Jerusalem - Districts Northwest and Southwest of the Old City

On a hill a few hundred yards east is the district of Abu Tor. From this strategic point Titus launched his assault on Jerusalem in A.D. 70. From the hills there are fine views of the Hinnom valley, Mount Zion and the Old City.

Going south from the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem and turning right into Sarei Yisrael Street, we return to Jaffa Road at the memorial commemorating General Allenby's entry into Jerusalem in 1917.

Adjoining the monastery is the house of Eliezer Ben Yehuda, who played a leading part in the creation of the modern Hebrew language; there is a commemorative plaque on the house.

1km/0.75mile along Jaffa Road in the direction of the Old City we come into Jerusalem's main shopping and commercial center. Particularly attractive is Ben Yehuda Street, which during the eighties, along with some of the side streets, was made a pedestrian zone, with numerous pavement cafes.

From Prophet Samuel Street in Jerusalem, turn right along Bar Ilan Street and its continuation Jeremiah Street (Rehov Yirmiyahu). Shortly before reaching the Romema district we turn right into a street which leads to the Biblical Zoo, with a collection of birds, animals and reptiles mentioned in the Bible.
The zoo's visitor center is in the shape of Noah's Ark.

Going north along Yezekiel Street in Jerusalem, we turn left into HaBuharim Street in the Bokharan Quarter, established in 1892 by Jews from Bokhara, in which picturesque old costumes are still worn, particularly on feast-days.

The Great Synagogue in Jerusalem (consecrated 1982) is a sumptuous building both externally and internally, the erection of which gave rise to a good deal of controversy.

To the east of King George Street in Jerusalem is the Independence Park (Gan HaAtsmaut). In this large park is the Lion's Cave, in which legend has it that a pious lion guarded the remains of martyrs. At the east end of the park, in the grounds of an old Islamic cemetery, is the Mamilla Pool, a cistern which formed part of the water supply system of ancient Jerusalem.

The Jewish Agency building in Jerusalem also houses other Zionist institutions. The Jewish Agency, established by Theodor Herzl in 1897, occupies the central block, and in the side wings are the Jewish National Fund (Keren Kayemet), which was originally set up to acquire land for Jewish settlement and is now concerned with bringing land into cultivation, and the United Jewish Agencies. Here too are kept the Zionist archives and the Golden Books recording donations for land purchase.

Opposite the YMCA in Jerusalem is the King David Hotel, which was the headquarters of the British forces during the Second World War and after the war. One wing of the building was blown up by a Jewish underground organization in 1946. It was reopened as a hotel in 1948.

Diagonally opposite the Montefiore Windmill in Jerusalem is Liberty Bell Park, a beautiful park laid out to mark the bicentennial of the United States, with a replica of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia.

Along King David Street in Jerusalem, is the Montefiore Windmill, which contains a small museum on the life of the British philanthropist Sir Moses Montefiore (1784-1885). In the middle of the 19th century Montefiore bought the area round the windmill and founded the first Jewish settlement outside the Old City (Mishkenot Sha'ananim). At the end of the century the area to the north, Yemin Moshe, was also built up; it is now an artists' quarter.

Beyond the Yeshurun Synagogue in Jerusalem is the Ratisbonne Monastery, founded in 1874 by Alfred Ratisbonne, which is occupied by a French order, the Pères de Sion.

St Andrew's Church was built in remeberance of Scottish soldiers who fought in World War I.
St Andrew's Church (Church of Scotland; 1927). Beyond this is the Khan, an old Turkish caravanserai which has been converted into a theater.

To the south of the Khan is a railroad station, the terminus of the line from Jerusalem to Jericho constructed in 1891.

In King David (David HaMelekh) Street in Jerusalem is the YMCA Building (1928), with a 46m/150ft high tower which is a popular viewpoint. On the floor of the entrance lobby is a reproduction of the sixth century mosaic map in a church at Madaba (Jordan).

At the Eilon Tower Hotel in Jerusalem, Ben Yehuda Street runs into King George (HaMelekh George) Street, along the right-hand side of which are a number of important modern buildings, beginning with the Yeshurun Synagogue.