- Title: Massive underground necropolis to ease Jerusalem's grave shortage
- Date: 6th October 2019
- Summary: JERUSALEM (OCTOBER 6, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MOVING SHOT IN UNDERGROUND BURIAL SITE CAMERA MOVING TOWARDS BURIAL NICHE IN WALL, SHOWING ITS INTERIOR JERUSALEM (OCTOBER 3, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CEMETERY ABOVE GROUND JERUSALEM (OCTOBER 6, 2019) (REUTERS) UNDERGROUND BURIAL SITE (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR OF 'CHEVRA KDISHA KEHILAT YERUSHALAYIM", A LOCAL JERUSALEM BURIAL SOCIETY, CHANANYA SHACHOR, SAYING: "This underground cemetery is something unique in the whole world, there is nowhere else in the world that you can see such a huge underground cemetery with the amount of 23,000 graves, which will be ready within the next four years. The end of this month, the end of October, we are going to use the first 8,000 graves like you see here - ground graves and niches." MOVING SHOT SHOWING UNDERGROUND BURIAL NICHES / UNDERGROUND BURIAL SITE UNDER CONSTRUCTION UNDERGROUND SITE UNDER CONSTRUCTION LIGHTING DEVICE / WORKERS IN UNDERGROUND BURIAL SITE BULLDOZER BURIAL NICHES UNDER CONSTRUCTION MAN WORKING ON CRANE NEAR CEILING VARIOUS OF WORKER USING GRINDER, SPARKS FLYING WORKERS REMOVING STONE FROM BURIAL NICHE UNDERGROUND BURIAL SITE (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR OF 'CHEVRA KDISHA KEHILAT YERUSHALAYIM", A LOCAL JERUSALEM BURIAL SOCIETY, CHANANYA SHACHOR, SAYING: "According to our plan, after we finish the first part of 23,000 graves, probably we will have enough space to continue digging underground and we don't know exactly the capacity that we will have at the end of the project. We know that we will continue, if people will accept this new method of burying, we will continue doing all the work underground." JERUSALEM (OCTOBER 3, 2019) (REUTERS) CEMETERY ABOVE GROUND
- Embargoed: 20th October 2019 15:31
- Keywords: Jerusalem catacomb cemetery largest Jewish graveyard underground necropolis
- Location: JERUSALEM
- City: JERUSALEM
- Country: Israel
- Topics: Human Interest / Brights / Odd News,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA001AZYKR47
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A brand new, massive underground necropolis was unveiled in Jerusalem on Sunday (October 6) to help overcome a looming shortage of gravesites in the holy city.
The one mile-long labyrinth, with 23,000 burial chambers lining the walls and ground, was tunnelled into the hillside beneath Jerusalem's main Jewish cemetery, Givat Shaul, which is quickly running out of space.
"There is nowhere else in the world that you can see such a huge underground cemetery," said Chananya Shachor, director of a local chapter of the Jewish burial society Chevra Kadisha.
The group invested some 300 million shekels ($86 million) in the modern twist on an ancient burial practice that it hopes will ease the pressure on the city's cemeteries.
Dozens of graveyards in Israel have already closed their gates to new burials. Non-Jews, who make up a minority in Israel, are buried in separate cemeteries.
The first 8,000 graves will be ready to use at the end of the month, Shachor said.
(Production: Rinat Harash, Ilan Rosenberg) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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