“So solitary lies the city, And at its heart — a wall.” From “Jerusalem of Gold”, by Naomi Shemer. The Western retaining Wall of the Second Temple, object of Jewish yearning for 1944 years.
One could spend a week discovering Jewish roots in Jerusalem’s Old City. Physically, the Jewish Quarter of the Old City is a small place. But what makes it such a rich space for tourists to explore is it’s depth, literally. In several locations you’ll discover an uncovered city under the current Old City quarters. These are places where archeologists have been permitted to explore Jerusalem’s hidden underground treasures.
We will list the primary sites you’ll want to see in a day of Jewish Quarter touring. Refer to the site listings for many more sites.
Entering the Old City from the Zion Gate we approach the Jewish Quarter from the edge of the Armenian Quarter and pass the Rova’s (Hebrew for Jewish “quarter”) parking lot. Soon we come to the Cardo.
We climb steps out of the Cardo and approach the Hurva Synagogue.
Continuing past the Hurva we see below us the Broad Wall.
We cross the plaza of the Jewish Quarter where we approach the Wohl Archeological Museum and the Herodian Mansions.
We continue around the Plaza and find ourselves at the Four Sepharadi Synagogues.
At some point you may wish to take a break at one of the many restaurants near the plaza in the Jewish Quarter/
Now continuing east, we descent the steps and make our way to the Western Wall.
After the Wall we make our way to the nearby Davidson Center and the Southern Wall Excavations.