Buried history

Beneath the bustling modern city lie vestiges of Jerusalem's more than 3,000 years of urban history. Two examples include a room from King Herod's palace that was discovered under the old Ottoman Kishle prison and a Roman legionary bathhouse that was excavated when a modern Jewish mikvah, a building for ritual baths, was under construction. Western Wall tunnels tracing the foundations of Herod’s Temple Mount allow visitors to see Warren’s Gate, now the closest point to the holiest part of the old Temple site.

SYMBOLS OF A CITY

These structures, developed over the centuries, shelter the most hallowed and historic ground in Jerusalem.

Old city quarters

The area has long been divided into quarters with fluctuating boundaries and names. The Christian Quarter, for example, was once called the Patriarch’s Quarter; current names came into common use in the 1800s. The Old City is home to more than 34,000 registered residents (thousands more may be uncounted), most in the Muslim Quarter.

Structures from two millennia

Current buildings in Jerusalem reflect the many changes in rulers who came to dominate the city. Jewish, Roman, Byzantine, early Muslim, Christian crusader, Ayyubid and Mamluk Muslim, Ottoman, and modern powers have all left their mark.

Buried history

Beneath the bustling modern city lie vestiges of Jerusalem's more than 3,000 years of urban history. Two examples include a room from King Herod's palace that was discovered under the old Ottoman Kishle prison and a Roman legionary bathhouse that was excavated when a modern Jewish mikvah, a building for ritual baths, was under construction. Western Wall tunnels tracing the foundations of Herod’s Temple Mount allow visitors to see Warren’s Gate, now the closest point to the holiest part of the old Temple site.

SYMBOLS OF A CITY

These structures, developed over the centuries, shelter the most hallowed and historic ground in Jerusalem.