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Jerusalem

Proclaimed capital of the Kingdom of Israel 3,000 years ago by King David, Jerusalem is – three millennia later – the capital of the modern State of Israel. It is the largest single city in Israel, home to close to a million inhabitants.

Source: Israeli Ministry of Tourism and Noam Chen

The heart of Jerusalem is the square-mile walled Old City (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) that contains the holy places of the three monotheistic faiths. And the heart of the heart is the Temple Mount. Beneath the turquoise tiled, golden domed Dome of the Rock is the rock where Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac, and atop which both the First and Second Temples were constructed. The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in the year 70 – which led to the expulsion of most Jews from their homeland. In the ensuing centuries Jerusalem became holy to Christians and Muslims too, but it was the western retaining wall of the Temple Mount enclosure that became the focus of Jewish pilgrimage for close to 2,000 years. The mournful prayers of the faithful caused it be dubbed “The Wailing Wall.”

Source: Israeli Ministry of Tourism and Noam Chen

Historically divided into four residential quarters, the Old City’s historic Armenian, Christian, Jewish and Muslim Quarters still retain the sense of their individual heritage. The Jewish Quarter, dramatically restored since the city’s unification in 1967, is home to thousands of Jewish Israelis, yeshivas, museums, ancient shopping streets and the grandly rebuilt Hurva Synagogue.

Source: Israeli Ministry of Tourism and Noam Chen

The contemporary city of Jerusalem began its growth in the mid-19th-century, and the early 20th-century buildings of central New Jerusalem are redolent of small-town and Bauhaus Europe. The modern city dwarfs the ancient walled town: elegant boulevards lead to dozens of residential neighborhoods, shopping areas, museums, the government complex that includes the Knesset (Congress) and the Supreme Court, and the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial and Museum.

MUST SEES:

  • City of David
  • Davidson Center & Jerusalem Archeological Park
  • Hurva Synagogue
  • Israel Museum
  • Knesset
  • Mamilla mall
  • Mount of Olives
  • Nahlat Shiva-Ben Yehuda pedestrianized quarter
  • Old City Gates
  • Tower of David Museum
  • Western Wall
  • Western Wall Tunnels
  • Yad Vashem

IF YOU HAVE MORE TIME:

  • Bible Lands Museum
  • Biblical Zoo
  • “Burnt House”
  • Chagall Windows at the Hadassah Ein Karem Medical Center Synagogue
  • Church of the Holy Sepulcher
  • Great Synagogue
  • Hebrew University Campuses
  • Italian Synagogue
  • Jerusalem Botanical Gardens
  • L. A. Mayer Museum of Islamic Art
  • Machane Yehuda Market
  • Mea Shearim
  • Menachem Begin Heritage Center
  • Mount Herzl
  • Mount Zion
  • Old City Ramparts Walk
  • Old Yishuv Court Museum

You may be interested in the following tours, that include a visit to Jerusalem

The ANZACS in Israel

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Beersheba Four Day Tour

4 Days / 3 Nights

On 31st October 1917, the outcome of the First World War was anything ...

Bible Tour

8 Days / 7 Nights

Imagine seeing the birthplace of Jesus with your own two eyes, or ...

Classic Israel with Eilat 14 nights

14 nights

Go deeper with this 14 night tour to truly experience and explore Israel's ...

Classic Israel 9 nights

9 nights

Experience the wonders of this magical country with a visit to Jerusalem's ...

Heritage of the Holy Land Tour

7 Nights

Join us on this 7 night Tour to Israel and visit the main ...

Bibleland Tour

8 Days / 7 Nights

Visit the sites of the Bible on this 8 day Guaranteed departure tour ...

Holyland (8 Day) Tour

8 Days / 7 Nights

See the birthplace of Jesus with your own two eyes, and walk ...

Holyland (9 Day) Tour

9 Days / 8 Nights

See the birthplace of Jesus with your own two eyes, and walk ...

Israel Family Tour

9 Days / 8 Nights

Take in the best of the best of the Holyland surrounded by ...

Israel Pilgrims Tour

8 Days / 7 Nights

See the birthplace of Jesus with your own two eyes, and walk ...

Israel Splendours

8 Days / 7 Nights

Visit Israel's splendorous key cities and attractions. Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Beersheba, ...

Israel Wonders

8 Days / 7 Nights

Visit the wonders of Israel with visits to Israel's miraculous Coastal Plain, ...

Jewish Heritage

10 Days / 9 Nights

Explore Jewish heritage from both a personal and public perspective, as you ...

Jewish Heritage in Depth

15 Days / 14 Nights

Explore Jewish heritage from both a personal and public perspective, as you ...

Jerusalem of Gold

2 nights / 3 days

Proclaimed capital of the Kingdom of Israel 3,000 years ago by King David, ...

Israel Discovery Tour

6 Days / 5 Nights

With so many incredible sites to visit, where do you begin on ...

Catholic Group Tour

8 Days / 7 Nights

PILGRIMAGE TO THE HOLY LAND FOR CATHOLIC PARTICIPANTS CELEBRATING 3 HOLY MASSES Suggested ...

Anglican Tour

11 days / 10 Nights

If you have any friends or community members who would like to ...

Protestant Tour

10 days

Jaffa / Caesarea / Mount Carmel / Druze Villages / Acre Galilee / Nazareth /Megiddo / Beit Shearim / ...

Celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem

11 Days / 10 Nights

Spend Christmas 2018 in the magical birthplace of Jesus.

Biblical Turkey and Israel

16 Days

Visiting - Istanbul, Pergamum, Izmir, Ephesus, Sardis, Pamukkale, Hierapolis, Cappadocia, Goreme, Jerusalem, ...

In the Footsteps of the Bible

20 Days

PILGRIMAGE TO EGYPT, JORDAN & ISRAEL AUSTRALIAN CATHOLIC GROUP Suggested Group Tour Cairo/...