Touring the Old City of Jerusalem

The Old City of |Jerusalem is a spectacular place to explore. Last sunday a few of us decided to go check some sites we had never visited before. Of course there were so many places on our list that we did not get a chance to see them all, but it is ok since we do not live to far away. The places we did get a chance to see were the Broad Wall, the Burnt House, and Time Elevator.

It all started last saturday night when we went to an amazing light show at the Tower of David in the Old City. It was a history of Jerusalem from the time of King David t o the modern day. This was done with a projection of images on the actual tower and no audio. It was extremely well done. This inspired us to come back the next day and check out some of the other amazing attractions the Old City has to offer.

We started our morning off with the Broad Wall. It was really interesting to see since I had never heard of it before and yet I have been to the Old City countless times. The Broad Wall is from the time of King Hezekiah's reign in the end of the 8th century.

map of Jerusalem at the time of the wall

what is left of the wall

Next we went to check out the Burnt House of Kathros. I have walked past this musem so many times and never had the chance to go in. When I did, I was so surprised at how amazing it was. I was really blown away. The building was built around the archaeological site that was the house of the priestly family of Kathros from the time of the Second Temple. You get a chance to walk around and see the area and some of the findings and then you sit down and watch a movie that describes the family and the time that they loved. It is a great way to add context to the stories that seem so distant.

one of  the rooms of  the house



Table that had the family name on it

After that we left the Old City and walked to downtown Jerusalem where we got a chance to experience the Time Elevator. It really was so cool. Once you enter the room you sit down and get locked in like a roller coaster. I was veery excited when I found out the seats would be moving around like we were actually in an elevator. The movie we were watching was a history of Jerusalem throughout history. What made it amazing was that we were moving and when the elevator crashes you "feel" it or when you "land" in water, water spritzes out at you. It really makes you feel like you are going on this journey as opposed to watching it. I would definately recommend this to anyone coming to visit the city.

There is still so much for me to explore in the Old City, but it will just have to wait for another day!