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Attractions in The Old City

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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

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 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

The Armenian Quarter is the smallest among Jerusalem’s Quarters, and it is actually an ancient monastery and the abode of the Armenian Patriarchate. The origin of the Armenians is from the areas of Van Lake and Ararat Mountain in modern North - Eastern Turkey. 

The Armenian Patriarchate, Armenian Quarter

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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 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)

A photo exhibit of the defenders of the Jewish Quarter

Alone on the Walls - 1948 Old City Siege

The Church of Mary Magdalene is a Russian church on the western slopes of the Mount of Olives. The church was nicknamed the Onion Church thanks to its domes shape on its minarets that look like golden onions.

Not Accessible

Church of Mary Magdalene

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is the most sacred site for millions of Christian believers

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre

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This is one of the most beautiful and impressive gates among the gates of the wall, which was built during the times of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent from the 16th century. This is a central gate in the wall and it faces the north, towards Nablus and Damascus. In English it is named Damascus Gate, and in Arabic- “Bab El Amud” (“the gate of the pillar”), probably due to the pillar that stood at the center of the gate’s courtyard during the Roman-Byzantine era, as evident in the Madaba Map, which was discovered in Jordan. Turban-like decorations decorate the gate, and due to its importance, many observations points and guard towers were built there.

During the Roman era, a stone-paved courtyard was built here, and at its center stood the statue of the emperor. Two streets started from this courtyard, leading towards the south. To this day, two main streets split from Damascus Gate, preserving the Roman structure of this area: the right street is the Khan A- Zeit  or Beit Habad street, and the left street is El Wad Street- or Hagai. Both are commercial streets that cross the city from north to south.

Excavations conducted in this place after 1967 exposed under the Ottoman gate remnants of the Roman Square, as well as remnants of the Roman Gate. This was a magnificent gate with three arched openings. The central arch was twice as wide and tall than the two arches on both sides of it. The opening on the extreme left survived almost completely and was exposed in the excavations.

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Damascus Gate

Islam’s third holiest site after Mecca and Medina, the Dome of the Rock is built on top of the <a href="https://itraveljerusalem.com/attraction/temple-mount/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Temple Mount</a> in the Old City. At the heart of the sanctuary is the Foundation Stone where, according to Islamic tradition, the prophet Muhammad ascended to Heaven.
The Dome, which was completed in 691-692 A.D., and has since come to define Jerusalem’s skyline, is an excellent example of middle Byzantine art. The man who initiated the construction, Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, hoped that the building, a shrine for pilgrims rather than a mosque for public worship, would “house the Muslims from cold and heat.” The structure was restored many times throughout the centuries, coated once with gold, then with tiles.
The most recent restoration of the site was carried out in 1998 by Jordan’s King Hussein II, who sold one of his houses in London to help fund the 80 kilograms of gold required to coat the dome. The sanctuary’s lavish interior is decorated with mosaic, marble and inscriptions. One of the reasons why the sanctuary has remained intact through the centuries, withstanding earthquakes that destroyed many nearby structures, is its octagonal shape.
Non-Muslim visitors are not allowed to enter the Dome of the Rock, but can get a close look from the Temple Mount courtyard during regular non-Muslim visiting hours.
As with other holy sites in Jerusalem, visitors to the Temple Mount are asked to dress modestly.

Visit Dome of the Rock - Jerusalem

The Western Wall, considered the most sacred site for prayer and religious and national gatherings, has a magnetic appeal for the Jewish people. Many tourists, visitors, and worshippers visit the site, which is one of the most popular and highly recommended attractions in Jerusalem.

The Western Wall

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This is one of the eight gates surrounding the old city of Jerusalem. This gate connects the Jewish quarter, the Armenian Quarter and Mount Zion, which contains sites that are sacred to Judaism, Christianity and Islam alike. 

Zion Gate

This compound contains two interesting sites: Saint Anne’s Church, which stands on the right side and its entrance is free of charge, and the Pool of Bethesda- an archeological site with paid entrance.

Saint Anne’s Church

According to the Catholic tradition, the house of Anne- Hanna in Hebrew, was located here, where she lived with her husband Joachim and raised her daughter Miriam- mother of Jesus. The church was built by the crusaders during the 12th century.

This is a beautiful Romanesque building characterized by a simple structure, with thick walls and few decorations. A few years after the occupation of the kingdom of Jerusalem by Salah A-Din in 1187, the church became a Madrasa- a school for religious studies. Under the entrance arch there is an Arab inscription that glorifies Salah A-Din. During the Ottoman regime, the building was deserted and in the middle of the 19th century, it was transferred to the French government and the Catholic “White Fathers” order. The monks rehabilitated the church and exposed the remnants of the ancient churches adjacent to the church. The friendly monks of this order walking around the courtyard can by identified by their white robes.

The church has extraordinary acoustics. It functions as a perfect sound box for the human voice, and therefore it is recommended that you enter the place when groups or individuals are singing or praying. Inside the church, we can see on the left side of the entrance gate a statue of Anne with her child Miriam, the mother to be of Jesus. According to the tradition, Miriam’s parents, Anne and Joachim, were a rich and childless couple. They dedicated their money for charity. According to the tradition, Joachim made pilgrimage to the Temple Mount to bring his sacrifice, but one of the people present at the temple pushed him away, claiming that whoever did not bear children could not make a sacrifice.

Shamed and full of sorrow, Joachim escaped to the hills, where an angle appeared in front of him, commanding him to return to Jerusalem and meet his wife Anne next to the beautiful gate. The angle also apprised him about the expected birth of their daughter Miriam. Miriam was consecrated to the temple and served there until her engagement to Josef. On the right side of the gate one can see the staircase leading to an underground tunnel- a Crypt, which indicates Miriam’s place of birth.

In the courtyard of the church there is an archeological site named “Bethesda” (entrance for fee), one of the most impressive archeological sites in the old city, containing remnants of two ancient pools, a roman temple and two large churches- the first one is Byzantine, and the other is a Crusader church.

The small valley on the left side served as a water reserve from ancient times, after a damm was built at its opening in order to store the rain water of the Beit Zeita Stream that runs from the north.

After the destruction of the Second Temple, the Romans established here magnificent bath houses and a temple for the Roman Medicine God- Asclepius. After Christianity became the prevalent religion, a large basilica was established at the site during the 5th century, commemorating the birth of Miriam and the “Bethesda Miracle”.

The church was established upon an embankment that separated both pools, and part of it stood over one pool, supported by pillars which can be seen till this day. The church was damaged by the Persians in 614 and almost completely wiped out during the Muslim rule. During the Crusader era, the site was renewed. The crusaders separated between the two traditions, building a chapel upon the ruins of the Byzantine church commemorating the Bethesda Miracle. This church is smaller than its predecessor, and the remnants of its walls can be seen in the upper part, as well as Saint Anne’s Church.

If you chose to enter the Archeological site, it’s recommended that you tour the marked trails, where you can see the remnants of the basilica, descend to the water wells and observe the remnants of the Roman temple.

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The Catholic Saint Anne’s Church and the Pool of Bethesda

The Russian Church named after Alexander Nevsky was built between the years 1896-1903. Alexander Nevsky was a Russian military leader who lived during the 13th century. Due to his success in expanding Russia’s borders, he won the public’s admiration and became a patron saint of the Tsar Alexander the 3rd.

During the second half of the 19th century, the Tsar established many buildings, which decorate the streets of Jerusalem to this day. The Russian consulate was supposed to be built here, next to a crusaders’ hospice, but the discovery of significant archeological findings changed the plan.

During the construction works, part of the Byzantine cardo was discovered at the site, as well as remnants of an original portal of the Byzantine Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and also remnants of the Roman forum built during the second century AD. The forum is a market platform with a victory gate situated at its corner. According to the Christian faith, this is the trial gate from the Second Temple era: a gate built into the walls of Jerusalem during these times, where Jesus exited the city towards the place of his crucifixion.

The church is built in the Baroque style, decorated with red and white stones. The symbol of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society appears on top of the building. The Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society is the institution that established the Russian institutions during the Ottoman era. The symbol contains the Greek letters Xi and Ro- the initials of the word “Xristos”, messiah in Greek. The society’s flag waves on top of the building alongside the Russian flag.

In front of this church stands the Lutheran church of the Savior, which was built in a Neo-Romanesque style on top of the crusader church, and was inaugurated in 1898 in the presence of the German emperor Wilhelm the 2nd.

The Church of Alexander Nevsky

This is the center of the Syrian-Orthodox community known as the “Syrian” community, founded by the apostle Peter, and organized during the 6th century under the leadership of Bishop Jacob Brados. His community was therefore known as the “Jacobites”. During the first millennium AD the Syrians were known in their connections to the Muslim rulers, and therefore managed to base their presence in Jerusalem and the Holy Land, purchase plots and establish monasteries &amp; churches in the places that are sacred for Christianity.

The Syrian priests speak a dialect of the ancient Syrian language- Aramaic. The spoken language in the community’s daily life is Arabic, but the church rites are conducted in their ancient texts and include prayers in Syrian Aramaic. The Syrian Church is one of the four churches that left the Orthodox Church (the others were the Armenian Church, the Ethiopian Church and the Coptic Church), following the Council of Chalcedon in 451 and the dispute regarding the unity of Jesus’ nature.

The church is subject to the authority of the Syrian patriarch whose abode is in Damascus. The Bishop’s abode is here in this monastery. One may enter via the gate into the interior courtyard, which is the entrance of the Syrian church. According to the Syrians’ faith, this site was the home of Saint Mark, where Jesus washed the feel of the apostles, and this is the location of the Last Supper (this belief is contrary to the belief of the other Christian communities, who believe that Mount Zion is the real location of the Last Supper). On one of the pillars the following 6th century Syrian inscription appears: “This is the house of Miriam, mother of Yohanan, who is known as ‘Mark’”. The church presents the baptism basin of Miriam and her portrait drawn by the apostle Luke.

Saint Mark Church

The Lion’s Gate is located near <a href="https://itraveljerusalem.com/attraction/mount-of-olives/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mount of Olives</a> and <a href="https://itraveljerusalem.com/attraction/via-dolorosa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Via Dolorosa</a>. This is one of the seven gates that were created in the wall of the old city, and the only one that is open towards the east. The gate was built as part of the wall of the old city during the 16th century by the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. On both sides of the gate there are lion embossments. According to the legend, they were integrated into this structure following the dream of Sultan Suleiman, in which two lions were about to devour him, as a punishment for the situation of the holy city of Jerusalem, which was not protected at the time.
The sultan interpreted the dream as a sign from above, and ordered to surround the city with a wall. In fact, the embossments resemble cheetahs more than lions. Some say that they were taken from a more ancient building of the Mameluke ruler Baibars, whose symbol was a Cheetah.
Above the lion embossments there are additional decorations: flowers and arches are embossed between the embrasures, and above them an inscription that commemorates the construction of the city’s wall by Suleiman the Magnificent. On the upper part of the gate a terrace stands out, known as a “Mashikoli”. From this small terrace one can observe the outline of the wall, and possibly spill hot oil on intruders and unwanted guests. In the past it was a turn- gate, like Jaffa gate and others, which was meant to delay forces attempting to intrude into the city, but over the years it became a straight gate that enables the entrance of vehicles.
The gate has different names. In Arabic it is named “Bab Sitna Mariam”, due to the Christian site nearby, which indicates the location of the burial of Miriam, mother of Jesus, before she ascended to the sky. The Christians named the gate “Stephen’s Gate” after the first Martyr, the first tortured saint who died for his faith in Jesus. According to one of the traditions, Stephen was stoned next to this gate.
On Sunday of the first week prior to Easter, the Christians walk the path of Jesus, starting from the Mount of Olives. This is the “Palm Sunday”, in which processions of the faithful march from Mount Olives and continue via the Lion’s Gate to the old city.
In June 1967 the IDF paratroopers entered the city via this gate on their way to the Temple Mount, and after 19 years during which the old city was in the hands of the Jordanians, the Jewish settlement there was renewed. At the foot of the wall lies a Muslim cemetery, which was constructed in this place, adjacent to the Temple Mount that is sacred in the Muslim tradition, due to the Muslim belief in the Day of Judgement and the resurrection, that is to take place here.