Become a Virtual Tourist Member Today!  Sign Up for Free | Sign In

Things to Do in Jerusalem

Search:
email to friend | help
Home » Travel Guides » Middle East » Israel » Jerusalem District » Jerusalem » Things To Do

Jerusalem Travel Guide

Things to Do in Jerusalem

Reviews and photos of Jerusalem attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Jerusalem sightseeing.
Local Time 11:28 pm Saturday, May 17, 2008
Jerusalem Map
• Jerusalem Hotels

Sponsored Links for Jerusalem

The David Citadel Hotel
The leading Hotel in Jerusalem. Special internet rates.

Crowne Plaza Hotel
In Jerusalem. Official Site- Book Online Today For Low Rates.

EL AL Airlines
It’s Not Just an Airline It’s Israel. Book Today!

Jerusalem Hotel
Beautiful Renovated Mansion Great Location - Great Price

Israel Travel
Visit Jerusalem, Sea of Galilee Tel Aviv, 7-16 Day Tours. Book Now!


Sort By:  Most Recent | Best Rated
Outside the Walls: Bible Lands Museum
  • Tip Rating:
  • Bible Lands Museum, Jerusalem - Jerusalem
    Bible Lands Museum, Jerusalem
    by FruitLover
    Send Photo to a Friend
    A collection from the civilizations of the ancient lands of the Bible. Shows archaeological examples of Near Eastern art and history of that period.

  • Address: 25 Granot St., Museum Row, Jerusalem
  • Phone: 972-2-5611066
  • Directions: Near the Knesset and across from the Shrine of the Book, Jerusalem Public Transportation: Egged buses 9, 17, 24

  • Add to Your Trip Planner  Post a Question  Write a Tip on  Outside the Walls
    Rate      Not Helpful  1   2   3   4   5  Very Helpful
    The Old City Gates: Graves of two architects of the wall
  • Tip Rating:
  • Graves of 2 architects of the wall - Jerusalem
    Graves of 2 architects of the
    wall
    by FruitLover
    Send Photo to a Friend
    A legend says these two graves, in the inner court-yard of Jaffa Gate, belong to the two architects hanged by the Ottoman Sultan, Soleiman the Magnificent in 16th century. The Sultan felt cheated by them because they didn't include Mount Zion inside the Wall area. Another common explanation to their death is the will of the Sultan that the beautiful Wall designed and built by these architects will not be copied, and consequently they took their professional secrets to their graves forever.


    Add to Your Trip Planner  Post a Question  Write a Tip on  The Old City Gates
    Rate      Not Helpful  1   2   3   4   5  Very Helpful
    Outside the Walls: Ein Kerem: Gorny (Moscovia) Monastery
  • Tip Rating:
  • As you see, this church has a special roof, a tented/ hipped, typical to Russian churches from the 16th century on. It's very functional for long season snowy regions. (Jerusalem has max 1-2 snowy days a year, in average) It's a Russian Orthodox Church, built at the end of 19th century. First Russians came to Ein-Kerem on 1871. 'Gorny' is the Russian word for 'mountainous', and the name for Ein-Kerem; 'Moscovia' means Moscow in Arabic. The main picture was took not from Ein-Kerem, but from the upper main road to Haddasah hospital, south to the neighbourhood . (personal reminiscence: this was the road to the birth of my older son in 8th July, 2nd Millenium).

  • Directions: Ein-Kerem, Jerusalem

  • Add to Your Trip Planner  Post a Question  Write a Tip on  Outside the Walls
    Rate      Not Helpful  1   2   3   4   5  Very Helpful
    Outside the Walls: Bible Lands Museum [II]
  • Tip Rating:
  • Painted Pottery, Iran, Iran, 3rd millenium BCE - Jerusalem
    Painted Pottery, Iran, Iran,
    3rd millenium BCE
    by FruitLover
    Send Photo to a Friend
    In third millenium Iran, the craft of fine painted pottery continued to develop after flourishing in prehistoric times. Large storage vessels decorated with designs of birds with outstretched wings and stylized horned animals on the shoulder were typical. They are found both in the valleys of the central Zagros mountains and in Elam, testifying to links between the highlands and the cultured literate centers in the south. This painted pottery tradition continued into the second millenium, as can be seen on the small jar displayed here.

  • Address: 25 Granot St., Museum Row
  • Phone: 972-2-5611066
  • Directions: Near the Knesset and across from the Shrine of the Book, Jerusalem Public Transportation: Egged buses 9, 17, 24

  • Add to Your Trip Planner  Post a Question  Write a Tip on  Outside the Walls
    Rate      Not Helpful  1   2   3   4   5  Very Helpful
    Outside the Walls: Chagall Windows, Haddasah Ein-Kerem [I]
  • Tip Rating:

  • "Tribes of Israel", by Marc
    Chagall
    by FruitLover, 3 more photos
    Send Photo to a Friend
    Synagouge's 'Twelve Tribes of Israel' stained glass windows, by Marc Chagall, made Haddasah Ein-Kerem Hospital a touristic attraction. "My modest gift to the Jewish people, who have always dreamt of biblical love, of friendship and peace among all people; to that people who lived here, thousands of years ago, among other Semitic people. My hope is that I hereby extend my hand to seekers of culture, to poets and to artists among the neighboring people." - Marc Chagall, launching his art, 1962. 4 pictures X 3 tribes each = 12 total. Details and closer look - in the next tip.

  • Directions: Heart of Haddasah Ein-Kerem hospital, Jerusalem

  • Add to Your Trip Planner  Post a Question  Write a Tip on  Outside the Walls
    Rate      Not Helpful  1   2   3   4   5  Very Helpful
    Outside the Walls: City of David [Hebrew: Ir David]
  • Tip Rating:
  • David, the king, was lyrical, heroic, the fair-haired boy of early Biblical history. A charismatic, passionate, energetic and virile redhead, David was a child star - he defeated the giant Goliath. He forged a friendship with Saul's son Jonathan that sets a standard for selfnessness. When he was not fighting Philistines, seducing women, expanding and unifying the kingdom, David wrote devotional poems, Psalms, celebrating his love for God. In the highlight of his career, David was the one who conquered what is now known as Jerusalem, what was known as IR DAVID, the city of David, and established it as the capital city - and the emotional epicenter of Jewish life. But he was not pure enough to build the Holy Temple, for, as a warrior, his hands were stained with blood.

  • Directions: Jerusalem

  • Add to Your Trip Planner  Post a Question  Write a Tip on  Outside the Walls
    Rate      Not Helpful  1   2   3   4   5  Very Helpful
    City of David: Hezekiah's Tunnel
  • Tip Rating:
  • If you're young or young in spirit [and you have gold in your heart and not betwen your teeth] - enrich your Jerusalem's experience with BIBLICAL HEZEKIAH's TUNNEL. The City of David became a central and well-protected city at 19th century BCE. The first reason why this location was chosen is its proximity to GIHON SPRING. WATER, the source of life, was a crucial issue in this area, at the edge of the desert. In the Canaanite period [18th century BCE] an underground tunnel was hewn serving as a protected passageway to the spring. The upper part of the water system was discovered by Charles Warren in 1867, and was cleared by archaeologists in 1995. In the year 701 BCE Assyrian King Sanheriv rose up and laid siege to Jerusalem. As part of the preparation to defend Jerusalem from the siege, Hezekiah the king of Judea diverted the water from the Gihon to a pool betwwen the walls of the southern end of the city. [Chronicles 2, 32:30]. The diversion was accomplished by hewing a tunnel 533 meters in length. An inscription in ancient Hebrew writing, discovered in 1880, describes that the tunnel was hewn from two directions simultaneously. The joy of the diggers while meeting of the two groups - documented on that inscription The walk through the tunnel takes about 40 minutes. The height of the water is above the knees [approx. 70 cm]. You can bring flashlight [or rent one in the entrance] and water shoes. Candles are not allowed.


    Add to Your Trip Planner  Post a Question  Write a Tip on
    Rate      Not Helpful  1   2   3   4   5  Very Helpful
    Outside the Walls: A Poorhouse Transformed
  • Tip Rating:
  • . When Mishkenot Sha’ananim, which means “tranquil dwellings" (based on Isaiah 32:18) was built in 1860, the neighborhood was anything but. This long row of housing was the first building outside the protective walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. The territory outside the walls was an exposed and dangerous place, and the Jews were not anxious to make the move. But the Jewish Quarter was terribly overcrowded and hygiene was poor. Sir Moses Montefiore, a wealthy British Jew and a “doer,” thought that the time had come for the Jews of Jerusalem to live in healthier surroundings. Montefiore was the executor of the will of a very rich Jew from New Orleans. Judah Touro died in 1854, leaving $50,000 “for the poor Jews of Jerusalem.” The money was used to buy a plot of land from the Sultan. Here Montefiore built a windmill, as a source of income, and an almshouse containing 16 apartments. According to the “Rules and Regulations of Mishkenot,” it was to be named for Touro, and the inhabitants were to recite prayers for their benefactor every day. Touro’s name was engraved on the facade (still visible today in a star-shaped inset at the top of the building). But it was the charismatic Montefiore everyone remembers - not Touro, who never set foot in the Holy Land. Mishkenot was constructed very differently from the homes in the Old City. The rooms all had windows and the roof was flat, at a time when domes were the rule. An iron water pump imported from Montefiore's hometown, Ramsgate, England, created a great sensation, and a huge black iron gate, also from England, was locked at night to keep out marauders. Gradually, new neighborhoods were built outside the city and Mishkenot was shunted to the sidelines. It became a slum. In 1973, the complex was renovated. What began as a poorhouse is now a cultural center and a posh guest-house for visiting artists, writers and musicians, hosting celebrities like Saul Bellow, Simone de Beauvoir, Arthur Rubinstein and Marc Chagall.

    Leave a Comment

  • Directions: Yemin Moshe neighborhood, directly across from the Old City walls. From the Montefiore Windmill walk down the steps - about 100 of them!

  • Add to Your Trip Planner  Post a Question  Write a Tip on  Outside the Walls
    Rate      Not Helpful  1   2   3   4   5  Very Helpful
    Outside the Walls: Israel Museum - Tower of Books.
  • Tip Rating:
  • If you have been to the City Library in Prague, you know what is about: Tower of Books. This 17- foot-long cylinder, made of some 8,000 books, is the work of Czech artist, Matej Kren. For each exhibit, named Idiom, the artist works in the language of the country, using Hebrew books for the Jerusalem structure. By closing the top and bottom with two mirrors, the artist creates an illusion of endless inner space. The display will continue until March, 2006. Though constructed in the Youth Wing of the Israel Museum, the tower fascinates both young and old.

  • Directions: Jerusalem

  • Add to Your Trip Planner  Post a Question  Write a Tip on  Outside the Walls
    Rate      Not Helpful  1   2   3   4   5  Very Helpful
    Outside the Walls: The Giant's Finger
  • Tip Rating:
  • In downtown Jerusalem, in an area known as the Russian Compound, just off Jaffa Road, are the headquarters of the Israel Police. Directly in front of the police station is a huge 36-foot long white marble column half-embedded in the ground, surrounded by a fence. At first glance, it looks like a cement sewer pipe. Actually, it dates from the late Second Temple period. Archeologists believe there was an ancient quarry on the spot, and this particular column, possibly being prepared for Herod?s temple, was cracked during the quarrying process. It was discovered in 1871. But this is no ordinary hunk of stone. To kids growing up in Jerusalem in the early days of the state (my husband was one of them) it was known as "the finger of Og King of Bashan" ? a biblical giant. According to Deuteronomy 3:11, this Og was a rather large fellow. He slept in an iron bed 15-feet long. He fought the Israelites, but suffered the fate of another biblical giant, whose name is perhaps better known ? Goliath. In Jerusalem, the Bible just seems to surface wherever you go?

    Leave a Comment

  • Directions: Jerusalem

  • Add to Your Trip Planner  Post a Question  Write a Tip on  Outside the Walls
    Rate      Not Helpful  1   2   3   4   5  Very Helpful
    More Jerusalem Tips
    Overview
     
    General Tips
    Tips: 218 - Photos: 200
    Restaurants
    Tips: 111 - Photos: 81
    Hotels and Accommodations
    Tips: 104 - Photos: 65
    Things To Do
    Tips: 728 - Photos: 690
    Nightlife
    Tips: 38 - Photos: 26
    Off the Beaten Path
    Tips: 124 - Photos: 118
    Tourist Traps
    Tips: 18 - Photos: 11
    Warnings or Dangers
    Tips: 43 - Photos: 27
    Transportation
    Tips: 62 - Photos: 33
    Local Customs
    Tips: 97 - Photos: 90
    Packing Lists
    Tips: 9 - Photos: 4
    Shopping
    Tips: 46 - Photos: 37
    Sports Travel
    Tips: 7 - Photos: 4

    More Sponsored Links for Jerusalem

    Search Hotels
    Find the best room rates
    All Jerusalem Hotels

    Check-In Date:


    Check-Out Date:


    Guests



    Hotels by OneTime.com




    Find:        Matching:  Advanced