The viewing point outside the Seven Arches Hotel offers perhaps the best views of the Old City (guess what the camels are for). To the north, the domineering bell tower of the Augusta Victoria hospital, on Mt. Scopus, marks the highest point in Jerusalem (903m above sea level). Unfortunately, the compound is closed to the public. Just north of the hotel along the main road, the Church of the Eleona and the Church of the Paternoster are tucked behind one gate. Both churches were founded by Queen Helena in the 4th century. The Church of the Eleona marks the spot where Jesus revealed to his disciples the “inscrutable mysteries"-his foretelling of the destruction of Jerusalem and his Second Coming.

The Church of the Paternoster (Latin for “Our Father") commemorates the first recital of the Lord’s Prayer. Polyglots can read the prayer in 77 languages (including Esperanto) on the tiled walls. In the midst of the translations is the grotto of the Princesse de la Tour d’Au-vaigne, the woman who financed and worked for 17 years (1857-74) on excavations and renovations here. (Open Mon.-Sat. 8:30-ll:45am and 34:45pm.) Its credibility contested only by the nearby Russian bell tower, the Chapel of Christ’s Ascension is farther north along the same road. Inside there is a sacred footprint. (Ring the bell if closed. Admission NISI.50.)