Travel Reference
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bustling street below. It is
possible to walk for some
distance, between satellite
dishes and dividing walls.
There is even a ramshackle
children's playground up
here. Locals use the rooftops
as a short cut; for visitors the
appeal is in the unusual views
the terrace affords of the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
and Dome of the Rock. It is
also worth coming up here in
the evening to see the rooftop
skyline thrown into silhouette
by moonlight. A second set
A
of stairs leads down past
a yeshiva (
( ewish religious
school) onto El-Saraya Street
in the Muslim Quarter.
Omar ibn el-Khattab Square, just inside Jaffa Gate
The Citadel 9
See pp102-5.
subsequently quartered in
the city. The column now
supports a street light.
Several cafés with pavement
tables fringe the east side of
the square. Next to the cafés
is the Christian Information
Centre, and, opposite the
entrance to the Citadel, the
Anglican Christ Church com-
pound. Its Neo-Gothic church
(1849) was the first Protestant
building in the Holy Land.
St Mark's Church w
5 Ararat Street. Map 3 C4. Tel (02)
l
628 3304. # 8am-5pm (winter:
4pm) daily.
Omar ibn el-
Khattab Square 0
Map 3 B4.
This small church is the
centre of the Syrian Orthodox
community in Jerusalem. It
is a place rich in biblical
associations, albeit of suspect
authenticity. According to
tradition the church was built
on the site of the house of
Mary, mother of St Mark the
Evangelist. A stone font in
Not so much a square as a
widening of the road as it
passes around the Citadel,
this area just inside Jaffa Gate
is a focal point of Old City life.
Arab boys selling street food
solicit black-garbed Orthodox
Jews heading for the Western
Wall, and priests in cassocks
pose for the cameras of the
tourist groups, who pick up
their tour guides here.
The square takes its name
from the caliph Omar, who
captured Jerusalem for Islam
in AD 638. The Muslim name
is misleading, as most of the
property around the square is
owned by the Greek Orthodox
Patriarchate. In the late 19th
century, the patriarchate built
the hotels and shops on the
north side, including the Neo-
Classical Imperial Hotel . These
days the hotel suffers badly
from neglect and has appeal
only for those who value
atmosphere over comfort.
At a street junction behind
the hotel is a Roman column ,
erected around AD 200 in
honour of the prefect of Judaea
and commander of the 10th
Legion. This was one of the
legions that participated in
the recapture of Jerusalem in
AD 70 (see p43) , and was
A Walk on
the Roofs q
Map 3 C4.
A
the church is supposedly that
in which the Virgin Mary was
baptized, and the church also
has a painting on parchment
of the Virgin and Child that
is often attributed to St Luke.
Of course, historians identify
it as dating from a much later
period. Some scholars do
believe, however, that a small
cellar room here was the true
site of the Last Supper, not
Mount Zion (see p117) .
At the corner of St Mark's
Road and Khabad Street, in
an area where the Jewish,
Christian and Muslim Quarters
all overlap, an iron staircase
leads up to the Old City roof
tops. From here it is possible
to walk above the central souk
area, peering down through
ventilation grilles to the
Orthodox Jews cross the rooftops of the Old City
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