Private Walking Tour in Jerusalem's Old City

We will begin the tour with an introduction to the walls of the Old City and the Jaffa Gate. Who built the walls, and when? Why is the Jaffa Gate called that and what is its significance? What did it look like in the past and what evidence can be found for this? Who is the guest in whose honor the wall of the city of Jerusalem was breached? And who is buried in the mysterious tombs at the Jaffa Gate?

We will visit the courtyard of James Cathedral. We will learn why the Armenians got their own quarter, who is James, who built a wall around the quarter, and what the Armenian Patriarch did to raise funds for the renovation of the Cathedral.

We will visit the four Sephardic synagogues and learn who built them, when and how they are related to the man who left a besieged Jerusalem in a coffin to save Judaism. We will visit the Cardo and learn its story, and we will learn the connection between the Hurva Synagogue and the Jews who came all the way from Europe to Jerusalem to wait for the return of the Jewish Messiah.

We will visit the largest synagogue in the world, the Western Wall. We will learn how it was built, by whom, and why this is NOT the holiest place for Jews.

Temple Mount, the most sacred place for Judaism is also sacred for Islam.
Since the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD, the Jews had no control over it until 1967, following the Six Day War.

We will learn why and how the mountain was sanctified in the monotheistic religions, about the illegal excavations and the sifting project of the Temple Mount soil designed to save archaeological finds, Messianic Jews who want to build the Third Temple, and Muslim graves that are found In the holiest place for Jews.

We will learn who built the Muslim quarter and why, we will make a stop at a local spice store to try some unique Arab sweet delights, and walk through the Arab market.

We will walk through some of the stations of Via Dolorosa on our way to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

We will visit the most sacred place for the Christian religion, the place of Jesus' crucifixion and burial. We will visit the place of the crucifixion, and his tomb and learn about the Christian faith.

We will learn about the patriarch who locked himself in his room and received food through the window, we will stop to visit an Armenian ceramics shop, eat a cake and drink coffee at a local cafe, learn about the lowest statue in Jerusalem and meet local merchants*.

*depending on their availability

We will learn why the newest gate in the wall was needed and when it was built.

For a moment, we will leave Jerusalem and "visit" Europe. We will learn why the hotel was built here, by whom and how it is related to the Crimean War. We will go up to the roof of the hotel for a panoramic view of the new city and the old city, from where we can see the different quarters, the Temple Mount and the Mount of Olives.
We will learn who blew up the hotel and why? And about 19 years in which the hotel stood on the border between Jordanian Jerusalem and Israeli Jerusalem.