(8) Just after seven in the morning, when the people have rested, they all assemble in the Great Church on Golgotha. And on this day in this church, and at the Anastasis and the Cross and Bethlehem, the decorations really are too marvellous for words: All you can see is gold and jewels and silk; the hangings are entirely silk with gold stripes, the curtains the same, and everythmg they use for services at the festival is made of gold and jewels. You simply cannot imagine the number, and the sheer weight of the candles and the tapers and lamps and everything else they use for the services. (9) They are beyond description, and so is the magnificent building itself. It was built by Constantine, and under the supervision of his mother it was decorated with gold, mosaic, and precious marble, as much as his empire could provide, and this not only at the Great Church but at the Anastasis and the Cross, and the other Jerusalem holy places as well. - - - (11) Lucernare that day takes place in the way which is usual every day. On the second day they assemble in the church on Golgotha, and also on the third, and their rejoicing lasts until noon in Constantine's church on all those three days. On the fourth day they decorate everything and celebrate in the same way on the Eleonan (the very beautiful church on the Mount of Olives), on the fifth at the Lazarium, about a mile and a half from Jerusalem, on the sixth on Sion, on the seventh at the Anastasis, and on the eighth At the Cross. The decorations and rejoicing continue for eight days in all these places I have mentioned. - - -
(transl. Wilkinson)
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