ROMAN SQUARE MUSEUM. The Roman Square museum, one of the Muslim
Quarter's oft-visited sights, is not actually within the Old City walls, but just out-
side and underneath them. The museum, at the Damascus Gate entrance to the
Ramparts, is set among the excavations from Aoelia Capitolina (the name given to
Jerusalem by Emperor Adrianus in 135 CE). Although the archaeology is fascinat-
ing, the museum itself is fairly dull. Its centerpiece is a copy of the 6th-century
Madaba map from Jordan, the earliest known blueprint of Jerusalem's layout. (Exit-
ing Damascus Gate, go down the stairs to your left Open Sa-Th 9am-5pm, F 9am-2pm. NIS8, stu-
dents NIS4. Combo ticket to the museum, Ramparts Promenade, Zedekiah's Cave, Hezekiah's
Tunnel, and the Ophel Archaeological Garden NIS35.)
ZEDEKIAH'S CAVE. Also known as King Solomon's Quarries, the cave extends far
beneath the Muslim Quarter. According to tradition, stones from the quarry were
used in the construction of the First Temple, but archaeological and geological
evidence suggest that the cave was used no earlier than the Second Temple
period. (Entrance is about halfway between Damascus Gate and Herod Gate; exiting Damascus
Gate, follow the wall to the right. Open Sa-Th 9am-4pm, F9am-2pm. NIS10, students NIS8.)
NEAR THE OLD CITY
MOUNT ZION AND ENVIRONS
MOUNT ZION. Rising outside the city walls opposite Zion Gate and the Armenian
Quarter, Mount Zion (Наг Tzion) has long been considered the site of the Tomb
of David, the Last Supper, and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The
name Zion, which is also applied to Israel as a whole, was first seized by King
David when he conquered the eastern territory. During the siege of the Jewish
Quarter in 1948, the area around Zion Gate was the scene of some of the fiercest
fighting in Jerusalem; bombshell pockmarks remain. (To reach the mount, exit the Old
City through Zion Gate, near the Jewish Quarter parking lot, and take the short path opposite the
gate, bearing right at the Franciscan convent. At the next fork, a left leads to the Cenacle and
David's Tomb; a right leads to the Dormition Abbey.)
COENACULUM (CENACLE). The no-frills appearance of this church, identified by
most as the site of the Last Supper, is due in part to an attempt by the British Man-
date to avoid sectarian disputes by forbidding any change to the building. The Cen-
acle was converted from a mosque into a church almost four centuries ago, but the
mosque's mihrab (prayer niche) is still visible in the southern wall. A group in Ein
Kerem, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, runs Last Supper reenactment dinners in a
variety of languages. (Take the left fork after the Franciscan convent and ascend a stairway
through the Diaspora Yeshiva door on the left. Open Sa-Th 8am-8pm, F8am-2pm.)
DAVID'S TOMB. Archaeologists are skeptical about the authenticity of this site; it
is written that kings and only kings were buried within the city, and Mount Zion
was never encompassed by David's walls. The historical check, however, does lit-
tle to reduce the fervor of worshipers at the tomb, many of whom whisper David's
own psalms in the small, dim chamber. (To enter, go through the Cenacle, descend the
stairs, and turn right around the corner. Open Sa-Th 8am-6pm, F 8am-2pm; in winter Su-Th 8am-
5pm, F 8am-lpm. Free, although members of the yeshiva next door happily accept donations.
Modest dress required; men should cover their heads with the available cardboard kippot.)
BASILICA OF THE DORMITION ABBEY. This huge, fortress-like edifice was
completed in 1910 and commemorates the death of the Virgin Mary. Parts of the
precariously situated basilica were damaged during battles in 1948 and 1967 and
were never repaired. A gold mosaic rises above the apse, the floor is inlaid with
symbols of the zodiac and the apostles, and the crypt holds a figure of the Vir-
gin, with Jesus surrounded by all the women of the Bible above her. Head down
to the bathrooms; by the entrance are the excavated ruins of a Byzantine
church. (Off the right fork of the road leading to the Cenacle. Open M-Th, Sa 9am-
noon and 12:30-6pm; F, Su 10am-noon and 12:30-6pm. Free. Call for info on occasional classi-
cal music concerts.)