56 Best Sights in Jerusalem, Israel

Designed by Antonio Barluzzi in the 1950s, the tear-shape church—its name means "The Lord Wept"—preserves the New Testament story of Jesus's sorrowful prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem (Luke 19). The remarkable feature of its simple interior is a picture window facing west, the iron cross on the altar silhouetted against a superb view of the Old City. Many archaeological items were unearthed here, including a group of ancient stone ossuaries, or bone boxes, preserved in a grotto on the right as you enter the site. The courtyard is a good place to enjoy the view in peace between waves of pilgrim groups. (Equally worthy of mention are the restrooms, rare in this area.) The church is about one-third of the way down the steep road that descends to Gethsemane from the Mount of Olives observation point.

Beware of pickpockets on the street outside.

The large, round Roman Catholic church, with its distinctive cone-shaped roof, ornamented turrets, and landmark clock tower, is a Jerusalem landmark. It was built on land bought by the German emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II when he visited Jerusalem in 1898. The German Benedictines dedicated the echoing main church, with its Byzantine-style apse and mosaic floors, in 1910. The lower-level crypt houses a cenotaph with a carved-stone figure of Mary in repose (dormitio), reflecting the tradition that she fell into eternal sleep. Among the adjacent little chapels is one donated by the Ivory Coast, with wooden figures and motifs inlaid with ivory. The premises include a bookstore and a coffee shop. A visit takes about 25 minutes.

The arch that crosses the Via Dolorosa, just beyond Station II, and continues into the chapel of the adjacent convent, was once thought to have been the gate of Herod's Antonia fortress, perhaps the spot where the Roman governor Pontius Pilate presented Jesus to the crowd with the words "Ecce homo!" ("Behold, the man!"). Recent scholarship has determined otherwise: it was a triumphal arch built by the Roman emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD after his suppression of the second Jewish revolt and the dedication of a new Roman town, Aelia Capitolina, in place of Jerusalem.

The basement of the convent has several points of interest: an impressive reservoir with a barrel-vault roof, apparently built by Hadrian in the moat of Herod's older Antonia fortress; a tiny but attractive collection of ancient artifacts found on-site; and the famous lithostratos, or stone pavement, etched with games played by Roman legionnaires. The origin of one such diversion—the notorious Game of the King—called for the execution of a mock king, a sequence tantalizingly reminiscent of the New Testament description of the treatment of Jesus by the Roman soldiers. Contrary to tradition, however, the pavement of large, foot-worn brown flagstones is apparently not from Jesus's day, but was laid down a century or two later. Allow 30 minutes for the visit.

Stand in the monastery's courtyard beneath the medieval bulge of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and you have a cross section of Christendom. The adjacent Egyptian Coptic monastery peeks through the entrance gate, and a Russian Orthodox gable, a Lutheran bell tower, and the crosses of Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, and Roman Catholic churches break the skyline.

The robed Ethiopian monks live in tiny cells in the rooftop monastery. One of the modern paintings in their small, dark chapel depicts the visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon, as described in the Bible (I Kings 10). Ethiopian tradition holds that more passed between the two than the Bible is telling—she came to "prove" his wisdom "with hard questions"—and that their supposed union produced an heir to both royal houses. In Solomon's court, the prince was met with hostility by the king's legitimate offspring, says the legend, and the young man was sent home—with the precious Ark of the Covenant as a gift. To this day (say the Ethiopians), it remains in a sealed crypt in their homeland. The script in the paintings is Ge'ez, the ecclesiastical language of the Ethiopian church. Taking in the rooftop view and the chapel will occupy about 15 minutes. The exit, via a short stairway to another, lower-level chapel, deposits you in the courtyard of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

After the Last Supper, the New Testament relates, Jesus and his disciples walked to the Mount of Olives, to a place called Gethsemane, where he was betrayed and arrested. Gethsemane derives from the Aramaic or Hebrew word for "oil press," referring to the precious olive that has always flourished here. The enormous, gnarled, and still-productive olive trees on the site may be older than Christianity itself, according to some botanists. 

The Church of All Nations, with its brilliantly colorful, landmark mosaic facade, was completed in 1924 on the scanty remains of its Byzantine predecessor. The prolific architect, Antonio Barluzzi, filled the church's interior domes with mosaic symbols of the Catholic communities that contributed to its construction. The windows are glazed with translucent alabaster in somber browns and purples, creating a mystical feeling in the dim interior. At the altar is the so-called Rock of the Agony, where Jesus is said to have endured his Passion; this is the source of the older name of the church, the Basilica of the Agony.

A popular approach to Gethsemane is walking down the steep road from the top of the Mount of Olives—identified by pilgrims as the Palm Sunday Road—perhaps stopping in on the way at the Dominus Flevit church where, tradition has it, Jesus wept as he foretold the destruction of the city (Luke 19). The entrance to the well-tended garden at the foot of the hill is marked by a small platoon of vendors outside.

A beautifully tended English-style country garden makes this an island of tranquility in bustling East Jerusalem. What Christian pilgrims come for, however, is an empty ancient tomb, and a moving opportunity to ponder the Gospel account of the death and resurrection of Jesus. It is a favorite site for the many Protestant visitors who respond less to the ornamentation and ritual of the Holy Sepulcher.

In 1883, British general Charles Gordon spent several months in Jerusalem. From his window looking out over the Old City walls, he was struck by the skull-like features of a cliff face north of the Damascus Gate. He was convinced that this, rather than the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, was "the place of the skull" (Mark 15) where Jesus was crucified. An ancient rock-cut tomb had already been uncovered there, and subsequent excavations exposed cisterns and a wine press, features typical of an ancient garden.

According to the New Testament, Jesus was buried in the fresh tomb of the wealthy Joseph of Arimathea, in a garden close to the execution site, and some archaeologists identified the tomb as an upper-class Jewish burial place of the Second Temple period. Recent research, however, indicates that this tomb is apparently from the Old Testament period, making it too old to have been that of Jesus. In general, the gentle guardians of the Garden Tomb do not insist on the identification of the site as that of Calvary and the tomb of Christ, but are keen to provide a contemplative setting for the pilgrim, in a place that just might have been historically significant.

Marc Chagall's vibrant stained-glass windows are the jewels in the crown of Hadassah Hospital's huge Ein Kerem campus. When the U.S.-based Hadassah organization began planning this hospital on the western edge of town back in the 1950s, it asked the Russian-born Jewish artist to adorn the small synagogue. Chagall was reportedly so delighted that he created the windows for free: Hadassah only paid for materials and labor. Taking his inspiration from the Bible—Jacob's deathbed blessings on his sons and, to a lesser extent, Moses's valediction to the tribes of Israel—he created 12 windows in luminous primary colors, with an ark-full of characteristically Chagallian beasts and a mix of Jewish and esoteric symbols. The innovative techniques of the Reims glassmakers give the wafer-thin windows an illusion of depth. Recorded explanations in the synagogue are available in Hebrew, English, Russian, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Dutch. Buses 12, 19, 27, and 42 head to the Ein Kerem campus.

A few minutes from the Jaffa Gate is the deep Hinnom Valley, which offers fine views of Mount Zion and the Old City walls. The area achieved notoriety in the 7th century BC during the long reign of the Israelite king Menasseh (697–640 BC). He was not merely an idolater, the Bible relates, but supported a cult of child sacrifice by fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom. Over time, the biblical Hebrew name of the valley—Gei Ben Hinnom, contracted to Gehennom or Gehenna—became a synonym for a hellish place of burning, in both Hebrew and New Testament Greek.

In the late 1970s, Israeli archaeologist Gabriel Barkai discovered a series of Old Testament–period rock tombs at the bend in the valley, below the fortresslike St. Andrew's Scots Church. The most spectacular finds were two tiny rolled strips of silver, designed to be worn as amulets around the neck. The painstaking opening of the little cylinders revealed the biblical "priestly benediction" (Nos. 6), inscribed in the ancient Hebrew script. This 7th-century-BC sample, beginning "The Lord bless you and keep you," is the oldest biblical passage ever found. The tombs are an open site, accessed through the Menachem Begin Heritage Center during its visiting hours.

This is a great area for lounging around, throwing Frisbees, or eating a picnic lunch in warm weather. Some of the Muslim graves at the bottom of the park date from the 13th century. The large defunct reservoir nearby, known as the Mamilla Pool, is probably late medieval, though it may have much earlier Roman origins.

The YMCA exudes old-world charm: its high-domed landmark bell tower thrusts out of a palatial white-limestone facade, full of carved arcane symbols and ancient scripts. The complex boasts the usual YMCA fitness facilities, a hotel, a concert hall, a restaurant, and a bilingual preschool. For NIS 20 you can ride the small elevator (they insist on two people minimum) to the Bell Tower, with breathtaking views of the city in all directions. The building, dedicated in 1933, was designed by Arthur Loomis Harmon, one of the architects of New York City's Empire State Building.

This deep valley separates the Old City and the City of David from the high ridge of the Mount of Olives and the Arab neighborhood of Silwan. In the cliff face below the neighborhood are the symmetrical openings of tombs from both the First Temple (Old Testament) and Second Temple (Hellenistic-Roman) periods. You can view the impressive group of 2,200-year-old funerary monuments from the lookout terrace at the southeast corner of the Old City wall, or wander down into the valley itself and see them close up. The huge, square, stone structure with the conical roof is known as Absalom's Pillar. The one crowned by a pyramidal roof, a solid block of stone cut out of the mountain, is called Zachariah's Tomb. The association with those Old Testament personalities was a medieval mistake, and the structures more probably mark the tombs of wealthy Jerusalemites of the Second Temple period who wished to await the coming of the Messiah and the resurrection to follow in the style to which they were accustomed.

Both the name of Israel's one-chamber parliament and its number of seats (120) were taken from Haknesset Hagedolah, the Great Assembly of the Second Temple period, some 2,000 years ago. The free hour-long public tour, offered Sunday and Thursday, includes the session hall and three enormous, brilliantly colored tapestries designed by Marc Chagall on the subjects of the Creation, the Exodus, and Jerusalem. Arrive at least 30 minutes before the tour (especially in summer, when the lines are longer), and be sure to bring your passport. Bags and cameras have to be deposited with security. On other days, when in session, Knesset proceedings (conducted in Hebrew) are open to the public—call ahead to verify. There are a wide range of other in-depth tours available to the public Sunday through Thursday.

Across the road from the Knesset main gate is a 14-foot-high, four-ton bronze menorah, based on the one that once stood within the sanctuary of the ancient temple in Jerusalem. The seven-branch candelabrum was adopted soon after independence as the official symbol of the modern State of Israel. This one, designed by sculptor Benno Elkan, and given as a gift by British parliamentarians to the Knesset in 1956, is decorated with bas-relief depictions of events and personages in Jewish history, from biblical times to the modern day. Behind the menorah is the Wohl Rose Garden, which has hundreds of varieties of roses, many lawns for children to romp on, and adult-friendly nooks in its upper section; it is under construction through December 2023.

The considerable and diverse artistic achievements of Islamic culture are what this small museum is all about. Its rich collections—ceramics, glass, carpets, fabrics, jewelry, metalwork, and painting—reflect a creativity that spanned half a hemisphere, from Spain to India, and from the 7th century to the 19th, alongside contemporary exhibits. Unconnected to the main theme is a unique and stunning collection of rare (some priceless) antique European clocks and watches, the pride of the founder's family: this alone is worth the visit. 

This limestone, wind-driven flour mill was built by Sir Moses Montefiore in 1857 to provide a source of income for his planned neighborhood of Mishkenot Sha'ananim, the first outside the city walls. Its usefulness was cut short when steam mills made their appearance; but in 2012, with Dutch and English expertise, the landmark windmill was restored to working order.

Montefiore was a prominent figure in the financial circles of mid-19th-century London—a rare phenomenon for a Jew at the time. He married into the legendary Rothschild family, becoming the stockbroker of its London branch, and retired early. The larger-than-life philanthropist devoted much of his long life, and his wealth, to aiding fellow Jews in distress, wherever they might be. To this end he visited Ottoman Palestine seven times. A replica of the carriage that conveyed him around the country is behind thick glass: vandals torched its predecessor.

Cedars of Lebanon and native pine and cypress trees surround the entrance to Mount Herzl National Memorial Park, the last resting place of Zionist visionary Theodor Herzl and many Israeli leaders.

In 1894, the Budapest-born Herzl was the Paris correspondent for a Vienna newspaper, covering the controversial treason trial of Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer in the French army. Dreyfus was later exonerated, but Herzl was shocked by the anti-Semitic outbursts that accompanied the trial. He devoted himself to the need for a Jewish state, convening the first World Zionist Congress, in Basel, Switzerland, in 1897. Herzl wrote in his diary that year: "If not in five years, then in 50 [a Jewish state] will become reality." True to his prediction, the United Nations approved the idea exactly 50 years later, in November 1947. Herzl died in 1904, and his remains were brought to Israel in 1949. His simple tombstone, inscribed in Hebrew with just his last name, caps the hill.

To the left (west) of his tomb, a gravel path leads down to a section containing the graves of Israeli national leaders—among them prime ministers Golda Meir and Yitzhak Rabin, and presidents Zalman Shazar, Chaim Herzog, and Shimon Peres—and the country's main military cemetery. Officers and privates are buried alongside one another—they are mourned equally, regardless of rank.

The Herzl Center (on the left as you enter the park) presents an engaging, multimedia introduction to the life, times, and legacy of Israel's spiritual forebear. The program takes 50 minutes and costs NIS 30. Call ahead or check online for English-language time slots.

The church built here in the 4th century AD by Constantine the Great became known as the Eleona (olive), and was associated back then with the ascension of Jesus to heaven. By the Middle Ages, tradition had firmly settled on a small grotto—the focal point of the site—as the place where Jesus taught his disciples the Lord's Prayer: "Our Father [Pater Noster]" (Matthew 6). The land was purchased by the Princesse de la Tour d'Auvergne of France in 1868, and the Carmelite convent stands on the site of the earlier Byzantine and Crusader structures. An ambitious basilica, begun in the 1920s, was designed to follow the lines of the 4th-century church, but was never completed: its aisles, open to the sky, are now lined with pine trees. The real attractions of the site, however, are the many large ceramic plaques adorning the cloister walls and the small church, with the Lord's Prayer in more than 100 different languages. (Look for the high wall, metal door, and French flag on a bend 200 yards before the Mount of Olives Observation Point.)

The transition is sudden and complete, from the raucous cobbled streets and persistent vendors to the pepper trees, flower beds, and birdsong of this serene Catholic monastery of the amiable White Fathers. The Romanesque Church of St. Anne was built by the Crusaders in 1140, and restored in the 19th century. Its austere and unadorned stone interior and extraordinarily reverberant acoustics make it one of the finest examples of medieval architecture in the country. According to local tradition, the Virgin Mary was born in the grotto over which the church is built, and the church is supposedly named after her mother (although "Anne" is never mentioned in the Gospels).

In the same compound are the excavated Pools of Bethesda, a large public reservoir in use during the 1st century BC and 1st century AD. The New Testament speaks of Jesus miraculously curing a lame man by "a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda" (John 5). The actual bathing pools were probably the small ones, east of the reservoir, but it was over the big pools that both the Byzantines and the Crusaders built churches, now ruined, to commemorate the miracle. A visit to both sites takes no more than 30 minutes. The good bathrooms here are a welcome addition.

Wait for one or two pilgrim groups who often test the acoustics in the church with some hymn-singing.

Built in the 1930s, and now a branch of the Israel Museum, the museum has echoing stone halls and somewhat old-fashioned displays that recall the period of the British Mandate. Among the most important exhibits are stucco and other decorations from the 8th-century AD Hisham's Palace (Umayyad dynasty) just north of Jericho, the doors of the original al-Aqsa Mosque (also 8th century), and gold Canaanite jewelry. Stone bas-reliefs by Eric Gill, representing different ancient cultures, overlook the pool in the inner courtyard. The museum's octagonal white stone tower is an East Jerusalem landmark. Parking is only available on Saturday.

For winter visitors, note that the buildings have no heating.

Tradition has enshrined this spare, 14th-century second-story room as the location of the New Testament "upper room," where Jesus and his disciples celebrated the ceremonial Passover meal that would become known in popular parlance as the Last Supper (Mark 14). At that time, archaeologists tell us, the site was inside the city walls. Formally known as the Cenacle or the Coenaculum (dining room), the room is also associated with a second New Testament tradition (Acts 2) as the place where the disciples gathered on Pentecost, seven weeks after Jesus's death, and were "filled with the Holy Spirit."

A little incongruously, the chamber has the trappings of a mosque as well: restored stained-glass Arabic inscriptions in the Gothic windows, an ornate mihrab (an alcove indicating the Muslim direction of prayer, toward Mecca), and two Arabic plaques in the wall. The Muslims were not concerned with the site's Christian traditions but with the supposed Tomb of King David—the "Prophet" David in their belief—on the level below. Allow 10 minutes to fully soak in the atmosphere.

Set just west of Jaffa Gate next to Hutzot Hayotzer Artist Colony compound is Teddy Park, named for Teddy Kollek, the popular mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993. On the park's upper terrace, a small mirrorlike globe is designed as a jigsaw of the continents. Entering the globe through the "oceans," you encounter a floor engraving of a famous Renaissance map that shows Jerusalem as the center of the world. The middle terrace boasts an intriguingly innovative sundial that not only tells time, but also tracks the solstices, equinoxes, and a few memorable dates. In the summer, a large square platform on the lower terrace becomes a cool children's playground when multiple water jets spurt unpredictably into the air for 20 minutes, four times daily. At night, the fountain plays to an orchestration of light and music.

Operated as part of the Israel Museum, this handsome, two-story, 19th-century building is worth a visit for its selection of artist Anna Ticho's works, and for its changing, intimate exhibitions of contemporary Israeli art. It was the home of Dr. A. A. Ticho, a renowned Jewish ophthalmologist, and his wife, Anna. He moved from Vienna to Jerusalem in 1912, and his cousin, Anna, followed soon after, to assist him in his pioneering struggle against the endemic scourge of trachoma. They were soon married, and in 1924 they bought and renovated this stone house. Anna's artistic talent gradually earned her a reputation as a brilliant chronicler—in charcoal, pen, and brush—of the landscape around Jerusalem. 

According to the Hebrew Bible, King David, the great Israelite king of the 10th century BC, was buried in "the City of David"—the Bible's dynastic name for his capital, Jerusalem. Archaeologists have identified and excavated that site, on a low ridge to the east; but medieval Jewish pilgrims erroneously placed the ancient city on this hill, where they sought—and supposedly found—the royal tomb. Its authenticity may be questionable, but a millennium of tears and prayers has sanctified the place.

The tomb is capped by a cenotaph, a massive stone marker draped with a velvet cloth embroidered with symbols and Hebrew texts traditionally associated with David. Ultra-Orthodox religious authorities have divided the shrine, already cramped, into two tiny prayer areas to separate men and women. Modest dress is required, and men must cover their heads. There's no photography on the Sabbath and Jewish religious holidays.

The Gothic facade of the underground Church of the Assumption, which contains this shrine, clearly dates it to the Crusader era (12th century). Tradition has it that this is where the Virgin Mary was interred and then assumed into heaven, hence the more common name, the Tomb of the Virgin. In an otherwise gloomy church—hung with age-darkened icons and brass lamps—the marble sarcophagus, apparently medieval, remains illuminated. The 1852 Status Quo Agreement in force in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity pertains here, too: the Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, and even the Muslims control different parts of the property. The Roman Catholic Franciscans were expelled in 1757, a loss of privilege that rankles to this day.

This park separates the picturesque neighborhoods of Baka and the German Colony, to your left and right respectively as you leave the First Station. It was a swath of stones and weeds after the trains stopped running, but residents saw its potential, and (for once) successfully fought the city and the developers. The old train tracks now bracket a boardwalk and are flanked by pedestrian and bike paths, lovely greenery, and conveniently placed benches. A charming series of signs along the route relates the story of the railway, illustrated by photos and anecdotes. The path is about 7 km (4½ miles) long, but the most popular section for visitors is the first kilometer (roughly a half mile) as you walk south from the First Station.

A little-known gem, the museum shares its classic old stone building with a cultural center (ask to see the frescoes in the ground-floor hall). The second-floor galleries include the interior of an ornate Italian synagogue from 1701; illustrated manuscripts; and ritual artifacts in metal, wood, and embroidered fabric from the Italian Renaissance to modern times. The attention to detail characteristic of the best Italian art was adopted and adapted by skilled Jewish craftspeople. The result is a feast for the eyes, even if the spiritual significance of some exhibits may be less familiar to some visitors.

Attractive old stone buildings, bursts of greenery and bougainvillea, and well-kept cobblestone streets distinguish a now-affluent neighborhood that grew up a century ago alongside the older Mishkenot Sha'ananim, and was named for that project's founder, Sir Moses (Moshe in Hebrew) Montefiore. In the 1950s and '60s, the area overlooked the armistice line that gashed through the city, and was dangerously exposed to Jordanian sniper positions on the nearby Old City walls. Most families sought safer lodgings elsewhere, leaving only those who couldn't afford to move, and the neighborhood ran to seed. The reunification of Jerusalem under Israeli rule after the Six-Day War in 1967 changed all that. Developers bought up the area, renovated old buildings, and built new and spacious homes in a compatible style. Yemin Moshe is now a place to wander at random, offering joy to photographers and quiet nooks for meditation.