CLASSICAL JERUSALEM: 3 DAYS

Jerusalem Old and New

The day tour of Jerusalem starts with a breathtaking panoramic overview of Jerusalem, the Temple Mount and the entire old city of Jerusalem. Where we can imagine the glorious Second Temple just before it was destroyed in 70 CE. The Second Temple was an important Jewish Holy place of worship and gathering between 516 BCE and 70 CE.  

Continue the tour driving along Kidron Valley viewing Mount Olives, an ancient Jewish burial site. The Garden of Gethsemane, a beautiful garden with some very old olive trees which got its name from Greek, a corruption of the Hebrew words “gath-shmanin” – oil press. The Church of All Nations, also known as the Church of the Agony.  Built in the 1920’s with donations from Christian communities all over the world, also known as the Church of All Nations.

We enter the Old City passing the Armenian Quarter, one of the four quarters of the old city of Jerusalem.  A large section of the Armenian Quarter is occupied by closed compound of the Armenian Monastery.

Heading to the Cardo, the main street of the old city 1500 years ago. It was destroyed over the decades, restored, and today the Cardo is a vibrant market place full with art galleries and unique goods.

Continuing through the Jewish Quarter, one of the quarters of the Old City of Jerusalem where you will see many holy and historical sites of the Jewish people. We proceed to the Western Wall, also known as the Wailing Wall or Kotel.

The kotel was part of a big renovation project initiated by King Herod in the year 37 BCE. It is the western support wall built during this widening of the Temple Mount Plaza. The Second Temple was destroyed in the year 70 CE.  The Western Wall was the remnant closest to the site of the Temple’s Holy of Holies that was accessible to Jews.  Therefore, it became a place of prayer and yearning for Jews around the world.   

Continue the tour we walk along the Via Dolorosa  the path that Jesus walked, carrying his cross, on the way to his crucifixion, follow the Stations of the Cross and ending at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, identified as the place both of the crucifixion and the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth. 

After a short walk through the market we exit the Old City and continue to Yad VaShem Holocaust Museum, a living memorial to the 6 million Jews that perished in the Holocaust and those who risk their lives to save them.   

On Fridays, Saturdays and Jewish High Holidays the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum is closed. On those days the tour visits King David’s Tomb, Hall of the Last Supper and the Garden of Gethsemane.

In the footsteps of Jesus

We will guide you through these interesting and exciting places, and also present you with some of the most breathtaking views of the city. Our tour begins in the Mount of Olives, where Jesus spent much of his time teaching his disciples. From the Mount of Olives we will take in a beautiful view of both the Old and New city of Jerusalem.

From there we go on to visit the site of Mary’s Ascension, as well as the Church of Patre Nostre, located on the site in which Jesus taught the Lord’s Prayer to his disciples. In the Cloister we will see plaques of the Lord’s Prayer, written in 123 different languages.

From there we walk down to the small Franciscan Church of Dominus Flevit, where Jesus wept over Jerusalem and the destruction he foresaw for the city.

We proceed to the Gardens of Gethsemane and the beautiful Church of All Nations, on the spot at which Jesus prayed his last prayer, and where he was caught and arrested by the Romans, following Judas’s betrayal. From there we overlook the Valley of Kidron to see the tombs of Absalom, Jeosphate and Zaccariah from 2nd temple period.

We enter the old city at the Lions Gate to visit the 12th century Crusader Church of St. Anne, the home of Mary and the pool of Bethesda described by Saint John in his Gospel.

We end our tour with a visit to the Abbey of Notre Dame De Sion, where striped pavement (Litho Strosos) signifies where Jesus was condemned and where the Via Dolorosa begins.

Entrance fees are not included.

Jerusalem walking tour – City of David and Underground Excavations

On our Jerusalem Walking Tour we will encounter some of the more recent archaeological finds in the Old City, from the 2nd Temple, Roman periods, and medieval times as well, bringing different periods of this ancient city to life.  We start the Jerusalem walking tour with a dramatic panoramic overview of Jerusalem, both new and old, from the top of the Mount of Olives, from where one can also see the Temple Mount Esplanade of the old city. From the Mount of Olives we travel by bus along the Kidron Valley to view the Garden of Gethsemane and the City Walls.

We drive to Mount Zion to visit the tomb of King David, located in the ground floor of the remains of an old Byzantine Church. The upper floor of the same building holds the place traditionally seen as the Hall of the Last Supper.

We enter the Old City’s Jewish Quarter via the Zion Gate, walking through the Cardo, an ancient pathway constructed in Roman times. In the Jewish Quarter will shall visit four different Sephardic Synagogues dated from the 16th Century. 

We will then get to know several other exhilarating excavations from the City of David – this is the area that was captured and constructed by King David some three thousand years ago. Here we will get a sense of the geographical significance of the ancient city of Jerusalem, as well as acquaintance ourselves with the significant water system that was constructed back then.

Entry fees not included