A short movie about the family that lived in the Burnt House. The movie was very well done and explained the family's denial of the future events. There were a few artifacts from the house that were found in the ruins.
The Burnt House (Katros House)
Following the Six Day War, Israeli archaeologists began digging extensively in the newly recaptured Jewish Quarter of the Old City, uncovering many invaluable discoveries. One of the most impressive of these, the Burnt House, was found under a cloak of ash, six meters below street level. Artifacts found at the site indicate that the house belonged to an upper-class Jewish family and was set alight when the armies of Titus stormed Jerusalem in 70 CE as a reprisal for Jewish resistance.
Besides the house itself, visitors can browse a collection of artifacts dating from the Second Temple period including a stone weight inscribed with the name of the family that used to live in the house – Katros. The Burnt House screens a film (available in both Hebrew and English) that dramatizes the waning days of the Katros family, holed into the house as the Romans close in. The film affords visitors the chance to learn about the revolt against the Romans and the political strife that divided Judea’s Jewish community in the years leading up to the sacking of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Second Temple.
TripAdvisor Reviews
Based on 67 traveler reviews“Disappointing dumbing down of history”
This is an interesting archaeological find, the basement of a home from the period of the destruction of the second temple. Instead of concentrating on the archaeology there is (as usual in modern museums) a cinematic recreation of events of the time. For this site it is based on conjecture and we found it,...
MoreThis is an interesting archaeological find, the basement of a home from the period of the destruction of the second temple. Instead of concentrating on the archaeology there is (as usual in modern museums) a cinematic recreation of events of the time. For this site it is based on conjecture and we found it, although slick, very superficial. I would have preferred fact.
Less“Worthwhile experience”
“Burnt House”
It was a short tour with only one room containing an excavation along with some descriptions. There was also a short movie of a re-enactment that was very interesting and helped to explain the history of the Old City and in particular the hosue itself.