Israel Travel Guide ยป The Old City of Jerusalem
The old city of Jerusalem is the place where you will find the most important religious sites in the world. The Temple Mount and the Wailing Wall in the Jewish religion, the Holy Sepulchre for Christians, and the Dome of the Rock for Muslims.
In the Old City of Jerusalem you will experience a charm that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Maybe it’s the sublime history hovering between the beautiful stone buildings, or the holy atmosphere that surrounds it, with its religious shrines from which prayers rise to God by Jews, Christians and Muslims.
The Old Town was founded by King David in 1,004. AC. and since then it has undergone many changes, which makes it one of the most interesting city in the world with a major focus in tourism. The city is on the hill of the City of David, surrounded by a wall of about 4 km, with seven gates, 34 towers and a fortress (the Tower of David). It is divided into 4 quarters. The Armenian quarter, the Christian quarter, with at least 40 churches, monasteries and shelters for pilgrims. The biggest neighborhood is Muslim. Its inhabitants have come from the surrounding villages, after Jews and Christians who lived here left the Old City to move to new neighborhoods outside the walls. The Jewish Quarter is around the Western Wall (or Wailing), sanctified by its proximity to the most sacred site of the Temple.
The old town was included in 1981 in the World Heritage Site by UNESCO.