The Holy City of Jerusalem
Despite the fact that people have been reading and writing about Jerusalem for most of its three thousand year history, and no matter how much of it you might have seen on TV and on travel documentaries your first glimpse of the ancient city will most likely leave you speechless.
Now while its age and beauty might be enough to cause it to be a popular tourist destination is its characteristic as a spiritual center which makes it truly stand out from all other places on the globe, the city being central and holy to all the Abrahamic religions.
The fact that Judaism, Christianity and Islam have assigned such a great importance to this one city makes Jerusalem by far one of the most interesting places that one might want to visit. This is where you’ll find Christians praying in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a little distance from there you can find Jews praying at the Wailing Wall and also at a short walk from that you can find Muslims prostrating before the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Jerusalem Temple Mount
It is rather fascinating to consider the fact that despite its age and the varied wars that have taken place around it, and the current unsteady geo-political situation of the area, Jerusalem’s architecture has remained pretty much safe and in rather good shape, one could spend many days or perhaps even weeks exploring its plethora of alleys and bazaars. The city is divided into several pieces or districts, the Old City being where you’ll find most of the ancient buildings and relics while to the south you will find the City of David, which was the original Jebusite city. The mostly Palestinian East of the city is where you’ll find consulates and museums as well as the Garden Tomb and in the West part of the city you will find the main Israeli capital buildings as well as a patchwork of secular and religious neighborhoods.
Whether you visit the city due to religious reasons or just to take in the history of the place you won’t find it hard to understand how the place breeds a variety of sensations and feelings within its inhabitants as well as visitors, from political activism to religious fanaticism.
The fact of the matter is that a simple run through its main attractions and tourist sights just won’t do it any justice so make sure you plan to stay a while there and gain a greater appreciation of human history in general.
