Chapter One
How to Use this Guide
This guide helps you to get themost from your visit toJerusalem and the Holy Land,by providing detailed practicalinformation. Introducing Jerusalemand the Holy Land maps the regionand sets it in its historical and culturalcontext. The Jerusalem section andthe four regional chapters describeimportant sights, using maps, photographsand illustrations. Featurescover topics from food to wildlife.Recommended hotels and restaurantsare listed in Travellers' Needs, whilethe Survival Guide has tips on travel,money and other practical matters.
JERUSALEM
AREA BY AREA
The city is divided into fiveareas, each with its ownchapter. A last chapter,Further Afield, coversperipheral sights. All sightsare numbered and plottedon the chapter's area map.The detailed descriptions ofthe sights are easy tolocate, as they follow thenumerical order on the map.
A locator map shows whereyou are in relation to otherareas of the city centre.
Each area of Jerusalem hasits own colour-coded thumbtab, as shown inside thefront cover.
Sights at a Glance liststhe chapter's sights bycategory: Holy Places,Historic Districts, Museumsand Archaeological Sites.
Walking routes, shownin red, suggest where tovisit on foot.
Stars indicate the sights thatno visitor should miss.
1 Area Map
For easy reference,sights are numberedand located on a map.The central sights arealso marked on theStreet Finder mapson pages 140-43.
2 Street-by-Street Map
This gives a bird's-eyeview of the key area ineach chapter.
3 Detailed information
The main sights in the cityare described individually.Addresses, telephone numbersand opening hours are given,as well as information onadmission charges, guidedtours, photography, wheelchairaccess and public transport.
The Holy Land
Region By Region
Apart from Jerusalem, the HolyLand has been divided intofour other regions, each ofwhich has a separate chapter.The most interesting cities,towns, historical and religioussites, and other places of interest,are located on a Pictorial Map.
Each region of the HolyLand can be quickly identifiedby its colour-coded thumbtabs (see inside front cover).
For all major sights, a Visitors'Checklist provides the practicalinformation you will need toplan your visit.
1 Introduction
The landscape, historyand character of eachregion is outlined here,showing how the areahas developed over thecenturies and what it hasto offer to the visitor today.
2 Pictorial Map
This shows the roadnetwork and gives anillustrated overview of thewhole region. Interestingplaces to visit are numberedand there are also usefultips on getting to andaround the region by carand public transport.
3 Detailed information
All the important townsand other places to visit aredescribed individually. Theyare listed in order, followingthe numbering on the PictorialMap. Within each town or city,there is detailed informationon important buildings andother sights.
4 The Top Sights
These are given two ormore full pages. Historicbuildings are dissected toreveal their interiors. Otherinteresting sights and areasare mapped or shown inbird's-eye view; with the mostimportant features described.
Putting the Holy Land on the Map
Flanked by three continents — Africa to the south,Asia to the east and Europe to the west — the HolyLand is an area which encompasses the whole ofIsrael and the Palestinian Autonomous Territories,and parts of Jordan and Egypt. Its boundaries couldbe said to stretch from the Mediterranean in the west,inland to the Jordanian deserts, and from Galilee inthe north to the southern tip of the Sinai peninsula.At the core of the Holy Land is Jerusalem, an ancientwalled city which stands on the Judaean hills, just tothe west of the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth.
Putting Jerusalem on the Map
Jerusalem covers 125 sq km (48 sq miles). In termsof geographical extent, this makes it Israel's largestcity. However, despite its surface area, it is lesspopulous than Tel Aviv. Only 600,000 people livehere - 425,000 Jews, 160,000 Muslims and 15,000Christians. At the core of Jerusalem is the walledOld City, standing 800 m (2,600 ft) above sea level.Dotted on the hilltops around, and strung along thevalley floors between, are the ever-expandingmodern suburbs. The city limits extend almostto the Palestinian towns of Ramallah in the northand Bethlehem to the south.
A Portrait of
the Holy Land
A Jew growing up in New York, a Christian in Lisbon and aMuslim in Jakarta will have childhoods as different as canbe imagined, but one thing they will share is a commonset of reference points, which will include names such as Abrabamand Moses, and, above all, Jerusalem and the Holy Land.
For around 2,000years this narrowcorridor of land onthe eastern shore ofthe Mediterraneanhas exercised aninfluence on worldculture far out of proportion to itsmodest size. Events that are said tohave taken place here in antiquitygave rise to the three great monotheisticreligions. As these religionsextended their influence throughoutthe world, so the Holy Land in general,and Jerusalem in particular,became overburdened with spiritualsignificance. Tradition has it thatJerusalem is where Solomon built hisgreat temple, Christ was crucified,and the Prophet Muhammad visitedon his Night Journey. It comes as amild shock tosome to discoverthat this spiritualworld centre is nobigger than anaverage city neighbourhood. Thosewho come to Jerusalem expectingarchitectural grandeur to match thestature of these spiritual highlightswill be disappointed. The city'schurches don't begin to comparewith the soaring Gothic cathedralsof Europe. The glorious Dome of theRock aside, the buildings are quitehumble. But the effect this has is tobestow on the city an altogetherappropriate air of humility andauthenticity, pleasingly at odds withthe hyperbole and oversell of thenew millennium.
While Jerusalem is a city rooted inancient history, at the same time it liesat the heart of a region which possessesa distinctly youthful nature. Both Israeland Jordan, the two countries which,along with Egypt's Sinai peninsula,make up what we know as the HolyLand, are barely more than half a centuryold. It is a greatly over-used travelcliché, but here it is difficult to avoidcommenting on the striking mix of theancient and modern. In Jerusalem,ultra-Orthodox Jews wearing clothes thatwere fashionable in Eastern Europe300 years ago mingle with Christianpilgrims armed with state-of-the-artdigital cameras. In the wilderness ofthe Negev Desert, Bedouin tribesmenspeak nonchalantly on mobile phoneswhile in Galilee Palestinian farmerslead oxen to fields that lie in theshadow of huge biotechnology plants.
Equally striking is the mix of peoples.The modern state of Israel has drawnits citizens from virtually every continent,embracing a worldwide roll callof Jewry, from Minnesota to Murmansk,Adelaide to Addis Ababa. Side by sidewith the Jews — and Arabs — are suchminority peoples as the Druze, amysterious offshoot sect of Islam, and theSamaritans, who speak Arabic but prayin Hebrew and number less than 600.
In this land of diversity, even the onecommon element shared by the majorityof Israelis, the Jewish faith, is notthe uniting factor it might be. Thenotion of what it is to be Jewish and,more pertinently, what form a Jewishstate should take, are subjects of greatcontention. There are large, andincreasingly influential, sections ofsociety that believe Israel shouldadhere strictly to the laws prescribedin the Torah. The greater part of society,however, views the notion of areligious state with horror. The gulfbetween the two standpoints is bestillustrated by the phenomenon ofDana International, the flamboyanttranssexual singer who won the 1998Eurovision Song Contest. It was avictory greeted with pride by a part ofthe nation, while to the religioussector it served only to confirm "thesecular sickness of Israel".
An even more contentious issue isownership of the land. Israel bases itsright to exist on an ancient covenantwith God, related in the Old Testament,in which this land was promised to thedescendants of the Jewish patriarchAbraham. This is a covenant, needlessto say, that is not recognized bythe Palestinian Arabs, who havetheir own claims on the territory,based on centuries ofoccupancy. During the 20thcentury four major warswere fought betweenthe Arabs and theJews. The problem isstill far from being resolved.
Conflict is no stranger tothe region. Since the Hebrewtribes first emerged from thedesert around the 12th centuryBC, this has been one of theworld's most turbulentneighbourhoods. Everymajor Near Eastern empirefought here. This has resulted ina fantastic legacy of historical remains,including Romancities, Byzantinechurches and earlyIslamic palaces.Archaeologists areconstantly at workto uncover whatother riches thistroubled landmight yield. Often,their aims go farbeyond the academic:some expeditions search forevidence to support territorial claims;others are seeking fabled artifacts suchas the Holy Grail or the Ark of theCovenant, which they believe mayhold the very key to human existence.
Amidst all this hullabaloo, one shouldnot forget that the Holy Land is a marvellousregion for the visitor. It is notnecessary to have an advanced graspof history to appreciate the magnificenceof the region's ancient cities,isolated monasteries and hilltop fortresses,while the desert scenery ofWadi Rum is a setting in which to liveout fantasies, and the diving in the RedSea is reckoned by some to be unsurpassedanywhere in the world. Addedto this, there is plenty of fine diningand comfortable accommodation. Itis quite possible to visit the Holy Landand find that the only issue of concernis getting a decent spot on the beach.
Copyright © 2000 Dorling Kindersley Limited. All rights reserved.
