Jewish Quarter

The Jewish Quarter is in the southeast quadrant of the Old City, the site of the posh Upper City during the Second Temple era. The quarter extends from HaShalshelet St. (Bab as-Silsilah) in the north to the city’s southern wall, and from Ararat St. in the west to the Western Wall in the east. You can reach the quarter either by climbing the stairs diagonally across from the Western Wall or by heading down David St. and turning right at the sign for the Cardo Maximus. Jews first settled in this area in the 15th century. The Jewish community grew from 2000 in 1800 to 11,000 in 1865, when Jews started to settle outside the walls. Today, about 650 families live in the Jewish Quarter.

Since the annexation of the Old City in 1967, the Jewish Quarter has been completely and impressively rebuilt, repairing the destruction from the house-to-house fighting in 1948 and deterioration during the Jordanian occupation. Archeological discoveries at every turn of the shovel slowed the rebuilding and remodeling, though city planners have managed to gracefully integrate the ancient remains into the stunning new neighborhood. Indeed, in striking contrast to other pans of the Old City, the gentrified Jewish Quarter is a desirable and expensive neighborhood, with an almost exclusively Orthodox Jewish (and largely American) population.