The Old City

By and large, most people who live in the Old City are devoutly religious, and have become accustomed to living in a fishbowl. But what is really going on in the fabric of daily life, here in the contentious center of three faiths?

First, explore the colorful Arab market, rife with the loud cries of bargaining and the thick scents of Middle Eastern spices. (Without a guide, it’s best to keep to the main market streets.) But beyond this market that is mostly aimed at tourists, there are signs of an independent world. Notice the graffiti on facades of many Arab homes: these symbols tell a story.

An Arab who has completed the Haj, the journey to the Muslim holy cities Mecca and Medina, returns and paints a symbolic account of his journey on the wall of his home, by way of announcement. 

In the Jewish Quarter, visit the Roman arcade of the Cardo, now enlivened with bustling shops. Israeli shoppers think nothing of the fact that they are strolling on an authentic Roman street, where figures out of history once walked and shopped.

In the courtyard near the Cardo, hear the melodic chanting of ultra-Orthodox schoolchildren, learning to read the Scriptures from an early age. All morning the chanting goes on, becoming one with the other sounds of the Jewish Quarter: wind chimes, children playing, the rushing sound of Quarter residents watering their roof gardens. A rooftop view of Jewish Quarter homes reveals a wild array of color and greenery that is invisible from the street. 

The best way to experience the Jewish Quarter is in the evening, when residents are at home and tourists have evacuated to their hotels. Quiet settles in the tangled streets, and the blossoms of night-blooming jasmine begin to release their seductive scent into the air. The emergence of the moon lights your way, joining with the rosy light of windows. Discover hidden archways, spiraling stairways that descend into secret levels. Find the shortcuts that the residents know by heart, and arrive at last at a breathtaking view of the Western Wall, gleaming against the night.

For the most atmospheric experience of all, explore the Old City on a Saturday evening. In the Jewish Quarter, families are all inside, singing the melancholy yet hopeful ballads of the evening Sabbath meal. And then, adding to the singing comes the chant of the Muslim muezzin, the call to evening prayer. The church bells of the Christian Quarter begin to toll, sonorous in the dusk stillness. Three voices of three disparate faiths intertwining, utterly separate yet at the same time united in the moment here, in this place.