East Jerusalem
In 1898 the Ottomans granted Germany 8 hectares of land on the Mount of Olives. This was set aside for a church and hospice, and the complex was named after Augusta Victoria, wife of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Completed in 1910, the church is decorated with mosaics and frescoes, and has a 60m-high bell tower that can be climbed by visitors (there are 203 steps).
The Turkish army occupied the hospice during WWI, and the British later converted it into a military hospital – it’s still a hospital today.
1.19 MILES
Four magnificent arches, their lintels richly decorated with Crusader crosses, herald the entrance to one of Christianity's most sacred sites. The church…
Temple Mount/Al Haram Ash Sharif
0.95 MILES
There are few patches of ground as holy – or as disputed – as this one. Known to Muslims as Al Haram Ash Sharif (The Noble Sanctuary) and to Jews as Har…
1.01 MILES
The air is electric at Judaism's holiest prayer site, where worshippers recite scriptures, lay their hands on 2000-year-old stone and utter impassioned…
2.72 MILES
More than 5000 years of cultural treasures are assembled around the vast Israel Museum's indoor and outdoor galleries. Highlights are the titanic statues…
23.62 MILES
This reserve consists of two roughly parallel canyons, Wadi David and Wadi Arugot, each of which has its own entrance complex and ticket office. It is…
7.4 MILES
A must-see on any journey through the Holy Land is Mar Saba Monastery, a bleak and beautiful 20km drive east of Bethlehem (beyond Beit Sahour).
1.09 MILES
As teeming with controversy as it is with ancient history, the City of David is one of Jerusalem's most active archaeological sites. The oldest part of…
4.39 MILES
Israel's official memorial to the six million Jews who died at the hands of the Nazis is powerful, poignant and a masterpiece of design. The museum's name…
1. Russian Church of the Ascension
0.46 MILES
Built atop Herodian ruins, a sharp steeple soars 64m above this Russian Orthodox church, the tallest structure on the Mount of Olives. Orthodox believers…
2. Dome of the Ascension/Chapel of the Ascension
0.48 MILES
It's easy to overlook this chapel, which is diminutive and decrepit. Thought to mark the site where Jesus ascended to heaven (Luke 24:50–51), it was built…
0.55 MILES
Tiled panels bearing the Lord's Prayer beam from the walls of this church and cloister. Queen Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, believed this to be…
0.6 MILES
Built in the early 1950s, this tear-drop-shaped church commemorates the spot where, according to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus wept after foreseeing the…
0.64 MILES
Centuries of candle smoke have blackened the walls of this subterranean shrine, one of Christianity's holiest sites. According to tradition, this is the…
6. Russian Orthodox Convent of St Mary Magdalene
0.64 MILES
A glint of St Petersburg on the Mount of Olives, this shapely church was constructed in the style of a 17th-century Russian Orthodox church. Built in 1888…
0.65 MILES
After a night of feverish prayer, Jesus is believed to have been arrested in this garden (Mark 14:26, 32–50), now attached to the Church of All Nations…
0.66 MILES
Built above the remains of two previous churches, this Franciscan basilica crowns the site where Jesus is believed to have prayed through the night before…