Seeing Christianity's holy sites

When I visit holy sites across Israel and Palestine here are some of the things I notice:

1. Christians are a very diverse lot (so are the followers of other religions). Within the last week, I've seen African Americans unloading from their tour bus in Capernaum, Asians walking in Bethlehem, Eastern Europeans wearing matching bandannas in Jerusalem 
2. I think of the beautiful things pilgrims here must be praying for during their visits (peace, prosperity, glory). I ALSO think of the many awful things done in the name of religion
3. Nature is more a part of these sites than I expect. I heard birds chirping and bugs buzzing almost non-stop at different places today: the bathrooms on Mount Tabor, behind the altar at the Church of the Multiplication, and more
4. Many, many churches are built on top of previous churches, or houses, or synagogues and the like. History has allowed places to depopulate, or transition from one religious practice to another, and regain strength with new construction to prove it
5. The Church of the Transfiguration is possibly the most compelling individual place I have found here. Under the church's front arch, my eyes are drawn upward and to the right, left, forward, and backward. Once inside, I look downward through a grate into a lower floor filled with prayer notes - the grate's pliability contrasts with the permanence of the stone floor. The church's altar itself is multi-layered and there are different side-rooms for blessings, etc.

Here is a photo of the top and bottom altars at the Church of the Transfiguration: