Sat 30 December 2006   (Eid Adha)

I headed to Mount Zion at 6:45 in the morning, and spent two hours exploring the route of the ancient southern walls of Jerusalem. Photos taken along the route of the wall are available on a separate page, with a map indicating where each photo was taken.

I had some difficulties in tracing my exact location on the map when I walked on this route, because the southern hill of the Old City is mostly empty wasteland, and the few streets that run there had no names (neither on the map nor in the streetcorners). A compass would have been helpful, and a scout would have read the cardinal directions from the sun, of course — but I am not a scout, neither did I have a compass.

I would have wished to take a complete photo set of all houses that are located on the route of the ancient southern wall, but eventually I took very few photos in the south-eastern corner of the route, because I had lost track of my precise location on the map. Most houses in the region have two storeys and a very modest exterior.

After eating some breakfast, I climbed on the walls of the Old City at 10:30, and spent one hour strolling from Jaffa Gate to New Gate, Damascus gate, Lions Gate and the corner of the Temple Mount. Photos taken along this rampart walk are available on a separate page, with a map indicating where each photo was taken.

After the rampart walk I returned to my car on Mount Zion, to have lunch in the modern city center of Jerusalem. I naturally took some photos while walking through the Old City, including these two photos of the coat of arms of the Franciscan organization Custodia di Terra Santa.

At 12:30 I was back in the Old City, and I climbed on the wall promenade again, now strolling from Jaffa Gate to Zion Gate and Dung Gate. (The rampart walk can be entered at Jaffa Gate only, and one can choose to walk north towards Damascus Gate, or south towards Dung Gate.) Photos taken along this 45-minute promenade are available on a separate page, with a map indicating where each photo was taken.

After the southern rampart walk I strolled in the Old City until 15:50, taking photos on the narrow bazaars and on the rooftop promenades. The photo above is from Ararat street in the Armenian Quarter.

In the Visitor Center of Christ Church (near Jaffa Gate) I happened to find a model of ancient Jerusalem, designed by Johann Tenz at the end of the 19th century. This model is no longer considered accurate in all details, as archaelogists have collected more data during the 20th century, but it gives a good impression of the architectural atmosphere of ancient Jerusalem.

After 16 o’clock I drove to the modern city center to have dinner. The rest of the evening I spent at a Messianic meeting in Christ Church, which lasted nearly three hours, and used ceremonial styles borrowed from Judaism, mixed with the latest trends of Western charismatic Christianity.

The trip meter of the car showed 2760 km at the end of the day, of which 10 km were driven today.