At the beginning of the tour, we'll travel to Mount of Olives to watch the impressive view of the ancient city with its domes, fascinating old structures and amazing mountains. Next, will tout the Kidron Valley with many of its churches and other impressive monuments scattered in the area that lies among the Mount of Olives and the Old City walls: Benei Hezie Tomb and Zechariah Tomb from the 1st century.
Next, we enter the Old City through the Dung Gate that was built in the 16th century and going to the most sacred site acknowledged by all three major religions. The First Temple stood here before its demolition in 587 BC. The Second Temple stood on the same mountain during the period of 516BC-70AD. The then commandments were kept in the Ark of the Covenant within the temple. Nowadays it houses the Dome of the Rock, built in 687AD and the Al-Aqsa Mosque which is sacred for the Islam. While visiting, you'll hear various stories about the place through all of its transformations. In case the area is closed to visitation, the tour changes to include a visit to the Tower of David, a fascinating site in its own right.
The last, but not least exciting stop is the Davidson Center, an archaeological site located next to Temple Mount, where old buildings' remains were later exposed, giving us a glimpse to many periods in history, including First and Second Temple, Muslim reign, Crusades periods and the Byzantine. The discoveries include walls, a whole street, steps that led to Temple Mount, ritual baths. After all these explorations, we go back to your respective hotel.
Available Languages: English.