Jerusalem

Jewish Quarter

The southeast corner of the Old City, the Jewish Quarter occupies about 15 acres and has been inhabited by Jews for centuries. Following the capture of the Old City by the Arabs in 1948, all Jews were expelled and their buildings destroyed. When Israel regained the Old City in 1967 work began to reconstruct the quarter and today hundreds of people ...

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Mount of Olives

Separated from the Eastern Hill (the Temple Mount and the City of David) by the Kidron Valley, the Mt. of Olives has always been an important feature in Jerusalem's landscape. From the 3rd millennium until the present, this 2900-foot hill has served as one of the main burial grounds for the city. The two-mile long ridge has three summits each of wh...

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Church of the Holy Sepulcher

Originally built by the mother of Emperor Constantine in 330 A.D., the Church of the Holy Sepulcher commemorates the hill of crucifixion and the tomb of Christ's burial. On grounds of tradition alone, this church is the best candidate for the location of these events. The Garden Tomb was not identified as such until the 19th century. [Bible Place...

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Hezekiah's Tunnel

A 1750-foot (530m) tunnel carved during the reign of Hezekiah to bring water from one side of the city to the other, Hezekiah's Tunnel together with the 6th c. tunnel of Euphalios in Greece are considered the greatest works of water engineering technology in the pre-Classical period. Had it followed a straight line, the length would have been 1070 ...

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Jerusalem Area G

The City of David was very narrow; about 80-100m wide. The east side has a steep slope of about 60 degrees. Though smaller, steeper and more difficult for construction than the Western Hill, the City of David was chosen because of its water source, the Gihon Spring.[Bible Places]...

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Cardo

A 6th c. church floor in Medeba, Jordan has a mosaic map of the land of Israel with numerous place names in Greek. The center of the map is an open-faced depiction of Jerusalem with the city walls, gates, churches (with red roofs), and the Cardo. This main street of the city is depicted with two rows of colonnades running the length of the city f...

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Dome of the Rock

Built atop the earlier location of the Temple, the Dome of the Rock was built by the Muslim ruler Abd el-Malik in 688-691. Because of its situation on bedrock, the numerous earthquakes over the centuries have not caused significant damage to the structure (unlike its neighbor Al Aqsa mosque). This shrine was covered by a lead dome from 691 until it...

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Garden Tomb

In Jerusalem for a visit in 1884, General Charles Gordon spied a prominent rocky crag which looked to him like it could be the "place of the skull" mentioned in the Bible as where Jesus was crucified. Around the corner Gordon identified an ancient tomb and putting the two together he located the hill of crucifixion and the nearby burial place. [B...

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Old City Gates

So named because the road leading from it goes to the port city of Jaffa (Joppa), this gate is the only one on the western side of the Old City. A low part of the city wall was torn down and the Crusader moat of the Citadel filled in 1898 for the visit of the German Kaiser Wilhelm II. This gate was also the famous scene of the English General All...

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Tomb of the Kings

Generally regarded as the largest and most beautiful tomb in Jerusalem, the so-called "Tomb of the Kings" was the final resting place for the family of Queen Helene of Adiabene in the first century A.D. Located 820 m north of the Old City walls, the tomb got its name from early explorers who believed that this magnificent tomb housed members of the...

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