Walking the Ramparts of the Old City: Part Two

Because it wasn't too hot today (only about 80 degrees), we decided to head back to the Old City to explore the other, northern half of the Ramparts Walk, which is an elevated walkway along the Old City's perimeter walls. In an earlier post, I described the southern route, which skirts the Armenian and Jewish quarters of the Old City. Today we walked above the Christian and Arab quarters.

This walk was longer than the southern route, but I'm glad we went back to do it, since there is so much to see and the views are terrific. We passed by the Christian quarter first, noticing restaurant patios, some residences, and distant church spires. Then, after passing by the Damascus Gate, we walked along the Arab quarter. If we looked to the right, we saw stone buildings seemingly piled and slapped one atop the other; residences are packed tightly into that ancient section of the city. If we looked to the left, we saw the bustling streets of East Jerusalem neighborhoods and then, around the corner, Mount Scopus, the Mount of Olives, and other hills and valleys.

Walking along the ramparts gives you a perspective that is difficult to find when walking through the Old City itself. The Old City streets are tight, labyrinthine, shaded, often crowded, and, at times, fairly disorienting. Up above the Old City, we can get a sense of just how the approximately 40,000 people fit into a .35 square mile area.  At the same time, walking the perimeter allows you to see the different "quarters" in this city within a city.

Here are some photos of our walk around the northern section of the Ramparts walk, followed by a few pictures taken as we walked back up through the Old City itself, and finally sat down for a lunch of falafel in the Jewish quarter before returning home for well-deserved naps!