World City Guide

Further Distractions

Mount of Olives
Rising beyond the city walls, to the east of Temple Mount, the Mount of Olives is part of the range of hills surrounding Jerusalem. The olives that gave the place its name were cut down in Roman times and the western slope is now covered by the white tombs of the largest Jewish cemetery in the world. Tragically, it was badly damaged during the Jordanian occupation (1948-1967), when stones were smashed and defaced and many were removed to be used for construction. Among both Jews and Christians, is the belief that the resurrection of the dead will begin on the Mount of Olives. The mountain has added religious significance for Christians, as the place Jesus came on the night before his arrest and trial. The Garden of Gethsemane, which Jesus visited after the Last Supper, lies at the foot of the slope. The supposed tomb of his mother, Mary, is a Byzantine and Crusader structure reached through a fine doorway that leads to an underground shrine containing various tombs. Although medieval, these are said to be the actual graves of Mary, her parents and her husband Joseph. At the summit of the mount, an Arab village named Et-Tur affords a stunning panorama of the Old City.

Mount of Olives, East Jerusalem
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Free admission.

Montefiore Windmill
Situated in the downtown area of west Jerusalem, the Montefiore Windmill is one of the oldest and most famous landmarks outside the Old City. It was built by an Anglo-Jewish philanthropist, Sir Moses Montefiore, in 1858 in an attempt to provide a source of employment for the city’s poor immigrant Jewish population. With the windmill and two rows of houses he set about establishing the first Jewish Quarter outside the walls of the Old City. Never much used as a windmill, it was damaged during the 1948 war that led to the establishment of Israel. Today it has been restored by the Jerusalem Foundation, and the houses form a Jewish Artist’s Colony with a music centre and guesthouse, while the windmill has become a museum dedicated to the life of Montefiore.

West Jerusalem
Tel: 02) 675 1711.
Website: www.jerusalemfoundation.org/home.php
Opening hours: Sun-Thu 0900-1600; Fri 0090-1300.
Admission charge.