Saint Lucy's Celebration in Jerusalem

Jerusalem, Israel. 13th December, 2018. The Swedish Theological Institute (STI) in Jerusalem hosts Santa Lucia Day celebrations commemorating Lucia of Syracuse (283-304), Saint Lucy, Saint Lucia, or Sancta Lucia. The feast has become a festival of light, particularly celebrated in Scandinavian countries, where young girls traditionally dressed in white with a red sash, carry palms and wear wreaths of candles on their heads. STI, founded in 1951, is situated in central Jerusalem in Bet Tavor, constructed by Conrad Schick in 1882 and houses the Chapel of St. Bridget.

Saint Lucy's Celebration in Jerusalem

Jerusalem, Israel. 13th December, 2018. The Swedish Theological Institute (STI) in Jerusalem hosts Santa Lucia Day celebrations commemorating Lucia of Syracuse (283-304), Saint Lucy, Saint Lucia, or Sancta Lucia. The feast has become a festival of light, particularly celebrated in Scandinavian countries, where young girls traditionally dressed in white with a red sash, carry palms and wear wreaths of candles on their heads. STI, founded in 1951, is situated in central Jerusalem in Bet Tavor, constructed by Conrad Schick in 1882 and houses the Chapel of St. Bridget.

Saint Lucy's Celebration in Jerusalem

Jerusalem, Israel. 13th December, 2018. The Swedish Theological Institute (STI) in Jerusalem hosts Santa Lucia Day celebrations commemorating Lucia of Syracuse (283-304), Saint Lucy, Saint Lucia, or Sancta Lucia. The feast has become a festival of light, particularly celebrated in Scandinavian countries, where young girls traditionally dressed in white with a red sash, carry palms and wear wreaths of candles on their heads. STI, founded in 1951, is situated in central Jerusalem in Bet Tavor, constructed by Conrad Schick in 1882 and houses the Chapel of St. Bridget.

Saint Lucy's Celebration in Jerusalem

Jerusalem, Israel. 13th December, 2018. The Swedish Theological Institute (STI) in Jerusalem hosts Santa Lucia Day celebrations commemorating Lucia of Syracuse (283-304), Saint Lucy, Saint Lucia, or Sancta Lucia. The feast has become a festival of light, particularly celebrated in Scandinavian countries, where young girls traditionally dressed in white with a red sash, carry palms and wear wreaths of candles on their heads. STI, founded in 1951, is situated in central Jerusalem in Bet Tavor, constructed by Conrad Schick in 1882 and houses the Chapel of St. Bridget.

A street scene in Belem, Lisbon, Portugal.

A seagull catches a crab on the bank of the Tagus River.

Tourists capture memories on smartphones in Lisbon.

A street scene in Lisbon's Alfama District. Alfama is the oldest district of Lisbon, on the slope between the Sao Jorge Castle and the Tejo river.

A street scene in the city of Porto.

A street scene in the city of Porto.

The Nazare lighthouse on the roof of Forte Sao Miguel Arcanjo. Nazaré is a coastal town and a municipality in Oeste region. It is one of the most popular seaside resorts in the Silver Coast, Costa da Prata, Portugal.

Women's Nationwide Strike in Israel

Jerusalem, Israel. 4th December, 2018. Protesters partially block the main entrance to Jerusalem adjacent to the Chords Bridge. A one day nationwide women's strike protests 24 murdered women in 2018 in domestic violence related events. Supported by the private sector, municipalities and government offices women take to the streets blocking traffic at major intersections condemning government for failing to take efficient action. Protesters spread out obituary notices with the names of recent victims and use red paint to symbolize blood.

The Lisbon tramway network, in operation since 1873, presently comprises six urban lines. In 1901 the network was electrified. The decline of the network began with the construction of the Lisbon Metro but the six remaining lines are still very important as sections of the city's topography can only be crossed by small trams.

Commuters exit the underground Rossio Station on the Green Line of the Lisbon Metro. The station is located between Figueira Square and Rossio Square.

SodaStream Production Plant in Rahat, Israel

Rahat, Israel. 15th November, 2018. Only 22km from the Gaza border, in the Idan HaNegev Industrial Park, SodaStream (NASDAQ SODA) employs 110 West Bank Palestinians, 750 Muslim Bedouins and East Jerusalem Israeli Arabs, some Arab Christians and Druze and 1,000 Israeli Jews among them Russian and Ethiopian immigrants, making it an island of peace and coexistence.

A street scene in Lisbon's Alfama District. Alfama is the oldest district of Lisbon, on the slope between the Sao Jorge Castle and the Tejo river.

The São Bento Railway Station, Estação Ferroviária de São Bento, in the civil parish of Cedofeita, Santo Ildefonso, Sé, Miragaia, São Nicolau e Vitória, in the municipality of Porto is a 20th century railway station on the site of the Benedictine Convent of São Bento da Avé Maria, built by King Manuel I of Portugal in 1518.

A street view of Sintra, Portugal. Sintra is a city and municipality in the Greater Lisbon region of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera, a major tourist destination in Portugal, famed for its picturesqueness and for its numerous historic palaces and castles.

Foz do Douro lighthouse

A street scene in the city of Porto.

A street scene in the town of Alcobaça, in Oeste Subregion.

Violence Against Women Protest in Jerusalem, Israel

Jerusalem, Israel. 18th October, 2018. Following a recent nationwide surge in the murder of women by their spouses, activists protest in Jerusalem's downtown Zion Square. Twenty women have been murdered in events associated with domestic violence so far in 2018.

Muslim Quarter Old City Jerusalem, Israel

Jerusalem, Israel. 11th October, 2018. A Muslim woman wears a burqa and sun glasses covering her body and face as she walks in Jerusalem's Old City just inside Herod's Gate.

Muslim Quarter Old City Jerusalem, Israel

Jerusalem, Israel. 11th October, 2018. A young boy runs past the entrance to a tailor's shop in Jerusalem's Old City Muslim Quarter.

Second Temple Era Inscription in Jerusalem, Israel

Jerusalem, Israel. 9th October, 2018. A woman sits by the entrance to an exhibition titled Fashion at the Israel Museum.

Germany's Chancellor Merkel Visits Israel

Jerusalem, Israel. 4th October, 2018. Israeli Prime Minister BENJAMIN NETANYAHU and Chancellor Merkel of the Federal Republic of Germany deliver statements at a joint press conference ahead of a meeting of the two governments at Jerusalem's King David Hotel. Merkel is on a 24 hour visit in Israel with a delegation of ministers.

Germany's Chancellor Merkel Visits Israel

Jerusalem, Israel. 4th October, 2018. Israeli Minister of Health YAAKOV LITZMAN, a follower of the Gur Hasidic dynasty, head of Agudat Yisrael Party, partakes in a joint press conference delivered by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Chancellor Merkel of the Federal Republic of Germany at Jerusalem's King David Hotel.

Daily Life in Israel

A young Jewish boy is pictured through a window riding the Jerusalem Light Rail.

Dead gecko laying on its back

New Jerusalem Tel Aviv Train Line in Israel

Jerusalem, Israel. 25th September, 2018. Commuters board the train and await departure to Tel Aviv at Jerusalem's new Yitzhak Navon Station, with platforms situated 80m below ground level. The new Jerusalem Tel Aviv 'King David' train line, Israel Rail Project A1, designed to connect Israel's capital to the Greater Tel Aviv metropolitan area, begins commercial operation today, after 10 years of delays, a budget that more than doubled from a planned 3.2 billion NIS to an actual 7 billion NIS, on a limited basis, only to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport due to further delays in construction and in electrifying the track between Ben Gurion Airport and Tel Aviv. The new electric line includes 40 kilometers of tunnels and eight bridges. Eventually, the 28 minute ride will replace the old Ottoman era, 1 hour track, through the Judean Hills.

Mount Zion Jerusalem, Israel

The Greek Patriarchate Cemetery is situated adjacent to the Dormition Abbey on Mount Zion.

Archaeology on Mt. Zion Jerusalem, Israel

Jerusalem, Israel. 8th August, 2018. The early Muslim Period (638-1099 CE) round tower at the Jerusalem Citadel, known as the Tower of David, built by Herod and named the Tower of Petzael after Herod's brother, has in many senses become a symbol of Jerusalem.

Ethiopian Israelis Demonstrate in Jerusalem, Israel

Jerusalem, Israel. 29th July, 2018. Ethiopian Israelis demonstrate outside the Prime Minister's Office. Holding photos of loved ones still stranded in Ethiopia they demand government fulfills a pledge to bring to Israel remaining 8,000 Ethiopian Jews waiting to immigrate. The Ethiopian Jewish community, called Beta Israel, lived in seclusion for over 1,000 years, only reconnecting to the Jewish world in the late 20th century.

Huge Boulder Dislodges from Western Wall in Jerusalem, Israel

Jerusalem, Israel. 25th July, 2018. Teams from the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Western Wall Heritage Foundation remove an estimated 400Kg boulder (882 lbs) that became dislodged and fell Monday from one of the original Herodian courses of the Western Wall onto the egalitarian prayer platform near Robinson's Arch, narrowly missing a woman standing in prayer underneath. The Western Wall is considered a remnant of a wall supporting the Second Temple complex, destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE.

Arson Terrorism on the Gaza Border, Israel

Eshkol Regional Council, Israel. 17th July, 2018. Firefighters, KKL forest rangers and IDF soldiers fight side by side to extinguish a forest fire west of Kibbutz Beeri, in the Eshkol Regional Council, near the Gaza Strip, ignited by firebombs and explosives delivered by airborne kites or helium filled balloons from the Gaza Strip into Israel. More than 50 square kilometers of agricultural fields and forest land have been set ablaze in a wave of Palestinian arson terrorism, now going into its fourth month.

Eviction Threat to Bedouins, Khan Al Ahmar, Israel

West Bank, Israel. 12th June, 2018. The Israeli High Court ruled, May 24th 2018, against an injunction by the Bedouin community of Khan Al Ahmar Abu Al Helu, clearing the way for the Israeli demolition of the illegal outpost and all community structures including a school. 181 residents of the Jahalin tribe residing a few kilometers east of Jerusalem face an imminent threat of forcible transfer. The settlement is located in E1 of Area C, which under the 1993 Oslo Accords is classified as being under Israeli civil and security control.

Faithfull Orthodox Christians worship in the Jvari Monastery Church of the Holy Cross, overlooking the town of Mtskheta.