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Published: July 13th 2015
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view from jaffa gate the way we walked last nightToday was a bit lighter but still with some exiting events
we walked to the jaffa gate which is now only a 20 min walk we have been on that walk now a number of times and each time we find a shorter way, we actually realized that we have been walking through Gehenna (the valley of Hinnom) but now instead of a rubbish dump it is a garden
at the jaffa gate we went up onto the wall of the old city and walked on top of the wall past the new gate to the Damascus gate it was interesting to see the old city from the walls you realize that although the city is divide into 4 the Muslim quarter, the christian quarter, the Armenian quarter and the Jewish quarter, the majority of the houses are still owned by Arab people because most of the Christians are Arab
Esther and the boys went ahead of us and got off the wall at the new gate and couldn't get back on, luckily they were able to ring us and we met at the church of the holy sepulcher built by Helena , Constantine's mother , when the
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view from on top of the Jaffa gate story is told it seams that she was the main influence that caused Constantine to become christian she built churches on many sites declared holy throughout the land she also built the one in Bethlehem on the site of Jesus birth, this site is supposed to be where Jesus was crucified as well as where He was buried. (tomorrow we go to the garden tomb also where He was buried but declared by the protestants.)
we had some free time to walk along the Cardo and shop but we didnt buy anything sorry
after lunch we went through the dung gate the smallest and least attractive gate and across the road to the city of David (on our way there we saw a lot of groups heading to the western wall for barmitzva when they celebrate boys 13th, coming of age, this is done by all Jewish families even if they are not religious.)
At the city of david we saw ruins of Davids palace and surrounding houses and then after an explanation by a guide of the water system of Davids time and how Hezekiah changed it to bring the water into the city, we walked
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looking through a slot in the wall on the Jaffa gate through the tunnel dug by Hezekiah which took about 40 mins through a narrow tunnel sometimes the ceiling was about 4m high and some times we had to bend down to get through, the entire length had water crystal clear and cold running through it from the spring and in a couple of places it was thigh deep.
after the tunnel we walked back through the old city to the jaffa gate and had a coffee and cake and then headed home.
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