Sunday in Jerusalem - approaching the Old City

Sunday, April 10, was our day to explore the Old City of Jerusalem, and the parts of the New City of Jerusalem that are nearby.  Our hotel is not far from the Jaffa Gate entrance to the Old City, which is completely walled in except for a handful of gates.

A brief historical note:  After being destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE, control of Jerusalem passed through many hands, including the Romans, Byzantines, early Moslems, Crusaders, Mamluk Moslems, and the Ottoman Empire.  The Romans rebuilt Jerusalem in the model of a Roman city.  Many years later, it was rebuilt by the Ottomans, who built the walled city that is today known as the Old City of Jerusalem.  The Ottoman construction was completed in approximately 1542 CE under the direction of Suleiman the Magnificent.  The city has long been divided into (approximate) quarters, for Moslems, Christians, Armenians, and Jews.

We walked from our hotel through a series of neighborhoods that are named after the man responsible for the first settlements outside the Old City, Sir Moses Montefiore.   His name is well-known in Jewish communities everywhere.  In Cleveland, we have the Montefiore nursing home named for him.  Montefiore was born to a wealthy family in Italy, moved to England at a young age, and married a woman who was related to the even wealthier Rothschild family.  He was also a close friend with the wealthy American businessman Judah Touro.  Over the years, he was extremely generous with his own money, and when Touro died, he bequeathed a large part of his fortune to promote Jewish settlement in Palestine, with Montefiore as the executor.

Montefiore started the effort by building a neighborhood just outside the city walls with numerous homes, and some employment opportunities including a windmill for milling flour.  As people were reluctant to leave the known for the unknown, he had to offer financial incentives for people to move into the neighborhood and it took some time for the housing to fill up.  However, once the idea of moving out of the walled city took hold, additional neighborhoods were added.  Here is a plaque named "the Hand of Sir Moses Montefiore" which is in the adjacent park.  The third photo shows a "swords to plowshares" sculpture of military equipment being refashioned into a piece of artwork resembling a plow.