Jerusalem is the kind of city it is impossible to visit 'blind'. Everyone knows her glancingly. Her name invokes impressions, differing impressions, in people across the globe, and her role in Western Civilisations cannot be underplayed. I was fortunate enough, and I do use 'fortunate' guardedly, to have spent a few months working in Jerusalem a few years back. The city I often now see on my television screen isn't always the happy, hearty, lively Jerusalem I remember, a city probably with more spirit than I have even felt from a city, but sometimes it is exactly the Jerusalem I remember, the fear, the hate and the entrenched beliefs.
Jerusalem is a divided city. Jerusalem has been a divided city for hundreds of years, centuries even. Palestinian East Jerusalem as distinct from Israeli West Jerusalem, The Old City as distinct from the New City, and within the Old City herself, she is, even in this tiny area (for the Old City itself is a fraction of the size of the city as a whole, comparable to the City of London as opposed to Greater London), divided into the Muslim Quarter, the Armenian (Russian Orthodox) Quarter, the Christian (Roman Catholic more of less with a little head-nodding to other Orthodox churches) Quarter and the Jewish Quarter.
I will start with the Old City because that is, without doubt where the history and the heart of the city lies. It is hard to know where to start, but I'll give some overall impressions. The Old City is walled, with seven entrance gates, one of them (The Golden Gate) is sealed. It faces out to the Mount of Olives and is the entrance through which the Messiah will return (if you believe in that sort of thing... it is very hard to write about Jerusalem without many religious references!).
As for the other gates, the Jaffa Gate and the Dung Gate lead out into West Jerusalem from the Jewish Quarter, the Lion Gate from the Christian Quarter and the Damascus Gate from the Muslim Quarter. I know that's only five of the seven gates, but I can't remember the others, some are more accessible than others, and if you fancy a stab (no pun intended) at the Golden Gate, good luck!
Inside the old city, well, it depends which quarter you are entering, they are all very different. It is possible to walk around the battlements of the city, and the perspective is unforgettable. There are many many remnants of the bloody Crusader battles, and particularly notable, in the Jewish quarter, is the 'Burnt House' museum. This is a perfect archeological remnant of a house which was burnt in during the period and remains intact, along with pottery on the tables, coins in the house, from that period, and I'd recommend a visit, in a city which has so many things to visit.
Staying in the Jewish Quarter for a moment, you have the magnificantly impressive 'Cardo'. This is again, an extremely well preserved Roman shopping arcade, or Basilica. It is much more complete than the plundered examples that they have in Rome herself. It is, still used as a shopping arcade, although the ground level, because of her age, is a few feet below the rest of the city!
The Christian Quarter has, like the Muslim Quarter, which is known as, unsurprisingly, the Arab Market. It is a scene that reminds you, that you really are in the Middle East, if you needed a reminder. There are carpets and lanterns, hats and tacky souvenirs. You have to hold onto your nerve here, because haggling is mandatory.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is unforgettable and incredible, marking the spot of Christs' martyrdom. It is a strange hotpotch of interdominantial worship, but under the quiet but firm gaze of the Roman Catholic Church. The stations of the cross, end her, with the last few within the church herself.
The Mosque of Al Asquah, and the Wailing Wall, cannot go without mention. The Golden and Silver Domes of Temple Mount are seen from miles around. You may have seen photos, but that is absolutely nothing compared to being there. Now, well, I imagine it is a little different there now, but it is stunningly beautiful. The Wailing Wall, the last remaining wall of the Jewish Temple, destroyed in 90AD, is a place of pilgrimage for Jews around the world. It is a strange place to visit, almost painful. There are different areas for men and women but they are next to each other, and there is a custom of people to write their petitions to God on little pieces of paper and put them into the cracks of the wall. I won't recommend taking them out and reading them.. although when I did (I know, I'm a bad person) most of them where in English and some of them heart-breaking in their pleas.
I haven't even covered an inch of the old city, there is also the tomb of David, the hundreds of churches, mosques and synagogues, each with a story more interesting than a million in London, because of the history that creaks under every street.
I'll move briefly onto other highlights of the city. There is a water tunnel called Hezekiah's tunnel just to the east of the Old City, in the Silwan Valley, although I fear at present, it is one of those areas which might not be the safest to visit. But if you can get there, do. It was a tunnel which was used as an escape route for one of the old kings of Israel and you walk through the water with only a candle for company, it's kind of spooky, but lots of fun.
The Israel Museum, far on the other side of the city is another highlight, with a beautiful building encasing the Dead Sea Scrolls, along with items collected not just from Israel, but from Jewish Communities around the world, particularly items brought from displaced jews from Europe and Russia.
Moving onto which, the Holocaust Museum, called Yad Vashem, is another must-see, although it is a heartbreaking journey and not an easy place to visit. Some of the pictures drawn by the children in the death camps are the most horrifically beautiful you will ever see, but the soap made from human fat (sorry.. ) was the really sickening point. They have one of the gas chambers too, and although it might sound like I'm being a bit flippant here, it is one of those places you have to visit, to understand the horror.
I'll move briefly to the New City, the City that has the clubs, the pubs, the discos and the nightlife. These are based around Ben Yehuda and Jaffa Streets. I remember many times going out in Jerusalem, and thinking it could be like any other city in Europe.. nightclubs of every description, and lots of cute little drinking holes and ice cream parlours. I fear it may have changed a little now, so any places I'd have gone to, I couldn't necessarily recommend. The Israelis though, for all their faults do know how to party.
Jerusalem. I feel I have almost done her a misservice because I haven't written nearly half of what I could have, even as I'm writing this, I'm remembering all the other things that I did or went to, in Jerusalem. A part of the problem that she has, is that she is all things to so many people.. She isn't a gentle city, but she has a heart, and it is a jealous heart. I have never known a city so passionate and so frightening in her intensity, so wonderful and yet, so desperate, so complete and yet, so torn.
I do feel very lucky to have seen her, because now,I am not sure if I will be able to return, but she captivated me, surely as she has captivated so many, sometimes fatally, in the past.
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