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Around the Old City Walls

Abu Gosh

Jerusalem Entrance

Muslim Quarter

Near Jerusalem

Near The Kotel

Nachlaot

Museum Boulevard

South Jerusalem

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Jerusalem HIlls

Jaffa Street Area

Machane Yehuda Market

Ben Yehuda Pedestrian 

Nahalat Shiva

German Colony &Emek Refaim

Bakah and Derech Beit Lechem

Ein Karem

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Sites to Visit in Jerusalem

Attractions

Sites

One of Jerusalem’s quainter areas is in and around Emek Refaim Street, where a group of German Templar's – not to be confused with the Knights Templar – founded a colony in 1873. The Templar's were a breakaway Protestant sect that encouraged believers to go to the Holy Land ahead of the impending Messianic redemption. They built their homes according to the dictates of the day’s German style, mostly one- or two-story farmhouses with shuttered windows and tiled roofs. In 1878, the Templar community established a cemetery where they buried community members and leaders.
The cemetery also includes a monument to 47 Templar soldiers killed in World War I. During World War II, the colony was dismantled and its members – German nationals who weren’t shy about their Nazi sympathies – were evacuated. Today the German Colony, and especially its main street, Emek Refaim, is one of hippest, trendiest spots in Jerusalem, with many boutiques and cafes. If you stop by and want to pay a visit to the Templar Cemetery, make sure to coordinate in advance.

The Templar Cemetery

This is a wide compound, housing the representative of the Vatican in the Holy Land, the Latin patriarch. The compound houses the Patriarchate offices, an impressive cathedral, and also a hospice.

The Latin Patriarchate

Al-Aqsa Mosque, located south of the Temple Mount near Shlomo's Ark, is a large and impressive place of prayer and one of the most important and sacred mosques in the Muslim world. The Al-Aqsa Mosque has the structure of a Byzantine basilica, and its dome is visible from a distance. Non-Muslims are prohibited from entering the mosque, but you can visit the complex during opening hours without entering the buildings.

Free Entry

Accessibility

Al-Aqsa Mosque

The Church of All Nations is located near the Garden of Gethsemane in the western part of Mount Olives, where, according to Christian tradition, Jesus prayed his last prayer. 

Church of All Nations & Gathsemane

Gethsemane is where according to the Christian tradition and as described in the New Testament, Jesus prayed his last prayer the night before his crucifixion and was tormented before being handed over to the Romans by Judas Iscariot.

The Garden of Olives - Gethsemane

The Gihon Spring was the main source of water for the City of David, the original site of Jerusalem. The spring was not only used for drinking water, but also initially for irrigation of gardens in the adjacent Kidron Valley. Today, the spring is sometimes used by Jewish men as a sort of mikvah (ritual bath).
 
Three main water systems allowed water to be brought from the spring to the city under cover: Warren's Shaft, Hezekiah's Tunnel and the Middle Bronze Age channel. Warren's Shaft and Hezekiah's Tunnel can be viewed today when visiting the City of David National Park.
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Gihon Spring at The City of David

The Jaffa Gate is one of the eight gates of the Old City of Jerusalem. The gate is located on the city's western side, and you can reach it by public transport or private car, which we recommend leaving in the Mamilla Boulevard parking lot or the Karta parking lot (which is closer).

Paid Parking

Jaffa Gate

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The Mount of Olives is a high ridge that flanks ancient Jerusalem from the east and separates it from the Judean Desert. The ridge crowns Jerusalem from the east, starting from the slopes of Kidron river in the south and ending at Mount Scopus in the north. 

Mount of Olives, Jerusalem

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Located just outside of <a title="Getting to Bethlehem" href="/articles/travel-from-jerusalem-to-bethlehem/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bethlehem</a>, along the road of the forefathers that connects Nablus and Hebron, Rachel's tomb is where Jews and Muslims believe the foremother Rachel was buried. Rachel was the wife of Jacob and mother of Joseph and Benjamin, and the burial site is holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians.
According to Jewish tradition, Rachel wept from her tomb as the Jews passed it on their way to the Babylonian exile, and it subsequently became a pilgrimage site for prayer and continues to be until this day, especially on holidays and the Hebrew date on the calendar commemorating Rachel's death. You will also see women collecting stones from around the tomb as part of a traditional belief that it will ease labor while giving birth.
The tomb is generally open 24 hours, but depending on the security situation it is sometimes closed from 10:00 pm at night until 12:00 pm the next day, and large groups may have to coordinate their visit with Israeli security.
Photo: Kluger Zoltan

Rachel's Tomb

The Garden Tomb is an especially popular site, brimming with lush green niches, making it a definite item on your list to visit. The garden is quiet and tranquil, suitable for prayer and reflection. There is no need to reserve in advance, but we recommend coordinating a visit nevertheless, by phoning 02-6272745, especially for groups.

The Garden Tomb

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This is a bustling complex near the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, with colorful shops, restaurant, churches and various sites. Its boundaries are; the Christian Quarter Road from the west, the David Street from the south, the Butchers’ Market from the east, the Painters Market from the north, and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
The Roman forum, which was a huge courtyard that served as an urban market, used to be in this area. The compound continues to this day to serve, among others, for commercial uses.

During the crusader era, this place used to be the abode of the knights’ order named after John the Baptist (Saint John), or known as the “Hospitaller” order.

The Hospitallers established in this area two churches (Santa Maria Grande and Santa Maria Latina), and a large and advanced hospital for the benefit of the Christian pilgrims.

The origin of the name “Muristan” is an erroneous pronunciation of the word “Bimristan”, which means hospital in a Persian-Turkish dialect. Following the occupation of Jerusalem by Salah A-Din, his soldiers arrived at Jerusalem. Salah A-Din was a promising and successful army officer of Kurdish origins, who defeated the crusaders army. That’s when the area became known as “Bimaristan”, named after the crusader hospital located there. The name was erroneously converted to Arabic over the following years, and it remains till this day “Muristan”.

This area was deserted again over the following years, and remnants of buildings and garbage piles accumulated in it. Only by the end of the 19th century did a new awakening start in this wide compound. The Germans began their construction in the area, building the Lutheran Church of Redemption with its pointed tower, where the crusader church “Santa Maria Latina” used to be located. Remnants of the crusader church were integrated into the current structure.

The church was inaugurated in 1898 in the presence of Emperor Wilhelm the 2nd and his wife Augusta Victoria. Later on the Germans built additional buildings in the Muristan area: a school for boys and a center for the Lutheran church. On the 1st floor of the building which serves the Lutheran community and its leaders, they used the crusader cloister (a courtyard surrounded by arches), built by the order of the Knights of Saint John.

The remaining plot was later sold on to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, which established a touristic market that replaced what used to be the crusader church “Santa Maria Grande”. The market was inaugurated in 1903. The entrepreneur of the project was Archimandrite Avtimus, and the Bazaar is named after him to this day. At the center of the market there is a magnificent water fountain, which was built in honor of 25 years of the rule of the Ottoman sultan Abdul Hamid the 2nd. The fountain has recently been renovated, after decades of not operating, and next to it one can see two water troughs, which provided water to visitors in this area.

Muristan Market and Aftimos Market

Tolerance Monument is located at the  hilltop between the Jewish Armon Hanatziv neighborhood and Arab Jabal Mukaber, on the ruins of an ancient temple, the sculpture is composed of the two halves of a split column and a golden olive tree growing in between, shading both segments. 

Tolerance Monument - Goldman Promenade

Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, is situated on a 45-acre campus comprising museums, exhibitions, monuments, sculptures, and memorial sites.

Yad Vashem - The World Holocaust Remembrance Center

On both sides of the alley stands the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, the oldest of Jerusalem’s Patriarchates. Its flags can be seen waving from the alley’s vantage point. 

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate

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This is a Catholic nunnery, housing a hospice and an international learning center. Its construction was completed in 1860. The convent was founded by the converted Jew Alphonse Ratisbonne, founder of sisterhood “Our Lady of Zion”. Ratisbonne and his brother Theodor established in Jerusalem two additional monasteries, one in Ein Karem, and the other in the margins of Rechavia neighborhood. The Sisters of Zion see their aim as being the promotion of justice and understanding with the Jewish people.

Under the monastery, in a large underground hall, there is a large water pool carved in the stone. This is part of the Struthion Pool (the Greek word for “lark”, Probably due to the fact that it was relatively smaller than other pools in Jerusalem). This pool was built during the Second Temple era, north of the Antonia Fortress, in the moat that protected it, and also served as its water source.

The pool was unroofed, but after the failure of the Bar Kokhba Revolt in 135 AD, when Jerusalem became a pagan Roman city during the days of Adrianus Caesar, a dome was added to cover the pool. A big stone-paved courtyard was built above the dome. The remnants of this courtyard are also located under the Convent of the Sisters of Zion. Remnants of the Roman victory gate were integrated into the monastic church, which was probably also built during the era of Adrianus Caesar. The entrance into the archeological remnants is with payment.

The Convent of the Sisters of Zion- the Ecce Homo Convent

This is an impressive market built during the 14th century, in the days of the Mameluke Emir Tankiz. It borders the gate of the cotton merchants- Bab El Qattanin, a gate that leads to the Temple Mount and is the closest to the dome of the rock. The gate was built in a typical Mameluke style: Ablaq, a combination of red and yellow stones, or black and white, topped by a Muqarnas decoration.&nbsp;&nbsp;There are currently no more cotton merchants at this site, but the gate and the market bear the memory of commerce from the past. There are about 50 shops in the market, and its boundaries include also the Khan (a hospice), two magnificent Hamams, and residential rooms. Tourists who visited the market were impressed by its beauty, and documented their descriptions. Rabbi Moshe Baula, who visited the city in the 16th century wrote: “and there is another market, the most beautiful of all, of cotton wool shops, next to a gate that leads to the temple”.&nbsp;&nbsp;In the western part of the market we can see a barred opening that leads to an entrance hall. This is Khan Tankiz, which serves today as “The Center for Jerusalem Studies” of El Quds University. A goblet is carved in the lintel, the symbol of the Mameluke Emir Tankiz. On the western side of the Khan there is an impressive Mameluke Hamam, named Hamam El Ein (meaning, in Arabic: the spring bath). The water of the Hamam came from the Pools of Solomon, via an aqueduct from the times of the Second Temple, which was renovated during the Mameluke era.

The Cotton Market (Suq El Qattanin)

Located minutes away from <a href="https://itraveljerusalem.com/the-old-city/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Old City</a> of Jerusalem, Yad LaKashish is a unique nonprofit that is home to a variety of artisan workshops.
Founded in 1962, Yad LaKashish offers an alternative to traditional retirement and challenges stereotypes about the elderly. Sunday through Thursday, from 8:30am-12pm, some 300 of Jerusalem’s most disadvantaged elderly gather here to engage in creative work opportunities in a warm, community environment in exchange for a variety of financial and social benefits. These elderly artisans produce a range of beautiful items, including wall hangings, jewelry, prayer shawls, Judaica and more.
Stop by for a free, behind-the-scenes, tour of the artisan workshops, and finish your visit with a special shopportunity at the onsite gift shop, which features the special items handmade by the elderly.

Lifeline for the Old/Yad LaKashish

A photo exhibit of the defenders of the Jewish Quarter

Alone on the Walls - 1948 Old City Siege

Here is a way to have an unusually excellent time while walking directly on the footsteps of many who made history in the Judean Hills.

Beit Guvrin - Maresha National Park

Although initially built to invoke the memory of the synagogue that served the Hasidim in Europe, Jerusalem’s Belz Great Synagogue is anything but a replica of the original. The extravagant, massive structure is the largest synagogue in Jerusalem – probably the largest in the world, as well – and can host as many as 7,000 worshipers in its central sanctuary. Visible from the Route 1 city entrance, the resplendent synagogue resembles the Second Temple - a site in its own right, especially as it's lit up at night.
The synagogue was completed in the year 2000 after years of planning and fundraising and includes study halls, smaller synagogues for weekday prayers, libraries, dorms, and halls. The ark in the main sanctuary houses some 100 Torah scrolls and is 15 meters high. Visitors to the Belz Great Synagogue are advised to dress modestly (for women, skirts should extend below the knees and sleeves below the elbow), and come on a Saturday (Shabbat) or a Jewish holiday. Although it is not officially a tourist site, and some of the congregants may be suspicious of tourists, there is often someone on hand who will be happy to show you around this magnificent edifice.
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The Belz Great Synagogue