Jerusalem: A Walk Through the Old City's Four Quarters

Few places pack so much into so little ground. The walled Old City of Jerusalem is barely one square kilometre, yet it holds the holiest sites of Judaism and Christianity and one of the holiest of Islam, divided since the 19th century into four quarters — Armenian, Jewish, Muslim and Christian. This route walks all four in a single day, following the logic of the streets so you rarely retrace your steps.

Wear modest clothing that covers shoulders and knees (essential at the religious sites), comfortable shoes for worn stone and steps, and start early to beat the crowds and the midday sun. The lanes are a working bazaar as much as a monument — leave time to get lost in them.

Getting there. From central Jerusalem the light rail and buses stop near Jaffa Gate and Damascus Gate. Begin at Jaffa Gate, the main western entrance.

Permits & tickets. Entry to the Old City, the Western Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is free. The Temple Mount is open to non-Muslim visitors only at limited hours through the Mughrabi Bridge by the Western Wall, with security checks and strict dress rules; the Ramparts Walk along the walls charges a small ticket.

Good to know:

Security and prayer times can close the Temple Mount and parts of the Western Wall plaza without notice — check on the day.
Fridays and Saturdays change the rhythm: the Muslim Quarter is busiest at Friday prayers, and the Jewish Quarter largely closes for Shabbat from Friday afternoon.
Photography is restricted or forbidden inside some shrines and during prayers; ask before pointing a camera at people.

اليوم 1

The four quarters in a day

Jaffa Gate → Church of the Holy Sepulchre 4 km

التنقّل في هذا اليوم

From Jaffa Gate through the Armenian and Jewish Quarters to the Western Wall, then along the Via Dolorosa through the Muslim Quarter to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Christian Quarter.

مقاطع

Jaffa Gate & the Armenian Quarter 0.6 km 📍 خريطة

Jaffa Gate → Armenian Quarter

Stone lanes

Enter through Jaffa Gate, the main western gate, beside the Ottoman Citadel and the Tower of David. Walk south into the quiet Armenian Quarter, the smallest of the four and home to a community present in the city for some 1,600 years. About 30 minutes.

عن هذا المكان

Jaffa Gate is one of the seven main open gates of the Old City of Jerusalem.
اقرأوا المزيد في ويكيبيديا ↗
صورة: Herwig Reidlinger · CC BY-SA 3.0
The Jewish Quarter & the Cardo 0.7 km 📍 خريطة

Armenian Quarter → Hurva Square

Stone lanes and steps

Cross into the Jewish Quarter, rebuilt after 1967, and walk the Cardo — the colonnaded main street of Roman and Byzantine Jerusalem, partly excavated below today's shops — to the restored Hurva Synagogue on its square. About 45 minutes.

عن هذا المكان

The Jewish Quarter is one of the four traditional quarters of the Old City of Jerusalem. The area lies in the southwestern sector of the walled city, and stretches from the Zion Gate in the south, along the Armenian Quarter on the west, up to the Street of the Chain in the north and extends to the Western Wall and the Temple Mount in the east. In the early 20th century the Jewish population of the quarter reached 19,000.
اقرأوا المزيد في ويكيبيديا ↗
صورة: Deror avi · Attribution
The Western Wall 0.4 km 📍 خريطة

Hurva Square → Western Wall plaza

Steps down to the plaza

Descend to the Western Wall, the exposed retaining wall of the Second Temple platform and the holiest place where Jews may pray. Approach the great limestone courses, where folded notes fill the cracks. About 45 minutes.

عن هذا المكان

The Western Wall is an ancient retaining wall of the built-up hill known to Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount of Jerusalem. Its most famous section, known by the same name, often shortened by Jews to the Kotel or Kosel, is known in the West as the Wailing Wall, and in the Arab world and Islamic world as the Buraq Wall. In a Jewish religious context, the term Western Wall and its variations is used in the narrow sense, for the section used for Jewish prayer; in its broader sense it refers to the entire 488-metre-long (1,601 ft) retaining wall on the western side of the Temple Mount.
اقرأوا المزيد في ويكيبيديا ↗
صورة: Golasso · CC BY-SA 4.0
Temple Mount viewpoint 0.3 km 📍 خريطة

Western Wall plaza → Temple Mount (Mughrabi Gate)

Wooden ramp and open esplanade

If visiting hours allow, cross the Mughrabi Bridge onto the Temple Mount (Haram al-Sharif) to stand before the golden Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque; otherwise take in the view over the esplanade from the plaza. About 40 minutes.

عن هذا المكان

The Temple Mount is a hill in the Old City of Jerusalem. Once the site of two successive Temples in Jerusalem, it is now home to the Islamic compound known as al-Aqsa, which includes the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. It has been venerated as a holy site for thousands of years, including in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
اقرأوا المزيد في ويكيبيديا ↗
صورة: Godot13 · CC BY-SA 4.0
The Via Dolorosa 0.6 km 📍 خريطة

Lions' Gate → Muslim Quarter

Covered bazaar streets

Pick up the Via Dolorosa, the 'Way of Sorrows', near Lions' Gate and follow its Stations of the Cross through the crowded, vaulted lanes of the Muslim Quarter — the traditional route of Jesus toward crucifixion. About 45 minutes.

عن هذا المكان

The Via Dolorosa, sometimes known as the Via Crucis is a processional route in the Old City of Jerusalem. It represents the path that Jesus took, forced by the Roman soldiers, on the way to his crucifixion. The winding route from the former Antonia Fortress to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre—a distance of about 600 metres (2,000 ft)—is a celebrated place of Christian pilgrimage. The current route has been established since the 18th century, replacing various earlier versions. Today, it is marked by 14 Stations of the Cross, nine of which are outside, in the streets, with the remaining five stations being currently inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
اقرأوا المزيد في ويكيبيديا ↗
صورة: Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
Church of the Holy Sepulchre 0.4 km 📍 خريطة

Muslim Quarter → Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Stone courtyard and church interior

End at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Christian Quarter, built over the sites revered as Calvary and the tomb of Jesus, and shared by six Christian denominations. Climb the ramparts near Jaffa Gate afterward for a last view over the roofs. About 60 minutes.

عن هذا المكان

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also known as the Church of the Resurrection, is a fourth-century church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. The church is simultaneously the seat of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and the Catholic Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. It is the holiest site in Christianity and it has been an important pilgrimage site for Christians since the fourth century.
اقرأوا المزيد في ويكيبيديا ↗
صورة: Gerd Eichmann · CC BY-SA 4.0