Ramat Rahel: kibbutz on the road to Bethlehem. Entered by way of
Talpiot Quarter. This settlement, placed as it was on the pre-1967 border with
Jordan, made a target for trigger-happy Arab troops. During the 1948 war, it
was alternately lost and re-occupied by Israelis. There is a hotel, a swimming
pool (open all year round), tennis courts, and a restaurant. There is an
archaeological site which includes ruins of an Israelite fort and a Byzantine
church.
(Bus No. 7)
Ramparts Walk: There can hardly be a better way to view the city than
from the ancient walkway around the Old City. Exit and entry points are located
at Lions' Gate, Damascus Gate and Herod's Gate. Open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun.-Thurs.
Fri. 9 a.m.-2 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Entrance fee.
(Bus Nos. 3, 13, 19, 20, 30)
Rockefeller Museum: near corner of Suleiman St. and Jericho Rd. The
Israel Antiquities Authority has its offices here. Originally called the
Palestine Archaeological Museum, it was designed by English architect Austin
Harrison the octagonal tower rises over a central courtyard to which the halls
and library are connected. Exhibits include the prehistoric Carmel Man, reconstruction
of a Middle Bronze Age tomb, Crusader lintels from the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre, and a unique selection of 8th-century CE architectural decorative
fragments from Hisham's Palace, and coins. There is also a library with
thousands of texts on the Holy Land's history, prehistory, geology and
geography. Entrance fee. Open: Sun.-Thurs. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Fri., Sat. 10 a.m.-2
p.m. T
(Walk No. 3 or Bus Nos. l, 99)
Russian Compound: off Jaffa Road, near the Main Post Office. Bought by
Czar Alexander II and built up in the 1860s, it was in its time a busy centre
for Russian pilgrims to Jerusalem in the 1920s it was the biggest hotel around.
See the exterior of the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity with its green-domed
towers (a fairyland castle floodlit at night). Notice the large unfinished
Herodian column across the road from the Cathedral. The Israel government has
purchased the compound, which today houses police, law and other administration
offices.
(Bus Nos. 3, 5,11,13, 15,18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 29, 38, 40)