Important Christian, Jewish and Muslim traditions have been taking place on Mount Zion for centuries. The people who live and work on Mount Zion represent the cultural diversity of Mount Zion in particular, and of Jerusalem as a whole. Below you will find an interactive map of Mount Zion, where local residents tell the story of their organization, from their perspective. Follow the instructions, and receive information and videos on the sites about the different sites.

 

Let's start our tour outside the Zion Gate.

The southwestern gate of the Old City Wall that was built by the Ottomans in the 16th century. In Arabic the gate is called Bab a-Nabi Daoud (David’s Gate), after nearby David’s Tomb. The gatehouse is built in the form of an L in order to delay potential enemies from breaking through the city gates. On the outside of the gate are bullet marks from the War of Independence and the Six-Day War, when battles were fought near the gate.

If you’re facing the Zion Gate, turn left and walk along the wall. After about twenty meters on the right is a large iron gate. Ring the bell and ask for permission to enter. If you were able to enter, go straight along the path until the building with an open courtyard, and walls with beautiful Armenian ceramics. If not, you can still get to know the Armenian St. Savior Church and the Monument in Memory of the Armenian Soldier through the video here and the picture of the Monument.

According to Armenian tradition, Jesus was imprisoned here after being captured by the Romans and before being taken to trial by the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate. Today, Armenian monks live in the monastery, who pray in the church every day. In addition, there are tombs of Armenian Patriarchs, decorated with stone tombstones and colored Armenian ceramics, in the courtyard. Adjacent to the monastery is the Armenian community cemetery, which features a monument to the Armenian martyrs who fought in the Allied army during the First World War at its center.

For more information about the cemetery

Climb the stairs to the right of the open courtyard – underneath the vine awning, until you reach the parish cemetery.

This is a monument in memory of Armenian soldiers who fought in the British-led Egyptian Expeditionary Force, commanded by General Allenby, during the First World War, and fell in the battle of Arara.

Exit the compound and return the way you came towards Zion Gate. When Zion Gate is on your left, turn right and walk until the paths split.

At the intersection is the entrance gate to the Ad-Cenculum monastery. You can ring the bell and ask for permission to enter.

Franciscan monks live in the Custodia Terrae Sanctae – the Order of the Guardians of the Holy Places in the Holy Land. The monks host groups and serve Catholic believers who wish to hold a mass in the church as close as possible to the Room of the Last Supper (Cenacle). The name of the monastery, Ad Cœnaculum (before the banquet room), hints at its proximity to the Room of the Last Supper.

The monastery is open for visits by appointment.

At the fork in the path go on the right-hand path. After about 20 meters, you will reach another split in the trail. Turn right again towards Dormition Abbey.

The Dormition Church marks the place the Virgin Mary died, hence the name of the Church (Dormir = Sleep). A community of German-speaking Benedictine monks live in the monastery. The church is built on the remains of earlier churches – from the Crusader and Byzantine periods. The remains can be seen in the church to this day.

The church is open Monday to Saturday between 9:00 and 17:30. Sunday between 11:30 and 17:30

Free entrance. There is a cafeteria and pay toilets on-sites.

Exit the church and turn right again toward where you came from. At the junction turn right again to David's Tomb complex and the Room of the Last Supper.

After about twenty meters on the left you will see a gate with stairs leading to the Room of the Last Supper. To the right of the stairs you will see two large doors – these doors lead to the Spanish synagogue.

The synagogue was founded immediately after the War of Independence by a community of Jerusalemite Sephardi Jews, adjacent to David’s Tomb. There is a Beit Midrash that operates in the synagogue on weekdays and every Thursday there is a "Shirat HaBakashot,” where songs and prayers are sung.

Go up the stairs, go through the guard room and enter Room of the Last Supper.

According to Christian tradition, Jesus held his last meal with his twelve disciples on the eve of Passover. The room is also the place where Jesus was revealed to His disciples, fifty days after the crucifixion, in which the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples of Jesus. This event is celebrated every year on the Pentecost holiday. In the 16th century the place became a mosque that was preserved and maintained by the Dajani family. In 1948 it was transferred to the State of Israel.

The Room of the Last Supper is part of the sacred compound for Jews, Christians and Muslims, and includes the Room of the Last Supper and David’s Tomb.

Opening hours: 7am – 6pm daily, except for Yom Kippur. free admission

Exit the Room of the Last Supper through the exit. Climb the stairs to your right to the roof of the building.

The President's Room is located on the roof of the David's Tomb compound and the Room of the Last Supper. S.Z. Kahane, the Director General of the Ministry of Religious Affairs in the 1950s, and the Custodian of Mount Zion, placed this room at the disposal of the first President of Israel, Chaim Weizmann, but it was Yitzhak Ben Zvi, the second president of the State of Israel, who used the room. He came on holidays to greet the Jewish pilgrims.

Opening hours: Monday: 10: 00-14: 00

Go down the stairs. Turn right and enter the iron gate. On the left is the entrance to David's Tomb.

According to Jewish and Christian tradition from the Middle Ages, King David is buried in a cave under the building, together with all the kings of Judea. During the Byzantine period it was a church, and in the Middle Ages the Tomb was converted into a mosque run by the Dajani family. During the War of Independence, the site was transferred into the control of the State of Israel, and since then it has taken on a distinctly traditional Jewish character. David’s Tomb is part of a sacred compound for Christian and Muslim Jews, and sits underneath the Room of the Last Supper.

Exit David's Tomb and turn left into a courtyard surrounded by arches. The complex is also known as the Nabi Daoud complex for Muslims

According to Muslim tradition, the Prophet David is buried here, under a large tombstone. In the Middle Ages the site became a mosque. In the 16th century, the Dajani family received responsibility for the administration of the Waqf from the Ottoman Sultan, and opened a hostel for pilgrims and a Sufi Zawiya, or prayer boot. The family built their homes around the compound and established a cemetery near the grave. In 1948 the site was transferred to the State of Israel.

Maqam Nebi Daoud is actually a sanctuary for Jews, Christians and Muslims, and includes David's Tomb and the Last Supper Room.

With your backs to David’s Tomb, turn left, go through a covered foyer. Cross the foyer until you see an exit sign and exit the complex. After leaving the complex, look left to a small cemetery. This is the Dajani family cemetery.

The Dajani Family Cemetery, whose members guarded the holy place and lived on Mount Zion until 1948. Many Jerusalem elite are buried in the cemetery.
For more information about the Dajani cemetery. 
 

Go down the stairs and exit through the outside gate of the complex. In front of you is a gate and a lead statue of a girl. To the left of the statue are stairs leading to the Chamber of the Holocaust.

The Chamber of the Holocaust was established in the 1950s in memory of those who perished in the Holocaust and was one of the first places in the country to commemorate the Holocaust (before the establishment of Yad Vashem). The ashes of saints from Europe were brought to the site in the jars that remain there until today. There are memorial monuments to communities that were lost in the Holocaust, Torah scrolls that were saved from Europe, and other items.

Opening hours: Sunday – Thursday 10:00 – 15:30 Entrance fee

From the Chamber of the Holocaust, return to the path and turn left. Keep on the path until it ends. At the end you’ll see a building with a red tiled roof. This is the home of the Jerusalem Intercultural Center. Go around the building to the right until you see a green front door.

The building was built by the Dajani family as part of the Dajani neighborhood built around David's Tomb. In the 1960s, Pauline Rose, together with her husband Albert, moved into the house, who held interfaith activities there. In 2006, the Jerusalem Intercultural Center moved into the building. The Jerusalem Intercultural Center is an organization that aims to make Jerusalem a city adapted to all its residents.

Opposite the Jerusalem Intercultural Center is the home of artist David Palumbo.

One of the residential buildings built by the Dajani family around David’s Tomb. After the establishment of the State of Israel, the artist David Palombo moved into the house, together with his wife Jonah, and operated a studio and a gallery there. In 1966, David Palombo was killed in an accident on the road leading to his home. His widow lives in the building to this day. The windows and the door of the house are decorated with impressive iron bars, made by the artist himself.

Pass the building and continue toward a small private parking lot. Cross the parking lot and go through the parking barrier. Turn right up the road until you see an iron gate. Pass through the iron gate to an open area with some pine trees leaning on their side. Near the top of the hill on the right is a stone wall. Behind it is the Greek Orthodox Cemetery used by the community.

Further down the cemetery is a stone building. This is the Greek Orthodox Seminary.

A seminar for Greek Orthodox priests who study religious studies in addition to general studies. In the 1930s, the building served as the Ministry of Education for a time.

Cross the pine grove until you reach a staircase. Go down the stairs until you reach the paved road. Turn left. In front of you, you can see the American school complex. Entrance is by prior arrangement, and through the complex it is also possible to reach the Protestant cemetery and the historic cable car wheel of Mount Zion.

An American-Protestant college for the study of the Holy Land and the Bible, whose students come from the United States. The college was founded in 1966 by Douglas Young. The College is one of the first permanent buildings outside the walls of Jerusalem in the modern era. In this structure Bishop Samuel Govat established a boys' school in 1853.

Go down the stairs next to the Jerusalem University College until you reach an intersetion with a traffic light.

On your right you can see the remains of a channel that helped the Israeli forces in the War of Independence after the occupation of Mount Zion.

Cross the intersection at the crosswalk and turn left. Cross another intersection and climb the scenic promenade along the road. This promenade is also called "Elijah the Prophet" and the road next to it is also called "Pope's Road" because it was paved for Pope Paul VI's visit in 1964.

On your right you can see Hinom Valley, and on the other side of the valley, the Jeursalem Cinematheque, the Mount Zion Hotel, the Menachem Begin Heritage Center and the Abu Tor neighborhood.

 

Go up the path until you reach an environmental sculpture that has three black and white striped frames. This is the Zurich Garden.

 

 There is an environmental sculpture in the Garden called "Three Points of View for Dialogue" consisting of three frames that overlook Hinnom Valley and Silwan. From each frame a small path leads to a point where all three paths meet. The garden was named after Cardinal Albert Decourtray, who served as Archbishop of Lyon, and worked a great deal to combat anti-Semitism.
 

Directions to Samboski Cemetery:

To the right of the plaza at the Zurich Garden you will see a small narrow staircase. Go down the staircase, and keep going along the winding path to the right. Pass an archaeological excavation and continue for about five minutes along the trail. Walk until you reach a small plaza followed by a steep slope covered with tombstones. This is the Somboski Cemetery.

 

Exit the cemetery and turn left. Walk down the road until you reach a small garden with a statue of windows facing the landscape.

A cemetery that was used to bury the poor Jews of Jerusalem over the past few hundred years, until 1948. In the cemetery, Torah scrolls and holy books were also brought to Geniza burial (burial of Jewish holy documents). Many of the buried did not have enough money to build a stone tombstone, so most of the tombs were placed with rough stones and no inscriptions.

For more information about the cemetery

Return the same way up to Zurich Garden.

Keep climbing along the Pope’s road until you see a small parking lot on your right and a arc-shaped iron gate. This is the Catholic cemetery where Oskar Schindler is buried. You can enter freely during opening hours.

The cemetery of the Catholic community in Jerusalem. Oskar Schindler, who was given the honor of "Righteous Among the Nations," is buried there. The site also contains a monument to the Polish soldiers who fought in the Anders Army during World War II, as well as the gravestones of their families who died in Jerusalem during the war.

Opening Hours: Monday – Saturday: 9:00 – 12:00

For further information on the Catholic cemetery

From here you can continue to Church of Saint Peter in Gallicantu, the Western Wall, the City of David and the Mount of Olives, or enter through Zion Gate and take a stroll in the Old City.

Bus lines from the nearest bus stop towards the city center: 1, 3, 38.