Dominus Flevit Church, Jerusalem

Its name meaning "The Lord Wept", this Franciscan chapel on the western slope of the Mount of Olives recalls the incident described in the Gospels where Jesus, while riding toward Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday, had his "great lament" for the future fate of the Jewish people and of the Second Temple. Designed by Italian architect Antonio Barluzzi to stylize the shape of a teardrop, it was built in the 1950s on the ruins of a 7th-century chapel, with part of the original apse preserved.

The views over the Dome of the Rock and the Old City from both the altar window and the serene gardens are justly famous and enough to justify a visit. Rich in symbolism, both physically and spiritually, Dominus Flevit also has a collection of carved stone ossuaries (100 BC to 300 AD) one can observe just after entering its gates and, more importantly perhaps, a fine early Christian mosaic from a 5th-century monastery, preserved in situ outdoors, to the side of the church door.