Old City

Jerusalem's Old City comprises eight gates, four quarters (Armenian, Christian, Jewish and Muslim) and the Temple Mount. The Old City is bordered on the east by the Mount of Olives and on the south by the Kidron Valley. The Biblical city of Jerusalem is the City of David, located just south of the Temple Mount near the Gihon Spring.

The crowning achievement of King Solomon's reign was the erection of a magnificent Temple in Jerusalem. Built in the 10th century BC. The

Bible's description of Solomon's Temple suggests that it was 180 feet long, 90 feet wide, and 50 feet high. “He spares no expense in the building's creation” (5:2025). “To complete the massive project, he imposes forced labor on all

his subjects, drafting people for work shifts lasting a month at a time. Some 3,300 officials

are appointed to oversee the Temple's erection” (5:2730). When the Temple is completed, Solomon inaugurates it with prayer and

sacrifice, and even invites non — Jews to come and pray there. Until the Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians some four hundred years

later, in 586 B.C.E., sacrifice was the predominant mode of divine service there.

Seventy years later, a second Temple was built on the same site, and sacrifices again resumed.

During the first century B.C.E., Herod greatly enlarged and expanded this Temple. The

Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E., after the failure of the Great Revolt.

The world's holiest Jewish site, the Western Wall, is a remnant of the Second Temple complex (destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Romans) and a

focal point of Jewish prayer since the destruction of the Second Temple two thousand years ago. The Wall is also known as the Wailing Wall.

The Western Wall as visitors know it is only a piece—the full wall extends all along the Temple Mount, but until recently it was concealed from view. Ancient mysteries

lie just beneath the surface of the Old City stones. The excavations along the length of the Western Wall have uncovered many treasures from Jerusalem’s most distant past, and provide clues to its many mysteries. Layer upon layer of carved

stone tells thousands of years of a story.

The Cardo was Jerusalem's main thoroughfare during the sixth century. You can walk along the ancient Byzantine street, see where Crusader shops stood and

view the remnants of a broad outer defense wall dating back 2,700 years.

Now, as in days of old, present-day pilgrims wind their way up the

Via Dolorosa, following the path that Jesus is said to have taken to meet his crucifixion.

Singing as they go and bearing a cross, these

groups tread on stones worn smooth by

centuries of pilgrimages. Their path takes them through the colorful market where the air is filled with the cries of merchants and the swift-paced rhythm

of bargaining.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also called the Church of the Resurrection, is a Christian church

within the walled Old City of Jerusalem.

The church has been an important

pilgrimage destination as the

purported site of the death and

resurrection of Jesus.

Today the keys to the basilica are in the hands of a prominent Palestinian Muslim family. The doors of the Holy Sepulcher open every morning at 7 am and close at

8 pm. This ceremony is performed in the presence of a Greek Orthodox, Armenian, and a Roman Catholic priest. Greek Orthodox, Armenians, Roman

Catholics, Copts, Ethiopians and Syrian Orthodox all share rights to the church. The different communities conduct their prayers at appointed hours, filling the

church with a continuous cycle of prayers.