Lighting Up in the Old City

While there were signs up everywhere that the Old City would be closed and to use the free, public transportation to get there during the Passover holiday, the municipality forgot to mention that the roads around the Old City would be, for the most part, closed too, and just to avoid those areas if you were going out.

After some fancy maneuvering, we parked under Kikar Safra.

Every night, the city offered a spectacular lights and fireworks display all evening along the walls near Jaffa Gate (Sh'ar Yafo). People filled up the entire area to watch.



Even the tunnel alongside the Old City (between Mamilla and Jaffa Gate) was closed up and filled to capacity with people watching the extravaganza.




And of course, here is our regular update on the progress of the rebuilding of the Hurva synagogue.

SL

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On Exits

There's still plenty more to see in the Old City, and we'll be revisiting there in the future to photograph more streets and track the progress of the reconstruction of the Hurva Synagogue.

In the meantime, here is (temporarily) one last picture of Jaffa Gate (Sha'ar Yafo) and the Old City walls at night (with Mamilla village at the bottom).

SL

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The Dividing Line

Starting off at Jaffa Gate (Shar Yafo) the quickest way (though debatable by some if it is the safest) to the Kotel, the Tunnel Tours, and the Temple Mount is by going straight ahead.

This road is known as David Street and turns into the Street of the Chains (Bab al-Silsilah Street in Arabic). Most people simply know it as the Arab Shuk.

It is the road that divides the Christian and Arab Quarters on one side of the city with the Armenian and Jewish Quarters on the other.

Though before the Jews were driven out of the Old City in 1948, when Jerusalem was divided, the definitions of the quarters were mostly irrelevant as Jews lived in all the quarters and apparently made up the majority of residents of the Old City.

Turning right on this street towards the end of the Shuk we find ourselves at an upper entrance to the Kotel on Misgav Ladach Street.

Misgav Ladach Street is the street where the original Misgav Ladach hospital was located when it was founded in 1854, until it was destroyed in 1948. You can learn more about the intersting history of the Misgav Ladach Hospital while it was in the Old City here.

Today, the rebuilt building, houses the dormitories for the Sephardi Center.

SL

Sponsored by Colony Real Estate Professionals

The Mamilla Promenade

We just spent the afternoon in the new Mamilla shopping center.

Just opposite the Jaffa Gate and the exclusive neighborhood of Ir David, at the corner of King David Street a new shopping center has opened.

For the moment, parking in the clean, expansive, and well-lit garage is free and hopefully will continue to stay that way. The roof arcade is all that is open so far, and it is already filled halfway with clothing stores, cafes and restaurants. The layout of the mall itself is well done with an eye towards creating panoramic observations points all along the path between the stores – and even in the stores and shops themselves.

What was truly exciting was walking to the Jaffa Gate promenade and looking around at the view. What was once a dingy crossroad has turned in an elegant and attractive combination of beautiful buildings and green areas all directed towards and flowing nicely alongside the walls of the Old City.

There are even rumors that French investors are planning to take it further and turn Agron Street into an Israeli Champs Elysees.

While living in this particular neighborhood may be beyond the means of the average person (Israeli or tourist), the view and amenities are open to all to enjoy and appreciate.

I definitely recommend stopping here on your way to the Kotel.

SL

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