JERUSALEM (AP) -- Thousands of Christians have marched through Jerusalem's cobbled old city in observance of Easter Saturday.
A procession was led by Palestinian guards in black costumes richly embroidered with gold, topped with scarlet rimless hats. They rhythmically pounded their staffs on the cobblestone ground, providing a beat for believers to march.
They were followed by Franciscan monks in plain brown robes, clerics in black garb, and then laymen.
Believers then congregated for prayer in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, said to be built on the site where Jesus was buried.
Catholic and Protestant groups that observe the Gregorian calendar took turns praying in the Holy Sepulcher on Saturday. Their Holy Week commemorations culminate tomorrow on Easter Sunday.
Eastern Orthodox churches and others who follow the older Julian calendar will mark Easter a week from now.
