Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Before Columbus and the illustrious class of 1500, many maps showed Jerusalem as the
center of the world. Jerusalem—holy, treasured, and long fought over among the three
great monotheistic religions—has been destroyed and rebuilt 14 times. Its fabled walls are
so strong that its defeats often came by starve-'em-out sieges.
Modern Jerusalem is a sprawling city with about 800,000 people. Exploring its
shopping boulevards and malls, you'll feel right at home. But its historic core, the Old
City—home to around 35,000—feels lost in time. Its venerable two-mile-long Ottoman
wall corrals a tangle of vibrant sights. It's a bustling maze of winding cobblestone paths
and streets, each stone carrying within it the shadows and stories of prophets, leaders, and
infamous visitors of the past. Each alley, each doorway, each church, each mosque, each
store, and each vendor—everyone and everything in Jerusalem has a story, waiting to be
discovered and unleashed by your own curiosity.
The mighty walls and gates of Old Jerusalem define the Old City, which is divided into
four quarters: Jewish, Armenian, Christian, and Muslim.
