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Jerusalem

Proclaimed capital of the Kingdom of Israel 3,000 years ago by King David, Jerusalem is – three millennia later – the capital of the modern State of Israel. It is the largest single city in Israel, home to close to a million inhabitants.

Source: Israeli Ministry of Tourism and Noam Chen

The heart of Jerusalem is the square-mile walled Old City (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) that contains the holy places of the three monotheistic faiths. And the heart of the heart is the Temple Mount. Beneath the turquoise tiled, golden domed Dome of the Rock is the rock where Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac, and atop which both the First and Second Temples were constructed. The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in the year 70 – which led to the expulsion of most Jews from their homeland. In the ensuing centuries Jerusalem became holy to Christians and Muslims too, but it was the western retaining wall of the Temple Mount enclosure that became the focus of Jewish pilgrimage for close to 2,000 years. The mournful prayers of the faithful caused it be dubbed “The Wailing Wall.”

Source: Israeli Ministry of Tourism and Noam Chen

Historically divided into four residential quarters, the Old City’s historic Armenian, Christian, Jewish and Muslim Quarters still retain the sense of their individual heritage. The Jewish Quarter, dramatically restored since the city’s unification in 1967, is home to thousands of Jewish Israelis, yeshivas, museums, ancient shopping streets and the grandly rebuilt Hurva Synagogue.

Source: Israeli Ministry of Tourism and Noam Chen

The contemporary city of Jerusalem began its growth in the mid-19th-century, and the early 20th-century buildings of central New Jerusalem are redolent of small-town and Bauhaus Europe. The modern city dwarfs the ancient walled town: elegant boulevards lead to dozens of residential neighborhoods, shopping areas, museums, the government complex that includes the Knesset (Congress) and the Supreme Court, and the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial and Museum.

MUST SEES:

  • City of David
  • Davidson Center & Jerusalem Archeological Park
  • Hurva Synagogue
  • Israel Museum
  • Knesset
  • Mamilla mall
  • Mount of Olives
  • Nahlat Shiva-Ben Yehuda pedestrianized quarter
  • Old City Gates
  • Tower of David Museum
  • Western Wall
  • Western Wall Tunnels
  • Yad Vashem

IF YOU HAVE MORE TIME:

  • Bible Lands Museum
  • Biblical Zoo
  • “Burnt House”
  • Chagall Windows at the Hadassah Ein Karem Medical Center Synagogue
  • Church of the Holy Sepulcher
  • Great Synagogue
  • Hebrew University Campuses
  • Italian Synagogue
  • Jerusalem Botanical Gardens
  • L. A. Mayer Museum of Islamic Art
  • Machane Yehuda Market
  • Mea Shearim
  • Menachem Begin Heritage Center
  • Mount Herzl
  • Mount Zion
  • Old City Ramparts Walk
  • Old Yishuv Court Museum

You may be interested in the following tours, that include a visit to Jerusalem

Jerusalem of Gold

2 nights / 3 days

Proclaimed capital of the Kingdom of Israel 3,000 years ago by King David, ...

Israel Discovery Tour

6 Days / 5 Nights

With so many incredible sites to visit, where do you begin on ...

Jerusalem Stopover

5 days

This exciting 5 day tour takes in the best Jerusalem and the surrounding ...

Catholic Group Tour

8 Days / 7 Nights

PILGRIMAGE TO THE HOLY LAND FOR CATHOLIC PARTICIPANTS CELEBRATING 3 HOLY MASSES Suggested ...

Anglican Study Tour

11 days / 10 Nights

If you have any friends or community members who would like to ...

Protestant Tour

10 days

Jaffa / Caesarea / Mount Carmel / Druze Villages / Acre Galilee / Nazareth /Megiddo / Beit Shearim / ...

Celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem

11 Days / 10 Nights

Spend Christmas 2018 in the magical birthplace of Jesus.

Biblical Turkey and Israel

16 Days

Visiting - Istanbul, Pergamum, Izmir, Ephesus, Sardis, Pamukkale, Hierapolis, Cappadocia, Goreme, Jerusalem, ...

In the Footsteps of the Bible

20 Days

PILGRIMAGE TO EGYPT, JORDAN & ISRAEL AUSTRALIAN CATHOLIC GROUP Suggested Group Tour Cairo/...

Charismatic Tour

10 Days/9 Nights

SUGGESTED GROUP TOUR FOR MINIMUM SIX PEOPLE Jerusalem: Mt. of Olives, Kidron ...