ORLANDO, Fla. — This Holy Week, Florida tourists may be able to visit the Holy Land vicariously at a biblical theme park. But in Washington, D.C., Catholics have a site established more than 100 years ago by the Catholic Church that can canonically substitute for a Holy Land pilgrimage.

The new Protestant theme park in Orlando has gained nationwide attention by elaborately re-creating biblical scenes and places. At the “Holy Land Experience,” visitors can watch a man get crucified, then wash down a Goliath Burger with a Thirsty Camel Cooler.

At the Franciscan monastery in Washington, Catholics pray at replicas not only of Calvary, the Holy Sepulcher (Christ's Tomb) and other Holy Land sites, but of the catacombs where early Christians hid from Roman persecution. The Catholic version is smaller and lowtech, relying on the stone, glass and plaster of a large church rather than pricey date palms and film-strips.

But as frequent monastery visitor Kevin Dyer put it, “Rather than simply being a historical curiosity, it brings it into the living faith. You're not just going to see a reproduction of antiquity.”

The monastery is run by the Franciscan Commissariat of the Holy Land, a group that wears the Jerusalem cross on its habits to signify its responsibility to care for the holy places of Jerusalem.

The monastery is located minutes from the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Its series of grottos, shrines and catacombs opened in 1898.

Franciscan Father Kevin Treston said that the journey begins outdoors, where pedestals in the monastery's gardens mark the Stations of the Cross.

Inside the church, Father Treston takes visitors on a tour beginning with Mount Calvary. Vivid pictures illustrate the scenes. With the Calvary scene, Dyer noted, “You walk upstairs. You have the idea of a hill.”

Father Treston added, “We have a little reproduction of the chapel of Nazareth, where Gabriel asked Mary to be the mother of the Redeemer.” Across from Calvary is a facade of the tomb where Jesus was buried.

Underneath the church are the catacombs and a reproduction of the grotto where Jesus was born in Bethlehem. The walls resemble the rough rock that would have surrounded Jesus' birthplace.

The nearby Purgatory Chapel makes the connection between the Hebrew Bible and the Gospels explicit: A mosaic showing Ezekiel's vision of the raising of the dry bones is side-by-side with Jesus being taken down from the cross. Dyer noted that the Franciscans offer Mass there Nov. 1, All Souls Day, for the souls in purgatory.

Dyer contrasted the monastery to the Holy Land Experience by noting the differences in the two replicas of the Holy Sepulcher.

In the Florida park, there is a large tomb lying open and empty, as Jesus' tomb might have looked on Easter morning. At the monastery, there is a small door where visitors crouch down to see a replica of the tomb as it looks today — in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher. The monastery recreates the tomb as it has been “adorned by the followers of Christ,” he explained.

Dyer added, “This is normal for Catholics. We've got the Stations of the Cross. We've reproduced the Scriptures on the windows. We have a marble altar, which is a symbol for Christ but also recalls the early days of the Church when the Mass was said on the tombs of martyrs. It looks like a sarcophagus.”

Along with the daily celebration of the Eucharist, these are “not just reminders,” he stressed. “The reality is there.”

The Holy Land Experience looks very different from the monastery. The park opened Feb. 5. It is located just three minutes from Universal Studios.

Its 15 acres are covered with date palms and tough grasses recreating the arid Jerusalem landscape. Loudspeakers broadcast Jewish prayers such as the Shema (“Hear, O Israel” Deuteronomy 6:4).

Visitors enter the park through the gates of a “walled city” and pass through a bustling Jerusalem marketplace circa 66 A.D. The noises of camels, goats and sheep fill the air via the park's sound system. Actors periodically present re-enactments of Jesus' last hours.

Actors in a “multimedia exhibit” demonstrate the ritual sacrifices that would take place in the tabernacle as the Hebrews followed Moses in the wilderness.

For Daniel Bub of Ocala, Fla., the park “didn't leave a big impression.” He said he liked the sense of immersion in the Jerusalem marketplace, and thought the park explained some historical details of the Gospels well. But, he said, “I went through it in about an hour and a half. I thought it was going to be more than that.”

Your Parish's ‘Holy Land Experience’

For those seeking a longer and deeper journey, there are “Holy Land experiences” in almost every Catholic church — the Stations of the Cross. The stations became widespread in the 17th century. They offered those who could not make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, whether because of financial difficulties, age or infirmity, a chance to walk the road that Jesus walked, carrying the cross.

The stations in every church, and even the Franciscan replicas in Washington, are smaller and less flashy than the Holy Land Experience. But they offer a prayerful atmosphere and a connection to the entire tradition of the Church. In the quiet monastery, a priest is always on hand to answer guests' questions about the faith.

And there are no Camel Coolers.