III.

Places of Interest

A.

Urban Landscape

Jerusalem presents a fascinating mixture of well-preserved historical monuments and buildings bound up with the characteristic developments of a modern urban area. The greatest concentration of religious and historical sites is in the Old City, which is contained inside a wall constructed in 1538 during the reign of the Ottoman ruler Suleiman I the Magnificent. The area inside the Old City wall is roughly divided into quadrants, named after their traditional, dominant ethnic communities: the Muslim, Jewish, Christian, and Armenian quarters. The traditional Arab market, or suq, lines the main axis of the Old City, giving it a crowded and bustling atmosphere. The Old City and its walls were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981, and in 1982 they were inscribed on the list of World Heritage in Danger.

Modern Jerusalem surrounds the Old City, with older neighbourhoods located to the east and south, and newer neighbourhoods, the main business areas, and Israeli governmental institutions primarily to the west and north. A number of features dominate Jerusalem’s landscape, and make it distinct from other cities. Planning regulations dating back to the early 20th century have limited the height of most structures in the city and channelled construction to hilltops, while the valleys are intended to remain as open space. The British, who ruled the area from 1917 to 1948, also mandated the use of local limestone for all façades, known as Jerusalem stone; its pinkish-white surface changes in hue throughout the day. Because of the tight building controls, Jerusalem has a compact and uniform character. Its total area is approximately 110 sq km (42 sq mi).

B.

Landmarks

The Christian section of the Old City, in the north-west, contains the New Gate, shares the Jaffa Gate with the Armenian section on the south-west, and the Damascus Gate with the Muslim section on the north. The Muslim section, in the north-eastern portion of the Old City, contains Herod’s Gate, St Stephen’s Gate, and the Golden Gate, east of which is located the Mount of Olives and the garden of Gethsemane. The main Jewish section, occupying the south-eastern portion, contains the Zion Gate, south of which is Mount Zion and King David’s Tomb. It also contains Dung Gate.

The Old City is sacred to Jews as the historic symbol of the Jewish homeland and capital of the first Jewish kingdom; it is sacred to Christians as the site where Jesus Christ spent his last days on Earth; and it is sacred to Muslims as the site of the ascent into Heaven of the Prophet Muhammad. Notable structures include the Christian Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built over the 4th-century basilica, which in turn was erected over the traditional tomb of Christ; the Jewish Western Wall, also called the Wailing Wall, the remnant of the great Temple built by Herod the Great, King of Judaea; the Muslim mosque of Dome of the Rock, built upon the site where Muhammad is said to have ascended to Heaven; the Mosque of Al Aqsa, one of Islam’s most sacred shrines; and the Citadel, a 14th-century structure on the site of Herod’s fortress. Points of interest in the New City include the Israel Museum, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1918), the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum, the national cemetery on Mount Herzel, the Jewish National and University Library, and the buildings of the Israeli Knesset (parliament).