Across the valley, down Ma’ayan St. from St. John’s gate, the Church of the Visitation (tel. 41 72 91) recalls Marys visit to Elizabeth and contains a rock the infant St. John supposedly hid behind when the Romans came looking for babies to kill. The newer Upper Chapel depicts the glorification of Mary. (Open daily 8-11:45am and 2:30-6pm; Oct.-Feb. daily 8-11:45am and 2:3O-5pm.) Mary’s Well, an ancient spring, is a small stone trough below the Youth Hostel (see Accommodations) off Ma’ayan St. If you’re lucky, the Israel Chopin society will be holding an outdoor concert across the street. The pink tower above the hostel belongs to the Russian Monastery (tel. 25 25 65 or 41 28 87), which you can visit only by appointment. The handful of cafes in Ein Kerem are expensive for meals (entrees NIS15-20) but worth a quick stop for coffee and snacks.

The synagogue at the Hadassah Medical Center near Ein Kerem (tel- 77 62 71; not to be confused with Hadassah Hospital on Mt. Scopus) houses the Chagali Windows, which depict the 12 tribes of Israel in enchanting abstract stained-glass designs based on Genesis 49 and Deuteronomy 33. Chagall gave the windows to the hospital in 1962. When four of the windows were damaged in the 1967 war, Chagall was sent an urgent cable. He replied, “You worry about the war, I’ll worry about my windows.”