Paul Calvert spoke with tour guide George Philomen about Jesus' last days.

Gethsemane is one of the biblical sites you can visit in Jerusalem today. In Jesus' time it was a working garden, but today that's no longer the case; it's simply connected to a Church, a piece of land and some ancient Olive trees. Paul spoke with George Philomen, a tour guide, to find out more of its historical importance.

Paul: There are Olive trees in Gethsemane today; do you think these trees are the same ones as in Jesus' time?

George: There are different points of view on this issue as there are some really old trees there. Many people say that these old trees are off shoots from the original trees in Jesus' time because it is recorded that the Romans cut down all the Olive trees around the city of Jerusalem; so most probably they were cut off. If they were from Jesus' time they would have been offshoots from around the trees.

Paul: What does Gethsemane mean? Do you think it has any significance to Jesus' final days?

George: The name Gethsemane comes from 'Gat Shemen'. Gat means press and Shemen means oil, so it means oil press. There is an olive press nearby where there is a cave, so it was used for the olives that were produced in this area.

I think it is significant to Jesus' last days. He was crushed like an olive in His last days. The oil is poured out in the crushing and as Jesus was pressed for you and I His blood was poured out; so I see a lot of significance to the place and Jesus' last days.

Paul: There's a Church on Gethsemane now, when was it built and who built it?

George: The Church was built in 1924. The architect is one of the most famous architects in the country. His name is Antonio Baluchi and he designed it in a beautiful way - dark inside. Also inside there is a rock commemorating the time when Jesus was praying, when he was sweating drops of blood. Of course we don't actually know if this is the rock that Jesus prayed from but we know that in this area the event happened. It's a beautiful opportunity to go to this Church and have a feeling of the darkness Jesus went through at such a sensitive and important time in His life.

Paul: As a believer in Jesus yourself, can you imagine what it would be like in Jesus' time?

George: Yes you can just see Jesus alone at the bottom of the Mount of Olives because that is where the Garden of Gethsemane is situated just outside the city wall of Old Jerusalem. Jesus was alone, it was dark and He was praying. There would be a human struggle to go according to God's will, when you know it will end up in crucifixion. In Jesus' human form He agreed with God's will, as this was the way of salvation.

Paul: Are there many of the sites from the Easter story close by?

George: Yes, not far from here in the South is Caiaphas the High Priest's house where Jesus was tried. You can visit the Church where there are some dungeons where Jesus was possibly kept for trial. Also you can see the field that was bought with the 30 pieces of silver that Judas took to betray Jesus and you have in the North East of Jerusalem the Garden Tomb, which they say could be the site of Jesus' burial. Everything fits the biblical story in that site; you have a main road where people would be buried, (a main road would be used as a warning that if you mess with the Romans this is what happens), next to that road is the shape of a skull in the rock face, possibly the reason why it was called Skull Hill, you also have a garden with a water cistern, proving it is a working garden from Jesus time and also the tomb.

The tomb dates back to Jesus' time. There are two burial chambers, one on the left is finished and the right is to be completed. If you remember the Easter story, one of the disciples looked through a window of the tomb and there is a window for the tomb as well.

There is a wonderful sign on the door of the tomb - "He is not here for He has risen".

It says it all.