The Cardo - The Heart of Jerusalem

Riding To Hebrew School Off the Cardo - Old City Jerusalem 

During our three day stay in Jerusalem, we walked through the Cardo many times.  The Cardo is the main street that divides Jerusalem and runs North and South.  It cuts right through the heart, pun intended, of the city.  The Cardo was the lifeline in Roman times, and was originally built as a thoroughfare lined with vendors and shops of all kinds.

After the Jewish Rebellion was crushed by Hadrian in 130 A.D. and Jerusalem was destroyed, Hadrian built a Roman colony in its place.  He devised the Cardo as the main thoroughfare running from the Damascus Gate in the North to some point in the south.  It was originally paved and was as wide as a six lane highway is today.  An addition to the Cardo was constructed by Justinian in the 6th century and extended the Cardo further southward to connect the Church of the Holy Sepulcher with the newly built Zion Gate.  Its most stunning visual features were the covered colonnades flanking each side of the road. These colonnades provided shaded porticos from the sun and protection from the rain for pedestrians shopping along this market path.  It was a gathering place for residents and visitors, while the wide, open, paved street in the middle allowed for transportation and easy commercial access. The earliest map of Jerusalem, seen in a mosaic on the floor of a church in Madaba, Jordan, clearly shows the colonnaded cardo.

Cardo Shown Running Through the Center of Jerusalem

On the Earliest Map of Jerusalem Found in Mosaic on Floor of Church in Madaba, Jordan

Learning About the Cardo, Its History and Architecture

Portion of Cardo Excavated in Jewish Quarter of the Old City

Christopher, a Poor Beggar, in the Cardo Ruins

In the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem, archaeologists have been hard at work excavating the Old City.  They have found portions of the original Cardo, though it is several feet below the current street level of today. While they were excavating underneath, uncovering the treasures of their history, they were also simultaneously building shops and housing above ground.  The combination of the old preserved and the new fashioned in the characteristics of the old, make this town simply lovely!  I enjoyed my walks through the Cardo and will remember it as one of my favorite experiences of my trip to Israel. The Cardo takes you through the different ethnic quarters of the Old City; the Jewish Quarter, the Armenian Quarter, the Muslim Quarter, and the Christian Quarter.  The Cardo today continues as a major thoroughfare housing markets, vendors, restaurants, and stores that sell a little bit of everything imaginable! My loves of watching people, studying different cultures, learning about history, understanding other religions, and shopping for a bargain were all fulfilled in the Cardo!

In the pictures below, I have included scenes from our escapades walking the Cardo and visiting the different Quarters of the City.  They are in no particular order, just a hodge-podge of our wonderful experiences.

In the Jewish Quarter - Excavations Below, While Lovely Shops Line the Streets

And Quaint Apartments are Situated Above

Shops Along the Cardo

Gems and Stones for Jewelry

Vendors Selling Fresh, Hot Bread

Yummy Beverages That Looked Tempting 

A Bakery/Deli

Dried Fruit and Nuts

Begging on a Side Street

Clothing, Food, and Everything Imaginable!

Trinkets, Souvenirs, and Religious Mementos

Selling What Was Grown at Home

Antiques from Israel

Buy a Rug or Take a Puff of The Hookah

A Pyramid of Spices

Not Sure - Maybe Cheeses or Yogurt?

The Butcher and Fresh Meat

Religious Pilgrims

Arab Woman Grocery Shopping For a Family

Bringing in Merchandise to Sell

Through the Muslim Quarter Market, Approaching the Damascus Gate, the Northern End of the Cardo

Looking Through the Colonnade

A Shaded Conversation

Architecture of the Cardo

Tired Children of the Cardo
 Waiting for Parents to Cease Their Shopping

Busyness and Business On the Cardo

Candies - Are Those Gummy Worms?

Exiting Through the Damascus Gate in the North, the End of the Cardo

Arab Market Outside Damascus Gate

Welcome to the Old City!

Watch Your Step!
  After Tripping on Several Unannounced Stairs, We Learned to Look Down

Shops Off the Cardo

Navigating the Crowded Cardo

Old Bakery

My Lunch in the Jewish Quarter - Cardo

Antiquities for Sale

In the Jewish Quarter

Hasidic Jews Walking in the Jewish Quarter

Shops in the Jewish Quarter - Cardo

Quaint Shops in the Cardo in the Jewish Quarter

Column Excavated from the Colonnaded Cardo in Jewish Quarter

Walking Along the Jewish Quarter of the Old City

Waiting for Friends in the Cardo in the Jewish Quarter

Western Wall Tunnels

After experiencing the Western Wall and the Plaza, we then headed underground in the Western Wall Tunnels.  The Western Wall Tunnels allow one to see the remaining 1,591 feet of the original Western Wall.  

Since Rome destroyed the Temple in 70 A.D., much of the area near the wall has been covered and built upon over the years and is now underground below the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. British explorers began excavating the Western wall in the mid 19th Century; first Charles Wilson in 1864, followed by Charles Warren in 1867-1870.  Later, after the Six Days War, the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Israel continued the excavation process, revealing the rest of the Western Wall. The excavations were difficult to conduct because the tunnels ran beneath residential neighborhoods built on top of ancient structures of the Second Temple Period. But as the excavations continued, the Western Wall Tunnels became "Time Tunnels" transporting us back in time to Jerusalem during its glory years of the First Century.

Map of the Western Wall Tunnels

Western Wall Tour Guide Pointing Out the Western Stone,
 a Herodian Stone of Massive Proportions

Our guide poses in front of the "Western Stone", the largest stone in the Western wall.  Placed there during the renovations of Herod the Great, this one stone weighs more than 600 tons.  Incidentally, there is no cement or mortar holding these stones together.  Only their weight and the precision and skill of the builders has enabled them to withstand the pressure of the Temple Mount for well over two thousand years. One of the characteristics of these stones, known as the "Herodian Signature",  is the carefully chiseled, even, recessed edge.  The craftsmen who finished off the stones, chiseled them from the outer edge inward. You can see the marks of their chisels today. The stones are not laid one atop the other, but each course is recessed about two cm from the stone below.

The rectangular holes you see along the wall were added during the Middle Ages when they applied plaster to the stone and transformed this area into a water reservoir.

Prayers Left in One of the Rectangular Holes Along the Western Wall Tunnel

Hasidic Jews Visiting the Western Wall Tunnel For Prayer

One of the original gates leading to the Temple Mount and closest to the Holy of Holies has been uncovered in the Western Wall Tunnels.  Devout Jewish men and women desire most to pray near this gate, known as Warren's Gate.

Warren's Gate was one of four entrances from the Western side leading up to the Temple Mount.  On the other side of this now blocked entrance was a tunnel and staircase leading up to the surface of the Temple Mount.  After the fall of the Byzantine Empire, Muslim conquerors allowed the Jews to pray in this tunnel. The Jews built a synagogue here in the tunnel at the base of the stairs to the Temple Mount.  In 1099 A.D., during the Crusades, the Christians destroyed this synagogue, known as "the cave", and turned this special tunnel into a cistern.  Warren's Gate was their closest access to the Holy of Holies and so today, is a most special place for prayer.

This Model is located in the Western Wall Tunnel To Aid in Understanding
The Overlay was completed by GenerationWord.com

Jewish Women Gather in a Niche in the Western Wall Tunnel for Prayer

A View of how the Excavation of the Wall is Supported Underground 

Excavations Continue - Someone Tried to Open Up a Passage to See Beyond This Blocked Off Gate

A Section of Herodian Streets Uncovered in the Western Wall Tunnel Dating Back to the Time of Christ

 Near the end of our tour we saw the Struthion Pool.  Originally built during the Hasmonean period as an open air pool, the Romans covered the reservoir in the second century.

Struthion Pool - Ancient Water Reservoir
Built During Hasmonean Period to Provide Water on the Temple Mount