Introduction: Jerusalem Visit Story Day 1
First, in Jerusalem most of the attractions are located around the historical city center within the old walls. In this first day, we will start by reaching the Yehuda market in order to start with Jaffa street.
Second, Jaffa street will lead us to the old city of Jerusalem where we will explore some of its main attraction.
Third, we will reach out to the city of David and Mount of Olives begore returning.
One thing that we particularly enjoyed was to stroll around and get lost within the old city. That was the best of all the attractions as we discovered how different civilizations, cultures and religions were living together surrounded by the amazing walls and old architecture of the city.
Mapping the day
- Accommodation
- Yahuda Market et Jaffa Street
- I Love Jerusalem
- Jaffa gate
- Damascus Gate
- Western Wall
- Church of the Holy Sepulchre
- Dun gate
- City of David and tour of the tunnels
- Tomb of the Virgin
- Gethsemane
- Mount of Olives
I love Jerusalem & Jaffa Gate
At the end of Jaffa street and prior to the old city walls, we found a touristic sign “I Love Jerusalem”, a nice spot for a picture before entering the historical holy city using one of the main entrance, Jaffa gate which is right behind it.
Jaffa gate is one of the seventh gates of the old city of Jerusalem. The gate has a L shape for defence reasons. Later a bigger opening was done in the old wall right behind the gate to allow cars in.
Walking the wall
Once past the gate, on the left we found a few stairs going up to the rampart allowing you to walk on top of the wall (Also public toilet is located there before the entrance). But a ticket is required to enter. We walked down and found the ticket 2 buildings away.
If you wish to get on the ramparts, the working hours are:
- Sunday – Thursday: 9am-4pm
- Saturday: 9am-4pm
- Friday: 9am-2pm
The cost for it is adult: NIS 16 (4.1€) and Child: NIS 8 (2.05€).
Also, you need to be aware that there are many ramparts to be walked on. The one we went on was from Jaffa gate to New gate to Damascus gate where we decided to get down.
The walk on the rampart was a great attraction, not too expensive and it allowed us to to have a global scale of the old city of Jerusalem.
Reaching the Western wall
From Damascus gate, we walked south toward the center of the old city within the Arabic quarter of Jerusalem.
The streets of Jerusalem are narrow, and you can really feel the history surrounding you. It is breath-taking to simply hang around the cobble street and discover the holy city.
One shocking thing was that the city is quite dirty, and trash can be found on the floor. But apart of this, it was AMAZING!
In order to reach the western wall, you will need to first pass a check point where policeman will control you. Also, you will need to be covered to get in there, we recommend to always have a scarf with you.
Western wall
We now found ourselves within one of the most sacred places on earth. A thing that we forgot is that men and women are not mixed to pray. And when we tried to get closer to the western wall, quickly some people ran after us to warm us that only men can get to the wall from this side and that women must go from another side.
Within the wall area, we witnessed lots of Jew’s tradition and ceremony. We didn’t really understand them or the reason they were doing all of them, yet we learn a lot about their tradition.
If you see people praying shaking head and chest forward, it shows that people are emphasizing their prayer.
A bit of history, the western wall is also known as Wailing Wall, Kotel or Buraq wall. The wall you can see is only a small part of the complete western wall that was erected at the time of the second temple. It’s considered sacred due to its connected to the temple mount (Islamic area) nowadays and due to the restriction, it is the holliest place were Jews can pray.
In fact, the temple mount where a mosque is now where some 2000 years ago the second temple and the main Jewish temple.
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
The church of the holy Sepulchre is according to traditions old from the 4th century, both the place where Jesus Christ was crucified (Calvary or Golgotha), and Jesus’s empty tomb, where he is said to have been buried and resurrected.
As well, the church was erected in the 4th century and a shrine called the Aedicula dating from the 19th century is enclosing the tomb of Jesus Christ.
It is an interesting place to visit due to its importance in the Christianism. Be aware that this place is really crowded and if you desire to see the tomb of Jesus Christ, there will be a huge line around the shrine.
We decided to wait and see what it was like in the shrine, but it isn’t that spectacular if you are not a believer.
While we were waiting, a nun took a picture of the entrance of the shrine, at this time a father of the church saw her and told her that she must leave immediately as it is forbidden to take pictures and her as a nun show know better than anyone else. Hearing that the nun kneeled in front of the father, but his judgement was final. Until people around started to ask for mercy. He eventually let her in but that was a close call.
City of David
From there, we went south toward the dun gate and the city of David as we heart that the tunnel walk is amazing.
To reach the city of David we simply followed the sign and once inside we found the ticket office. We didn’t reserve; we just went in and ask for the next tour ticket. The tour we took was called the ” City of David – Tours of Biblical Jerusalem”
We didn’t really think about the tunnel and we didn’t bring flipflop which is definitely a MUST as you will be walking in the tunnel which has up to 70cm of water. They also recommend a torch, but your phone will do just fine unless you are really clumsy 🙂 in that case you can buy small torch in the souvenir store on site.
The tour last for around 3h. First you watch a small video and then you follow your tour guide and group to:
- Dr. Mazar’s Palace Excavation. A structure from the Judean kings’ period.
- The Royal Acropolis and ruins of homes from the Biblical Period.
- The underground water system from the time of Abraham.
- Walk through the famous Hezekiah’s Tunnel (Shiloah tunnel). There is also an option to walk through a dry tunnel.
Once done with all of this, it is a small 10/15min walk back to the entrance.
The tour is great, and the best part is definitely walking through the tunnel that was used century ago to conquer Jerusalem and avoid a fight against the rampart.
Tomb of the Virgin and Gethsemane
Now that we are out of the old city walls, we walked toward the tomb of the Virgin. For that we followed the main road until we saw a sideway path that we took. We weren’t sure we could use it, but it ended up behind a real shortcut.
To reach the tomb we passed a big gate and directly walk down to an underground church where the tomb of the virgin is located. It is an impressive structure and is believed to be the tomb of the mother of Jesus Christ, but again here nothing can prove it and some still are unsure about the facts.
Right across the street, we found a nice building with a garden, it was gethsemane, an olive garden and pilgrimage site.
According to the four Gospels of the New Testament, Jesus underwent the agony in the garden and was arrested the night before his crucifixion here.
End of the day
From there, we will let your imagination drive you. You can like us slowly go back and stop by a restaurant in Jaffa street to try local food or head back the old city for more strolling around.
Enjoy! 🙂
Recommendation
Bring with you lots of water and as soon as you ran out, take a refill or buy a new bottle right away.
Sun cream is also a good idea as the sun is really strong.
PS: our visit was in May 2019.
Where to Stay
Jerusalem has lots of great accommodation, more or less close from the old city center:
- Unique Stay (further): Above The Spring
- Apartment: Overlooks the Kotel
- Hotel: Old City Hotel
- Hostel: Abraham Hostel Jerusalem
“Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all of one’s lifetime.” – Mark Twain
