Christian Quarter

Jerusalem's Christian Quarter is an attractive blend of clean streets, souvenir stalls, hospices and religious institutions belonging to 20 different Christian sects. At its centre stands the Holy Sepulchre, and everyone, tourists and pilgrims alike, tends to be drawn towards it.

As you enter from Jaffa Gate, the first two streets to the left - Latin Patriarchate Rd and Greek Catholic Patriarchate Rd - indicate the tone of the neighbourhood, named as they are after the offices there. The roads lead to St Francis St and in this quiet area around New Gate the local Christian hierarchy resides in comfort.

Heading straight across Omar ibn al-Khattab Sq you'll find a narrow passage that leads down David St, a brash tourist bazaar dedicated to filling up the travellers' suitcases with glow-in-the-dark crucifixes and 'Don't Worry Be Jewish' T-shirts. Everything is overpriced and it's expected that you'll bargain.

Towards the bottom end, David St switches over to food - a row of cavernous vaults on the left with fruit and vegetable stalls inside date from the Second Crusade. David St ends by crashing into a trio of narrow streets which, if followed to the left, converge into Souq Khan as-Zeit St, one of the main thoroughfares of the Muslim Quarter, while to the right they become the Cardo and lead into the Jewish Quarter. The first of the narrow alleys leading to the Muslim Quarter is Souq al-Lahamin, the Butchers' Market.