Point of Departure: Jaffa Gate or Zion Gate
Duration: 3-4 hours

The most important site in this Quarter and in Jerusalem, in general, is the Temple Mount, which are of the Western Wall. This is the site on which, according to tradition, the Patriarch Abraham was said to have prepared the sacrifice of his son Isaac. Over time, the Temple Mount has become holy site for the three monolithic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. King David bought the area from Arvana the Jebusite. David’s son, King Soloman, built the First Temple on the site in 961 B.C. Jews returning from Babylon built the Second Temple, and King Herod renovated and enlarged the complex.
Since the re-unification of the city in 1967, multitudes of worshippers, visitors and tourists throng to the Western Wall. Visitors to the Western Wall are requested to respect its holiness and dress modestly.
In the southwest corner, you can see a huge, splendid twelve-ton stone that supports the Temple Mount. Discover Herodian Street, on which there is a pile of massive stones that fell from the Temple Mount during the destruction in the year 70 A.D. Above the street was an immense arch which formed the staircase along which pilgrims made their way to the Temple Mount. This arch is named the Robinson’s Arch, after the person who discovered it, and today you can see its remnants.
The Davidson Center, one of the most innovative tourist centers in the world, integrates a rich and varied presentations of archeological findings using computerized media and visual presentations, is located in this park. The Centers is built around a series of galleries, creating the feeling of a “time tunnel” passing through the various periods: Hashmonean, Roman, Byzantine and Omayan periods at the commencement of Islam, and the later Fatima Sultans, Crusader and Marmeluke periods.
Continuing to the upper Jewish Quarter, along the road adjacent to the city walls, you can climb a short section of the wall, which is at the elevation of the present-day road, for a panoramic view of the City of David and village of Shiloach. Then turn right towards the Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakai Center, a complex of four Sephardic Synagogues. This site was devastated in 1948, but was restored between 1967 and 1971.
Walk north and reach the center of the Jewish Quarter. Here you can see Rabman Synagogue, named after Rabbi Moshe Ben Nahman, who arrived in Jerusalem from Spain in 1267 and who is considered to be a pioneer of the renewed, post Crusader Jewish settlement in the city. Initially, researchers though that this was the house that the Ramban had converted into a synagogue, which was the center of the rehabilitated Jewish community in Jerusalem. Now this building was first used as synagogue approximately one hundred years after the Ramban arrived. Even if present-day researchers think differently, this remains the most ancient synagogue in which there are two Holy Arks. Its roof is the Hurvat Rabbi Yehuda Hassid Synagogue that is known as the “Hurva” which is currently being renovated in order to re-establish this synagogue. In 1700, Rabbi Yehuda Hassid arrived in the Quarter from Poland, together with a group of Jews. Until this time, there had not been any consolidated Ashkenazi Jewish community in Jerusalem, and the few had been there previously had been assimilated into the Sephardic community. This Ashkenazi community began building the synagogue, and after their Rabbi’s death, his students continued the building, aided by loans taken from the Arabs. Since they were unable to repay the loans, the creditors attacked the synagogue and burnt it down. The Ashkenazi Jews were forced to leave Jerusalem and move to Zefat. Since then, this site has been known as the “Hurva” – the Ruins – of Rabbi Yehuda HaHassid. The synagogue’s reconstruction was made possible by the Egyptian ruler, Muhamed Ali, who then allowed its reconstruction, while wiping out the debts. This synagogue was destroyed by the Jordanians in 1948, as were other synagogues. Close by are the ruins of the Tiferet Israel synagogue, which has also not yet been restored. After the unification of Jerusalem in 1967, it was decided to leave it in its present condition as a memorial to the destruction.
Continue east to Kara’im Street and enter into the Herodian Quarter-Wohl Archeological Museum, where you see the reconstructed ruins of an affluent residential district, known as the “Upper City” from the Second Temple period. The mosaic floor, fresco decorations, stucco and stone artifacts indicate the lifestyle of the upper class during this period. If you wish to visit another archeological site, continue north to the Burnt House – Kathros’ House, which apparently had been the affluent residence of the Kathros family, which was numbered amongst the city’s priests and leaders. Living proof of the great fire during the Great Revolt against the Romans in 70 A.D., includes the arm bone of a woman and a steel lance found in the house.
Exit this site and continue a short distance to the Wide Wall on Plugat HaKotel Street. This wall has a width of 7 meters and length of 65 meters. This wall formed a part of Jerusalem’s northern defenses, and enriched the hill to the west of Jerusalem. At the beginning of the 8th century B.C., Jerusalem was an unprotected city, and the wall, apparently constructed during the period of King Hizkiyahu’s reign, fortified the city and prepared it for the Assyrian siege. Parts of the wall are constructed on the ruins of the houses that has been destroyed in order to build it.
Continue to the Museum “Alone on the Walls”, the ‘Last Battle’ for the Quarter, which documents the last day of the battle for the Jewish Quarter on the eve of its fall into Jordanian hands on May 28, 1948.