italian architect Antonio Barluzzi. It stands over the site where tradition has it that Jesus prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem.

Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them “You see all these, do you not? Truly I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another, that will not be thrown down”
Luke 24:1-2

The tradition that the site of modern Dominus Flevit is the site of the prophesy of the destruction of Jerusalem dates back to the Byzantine period (324-636 CE). This can be seen by the remains of the mosaic floor, to be found adjoining the entrance to the modern church.

Barluzzi managed to express architecturally the events. When standing inside the church one is supposed to get the feeling of standing inside a tear drop. Since Jesus is prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem, the single large window causes the visitor to look out onto Jerusalem.
Through special dispensation this is the only Catholic church to face west, allowing the view to be the altar picture.

Outside on top of each corner Barluzzi placed huge stone replicas of tear bottles. In Roman times there was a tradition of collecting tears in glass vials and pour them out on the grave of the deceased.

Dominus Flevit, though small, is clearly seen, when viewing the Mount of Olives from the West. One of the tell-tale signs are the thousand of visitors thronging this small area, pointing to the importance of the tradition surrounding the site.