The Armenian Quarter is one of the four sections within the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. The other Quarters are the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Quarters. The Armenians have the smallest section in the Old City and take up 14% of the total area of the Old City. The Quarter is home to approximately 2,000 people many of whom are connected to the Armenian Apostolic Church. The Armenians have their own distinct language and culture and are ethnically neither Arab nor Jewish.

The Armenians originated from the Armenian Highlands of Asia Minor (in present-day eastern Anatolia). Soon after Jesus’ death, the Armenians were converted to Christianity and ever since then have been making pilgrimages to the Holy Land.  Armenian monks arrived in Jerusalem in the 4th century AD. Jerusalem’s Armenian community is considered the oldest living Armenian Diaspora community in the world.

The Armenian compound is enclosed by an inner wall within the Armenian Quarter and includes St. James, a convent, school, churches, and residences. Along the walk from the Jaffa Gate past the Zion Gate and to the Jewish Quarter are many small shops displaying the beautiful hand-painted Armenian pottery which is made locally. Armenian ceramics can be seen adorning many parts of the Old City including the Dome of the Rock and neighborhood street signs.

One of the highlights of the Quarter is the Mardigian Museum of Armenian Art and Culture, which displays illuminated manuscripts and documentation covering the history of the Armenian people. One of the main exhibits is a printing press brought to Jerusalem by the Armenians in the 1830s and used in the St. James Press founded in 1833. 

Kalia is an eco-friendly beach where environmental awareness is actively encouraged. This is done by providing special beach ashtrays; recycle bins; solar energy is used for heating the showers and glass bottled drinks are sold at the kiosk and visitors are encouraged to return them for a deposit when they have finished. There is an entrance fee of 54 ILS for Kalia Beach but this means you have the convenience of the facilities. The entrance fee allows you free use of the showers, toilets, Wi-Fi, beach chairs, and umbrellas. There is a lifeguard on duty and the beach is accessible to those with physical challenges. There are lockers where you can store your belongings for about 15 ILS and towels to rent. Kalia Beach has the Lowest Bar in the World (at the lowest point on Earth). The bar serves food and drinks on the water’s edge.

For a more substantial meal, there is a restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating. At the beach, there is a gift shop and cosmetics center that sells Dead Sea products, useful beach items, and souvenirs. There is Dead Sea mud available to smother over your skin. The mud is a natural skin mask that feeds your skin vital minerals and extracts toxins. It is possible to camp on Kalia Beach for approximately 85 ILS per person per 24 hours. If arriving with an organized tour your entrance will be included in your tour price and you will be taken all the way to the entrance. If arriving by public transport you can call Kalia Beach and arrange for a shuttle to pick you up from the public bus stop or you could walk 10 minutes to the beach.

The Mount of Olives is located across the Kidron Valley from the eastern side of Jerusalem’s Old City. The Mt. of Olives is the site of a 3,000-year-old Jewish cemetery where many prominent Jews are buried and it was the setting for many Biblical events. Today the Mount of Olives is home to beautiful churches, a Jerusalem neighborhood, Augusta Victoria Hospital, Seven Arches Hotel and the Brigham Young University.

The Book of Zechariah states that the “God of Israel” will stand on the Mt. of Olives. This is interpreted to mean that the Messiah will appear here on the Day of Judgment and the resurrection of the dead will begin here with those buried on the mount. In the New Testament, the Mount of Olives is noted as the place where Jesus stood as he looked out over Jerusalem and wept as he foresaw the city’s destruction. Jesus is said to have taught his disciples the Lord’s Prayer on the Mount of Olives. Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane and was arrested on the eve of his crucifixion. The Book of Acts tells us that Jesus ascended to heaven from the mount following his resurrection.

The Cardo Maximus was the name given to the north-south thoroughfare of Roman and Byzantine cities. “Cardo” means heart and the Cardo ran through the “heart” of the city. In the 130s AD, Hadrian had Jerusalem rebuilt and like other Roman cities, Jerusalem’s street plan included a Cardo. It was a paved, 22.5 meter-wide road running southward from the Damascus Gate. Later during the Byzantine era in the 6th century AD, Emperor Justinian had the Jerusalem Cardo extended taking it further south all the way to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Zion Gate. The street may have been used for ceremonial processions from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. For the entire length of the Cardo, the road was flanked with colonnades, covered walkways and a shaded arcade.

Today visitors to the Old City of Jerusalem can wander through the Jewish Quarter and look down on the southern part of the excavated Cardo. You can see the tall, thick columns, ornate capitals, the arcade where merchants would have stood, and the large flagstones that paved the Cardo. 500 years after the original Cardo was constructed the Crusaders built a bazaar along part of the road. Today these Crusader-era stores have been restored and once again serve their original function. The shopping section of the Cardo is beneath a beautiful vaulted ceiling and the modern stores are housed in the ancient Crusader shops that line the Cardo. The stores sell locally made jewelry, religious artifacts, artwork, and other merchandise. Other sections of the Cardo are no longer visible having been covered by new structures over the years.

The famous Madaba Map, a floor mosaic found in a 6th-century Byzantine church in Jordan depicts the Holy Land with the Cardo as its main artery. The Madaba Map is the oldest surviving cartographic depiction of Jerusalem. Visitors to the Cardo in Jerusalem can see a replica of the Madaba Map. Visitors can also see a large mural painting by students of the French school of art Creation de la Cite. The mural depicts the Cardo as it would have been 1500 years ago, a bustling street with vendors displaying their wares; a covered walkway; animals, and colorful characters.

The Jewish Quarter is one of the four sections within Jerusalem’s Old City walls. The 0.1km² area has been home to Jews since 800 BC and today continues to be inhabited by about 2,000 Jewish residents. The Quarter can be entered via the Dung Gate and is bordered by the Armenian Quarter, the Street of Chains and Temple Mount. The Jewish Quarter is a lively residential neighborhood and tourist attraction with restaurants, stores, hotels, hostels and museums. There are also many Yeshivot (schools for Jewish religious study) and synagogues. Like the rest of Jerusalem, the Quarter radiates light off the stone buildings and stone-paved lanes.

When the Jordanians took the Old City in 1948 many of the ancient buildings were destroyed. Since 1967 when Israel reclaimed the Old City reconstruction and excavation have been ongoing. Almost the entire Quarter has some kind of archaeological treasure beneath it. In fact, there are two or three levels buried beneath the surface and most of the buildings have documented excavation sites in the basements!

The Via Dolorosa follows the path Jesus walked through the streets of Jerusalem, from the place of his trial to the place of his crucifixion. Jesus was brought before Pontius Pilate to be judged and condemned near where the Old City’s Lion Gate stands today. After being judged Jesus carried the heavy cross through the crowded streets to where he would be crucified. Crucifixions were made outside of the city walls whereas today Golgotha, the site of Jesus crucifixion lies within the Old City and within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher (also called the Church of the Anastasis, Church of the  Resurrection and the Holy is the most sacred Christian site in the world. The church is located in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. The Church encompasses the last four (some say five) Stations of the Cross along the Via Dolorosa. These holy sites were where Jesus was crucified at Golgotha (Calvary); died on the cross and was laid to rest in a burial cave. It is also where he was resurrected three days after his passing. The church has been a pilgrimage site since the 4th century and today the Sepulcher is visited by Christians and non-Christians from across the globe.

The Western Wall stands in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City. The Kotel, also known as the Western Wall and the Wailing Wall is a surviving small section of the retaining wall constructed under Herod the Great as part of expansions made to the Jewish Second Temple (516 BC-70 AD). The original wall would have encased the natural hill known today as Temple Mount (Mount Moriah) where the Temple stood.

The Temple Mount was and is the most sacred Jewish site in the world. It was on the Mount that Adam was created and where Abraham bound his son Isaac in offering to God. It was also on Temple Mount that the First Holy Temple was built by Solomon in 957 BC and destroyed by Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC. Not long after that in 516 BC the Second Holy Temple was built on the same site and was destroyed in 70 AD by the Romans during a Jewish uprising.

The Romans completely destroyed the Second Temple including the surrounding buildings and walls. The Temple ruins were hidden for centuries underneath the rubble and new structures were built on top of the broken remains. Only one small section of the outer retaining wall remained above ground and untouched. That 485-meter section of wall is sacred to Jews who see it as a connection with the Holy Temple Mount. Over the years the wall has fallen under the jurisdiction of many rulers but the Jews have maintained their connection to Temple Mount and the wall. It is called the Wailing Wall as Jews weep for the destroyed Temple.

Through the centuries and until the end of the British Mandate in 1948 Jews were not allowed to pray freely at the Western Wall. Between 1948 and 1967 no Jews were allowed into the Jordanian-controlled Old City so for nineteen years no Jews visited the Western Wall. Following the Six Day War Jerusalem was unification and the Jews had unhindered access to the Kotel for the first time.