Christian Orthodox Holy Fire ceremony held in empty streets of Jerusalem

The Holy Fire ceremony symbolises Jesus's resurrection and is normally one of the most colourful spectacles of the Easter season.

Here, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III makes his way to the ceremony, which takes place in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City. Later he will emerge from the church's crypt, where Christians believe Jesus was buried, carrying a flame and distributing it to others. (Ammar Awad/Reuters)

There were few people on the streets as the procession of clergymen went past the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, by tradition the birthplace of Jesus. (Mussa Qawasma/Reuters)

Orthodox Christian worshippers held blazing candlesticks and distributed them to residents around Jerusalem's Old City after the Holy Fire ceremony took place in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  (Reuters/ Ammar Awad)

A man in a decorated vehicle gestures before the arrival of the Holy Fire outside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, which is closed amid concerns about the spread of  the coronavirus disease. (Mussa Qawasma/Reuters)

A Palestinian scout holds candles lit from the Holy Fire during a ceremony celebrated amid restrictions due to the coronavirus disease in a church in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. (Reuters/Mohamad Torokman)

The head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Bethlehem, Bishop Theofilactos, receives a candle lit from the Holy Fire outside the Church of the Nativity as the ceremony is celebrated without a crowd due to the coronavirus disease restrictions in Bethlehem. (Reuters/Mussa Qawasm)

A Christian worshipper prays at the entrance of the Church of the Nativity in the biblical West Bank city of Bethlehem before the arrival of the Holy Fire from Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre. (Musa Al Shaer/AFP)

In normal times, tens of thousands of flame-holding worshippers gather at the imposing grey edicule in the Holy Sepulchre that is believed to contain the tomb where Jesus lay 2,000 years ago.

Sunbeams that pierce through a skylight in the church's dome are believed by worshippers to ignite a flame deep inside the crypt, a mysterious event considered a Holy Saturday miracle each year before Orthodox Easter Sunday. (Thomas Coex/AFP)