About Visit Palestine Who We Are: Owned and managed by Alternative Business Solutions; a Ramallah based Marketing & Communications Company, visitpalestine.ps is Palestine’s premier online destination travel guide. The site which was launched in 2008 provides visitor and potential visitors (foreign and locals) with a platform to learn about and plan their trips to Palestine. VisitPalestine is growing rapidly with thousands of users already connected with us via our RSS feed, social media channels, and the website. Designed and maintained by locals, the site brings you the most up to-date information on travel to Palestine. Our Mission: To proactively promote Palestine as a viable and independent destination that is rich in religious, historical, cultural and natural treasures To provide visitors and potential visitors (foreign and locals) with a comprehensive online travel guide to help them plan and book their trips to and within Palestine To engage with potential visitors along every step of their experience (trip planning, actual experience, post departure) through an intricate range of interconnected products and services To support and promote the local tourism industry (directly and indirectly) through promoting Palestine as well as all the tourism service provider Who We Target: VisitPalestine attracts the interests of a wide and diverse range of valued audiences: Thousands of people from all over the world who are interested in or planning a trip Palestine Locals and Expatriate living and working in Palestine Local Tourism stakeholders (hotels, tour operators, guides etc...) International travel agencies and tour operators selling the Holy Land as a tourism destination Travel journalist and media Palestine’s Diaspora community (especially in South America) Jerusalem City Guide 1 Table of Contents Sites & Attractions 6 Mosque of Omar 14 Mary Magadalene 19 Museums, Theatres & Cultural 24 Centres The Old City of Jerusalem 7 Church of St. Alexander Nevsky 15 Church of All Nations & Garden of 19 Where to stay 32 Gethsemane Gates & Walls of the Old City 8 Church of the Redeemer 15 Tomb of the Virgi n Mary 20 Featured Hotels 32 Dome of the Rock 10 St. James Cathedral 16 St. Peter In Gallicantu 20 Where to Dine 36 Al Aqsa Mosque 10 Western Wall (Hait el Buraq) 16 Cenacle (The Last Supper Room) 21 Important Informations 40 Church of St. Anne & the Pools of 11 Lutheran Church of the Ascension 17 Why Choose VisitPalestine.ps: 46 Bethesda Dormition Abbey 21 Chapel of the Ascension 17 Via Dolorosa & the stations of the 12 Old City Markets (Souqs) 22 cross Pater Noster 18 Church of the Holy Sepulchure 14 Dominus Flevit 18 2 3 IntroductIon Jerusalem is home to the three monotheistic religions, Christianity, Islam and Judaism. The inside of the Old City, the areas surrounding the Old City such as the Mount of Olives and Mount Zion are filled with religious shrines and archeological treasures. Spend a morning on the Mount of Olives and visit the Church of the Ascension, the Pater Noster Church and the Dominus Flevit. Walk down the Palm Sunday road and visit the Garden and Grotto of the Gethsemane. After lunch spend the afternoon on Mount Zion visiting the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu, the Dormition Abbey and the Last Supper Room at the Cenacle. A tour of the Old city is an experience in and of itself. Walking through one of the Gates into the City brings about a feeling of transformation. The atmosphere, the sounds and scents, and the diversity of people and faiths inside the Walls is unique and memorable experience for any visitor. Spend the morning visiting the third holiest site for Muslims in the world, the Haram Al Sharif and the Dome of the Rock. Visit the Western Wall sacred to Jews from around the world. Finally, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is only one of the many Christians sites throughout the old city. 4 5 he ld Ity of erusalem sItes & attractIons t o c J The Old City of Jerusalem is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world; archeologists estimate its age at more than 4,500 years. These walls were built by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in the sixteenth century, roughly following the course of the walls built by the Romans to encircle Jerusalem in the second century. Today, they are revealed in their full height and splendor, after rubble accumulated over centuries was cleared away. Eight gates are built into the city’s walls. Seven are open and one remains sealed. The inside of the Old City is divided into four quarters; the Christian Quarter, the Muslim Quarter, the Jewish Quarter and the Armenian Quarter. 6 7 Gates & walls of the old cIty The magnificent walls of Jerusalem’s Old City constitute a living example of Arab Islamic architecture. The walls surrounding the Old City where built during the Ottoman period under direct supervision of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in 1542. The walls stretch for twelve miles over an area of two square miles and rise to a higher of 40 feet. They contain 43 surveillance towers and 11 gates, seven of which are presently open. damascus Gate (BaB al-amud) Golden Gate (BaB el-rahma) ZIon Gate (BaB al-nabi dawood) dunG Gate (BaB al-maGharBeh) herod’s Gate (BaB al-Zahra) lIons Gate (st. stephen’s Gate - BaB al-asBat) new Gate (BaB al-JadId) Jaffa Gate (BaB al-KhalIl) 8 9 dome of the rocK church of st. anne & The Dome of the Rock, (Qubbat As Sakhra) is one of the most beautiful shrines in the Islamic World. The structure has been refurbished several times since its the pools of Bethesda completion in 691AD at the order of the Umayyad Caliph Abdel Malik. The site marks the spot where the Prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven leaving Located near St. Stephen’s Gate, the two large pools were originally built as part his footprint in a stone within the Dome, which can be seen today. The interior of a water supply system. Later, several grottos were dug up at the east end of the of the dome is lavishly decorated with beautiful mosaics, faience, and marble, pools in order to provide water cisterns and baths to be used for medicinal and much of which was added over the centuries following its completion. religious purposes. According to the Gospel of John, it was hear that Jesus healed Opening Hours: Saturday – Thursday 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Friday 8:00 a.m. – a paralytic man. Several Churches were built in honor of the miracles as well as 4:00 p.m. Closing Hours: The site closed one hour earlier during winter. to commemorate Mary’s birthplace traditionally in this area. Next to the pools stands the Church of St. Anne which was built by the Crusaders in the 12th century and dedicated to St. Anne, Mary’s mother. This Greek Catholic Church is built in the Romanesque style and offers magnificent acoustics. At the entrance lies the l qsa osque inscription of Salah Edin that record the conversion of the Church into the Salahiyaa a a m Madrasa school back in 1192. Then in 1856, following the Crimean War, the The Al Aqsa Moque (Masjid Al Aqsa) meaning the farthest mosque is the third Ottoman Turks presented the site to Napoleon III in recognition of Frances support holiest site in Sunni Islam. The site on the which the silver Dome sites marks the for the empire during the war. spot where the Prophet Mohammed was transported from the sacred mosque in Mecca to Al Aqsa during the Night Journey. The Al Aqsa mosque was originally a small prayer house built by the Rashidun Caliph Umar, and was rebuilt and expanded under the Umayyad Caliph Abd-al Malik and was completed by his son Al Walid in 705 AD. After an earthquake in 746, the mosque was completely destroyed and rebuilt by the Abbasid caliph al Mansur in 754, and again rebuilt by his successor Al Mahdi in 780. Another earthquake destroyed most of al-Aqsa in 1033, but two years later the Fatimid caliph Ali As-Zahir built another mosque which has stood to the present-day. 10 11 VIa dolorosa & the statIons of the cross The Via Dolorosa also known as the “Way of Sorrows”, is the traditional path which Jesus took as he carried the cross during his final hours from his condemnation to his crucifixion. When taking this route, one follows the same used during the Middle Ages passing first through the Muslim Quarter and the Christian Quarters of the Old City. statIon I. Jesus Is condemned to death. statIon II. Jesus receives the cross. statIon III. Jesus falls under the cross for the fIrst tIme. statIon IV. Jesus meets hIs mother mary. statIon V. the cross Is taKen oVer By sImon of cyrene. statIon VI. VeronIca wIpes the sweat from Jesus’ face. statIon VII. Jesus falls for the second tIme. statIon VIII. Jesus consoles the women of Jerusalem. statIon IX. Jesus falls for the thIrd tIme. statIon X. Jesus Is strIpped of hIs Garments. statIon XI. Jesus Is naIled to the cross. statIon XII. Jesus dIes on the cross. statIon XIII. Jesus’s Body Is taKen off the cross. 12 statIon XIV. Jesus’s Body Is laId Into the sepulchre. 13 church of the holy sepulchure church of st. aleXander neVsKy One of the most important sites in Christendom, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher In 1858, the Orthodox Palestine Society, a lay organization, purchased land for a known in Arabic as “Al – Qiyame” meaning resurrection is built upon the Russian consulate and pilgrims hostel near the Holy Sepulchre.