Jerusalem serves as Israel's declared capital, though most countries maintain embassies in Tel Aviv due to ongoing disputes over the city's status. The Knesset, Israel's parliament, sits in the western portion of the city on a hilltop site chosen in 1949. Israel's Supreme Court, the Prime Minister's residence, and most government ministries occupy West Jerusalem. The city covers 125 square kilometers and sits in the Judean Mountains at elevations between 600 and 800 meters. The Old City, measuring one square kilometer within Ottoman-era walls built between 1535 and 1538, contains sites sacred to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam within four quarters: Muslim, Christian, Jewish, and Armenian.
The Western Wall forms the retaining wall of the Temple Mount platform, built by Herod the Great beginning in 20 BCE. The exposed section measures 57 meters long and reaches 19 meters above current plaza level. Below ground, the wall continues another 19 layers of stone. Observant Jews pray at the wall daily, inserting written prayers into cracks between stones. The plaza accommodates tens of thousands during major Jewish holidays. Archaeological excavations along the wall's southern extension revealed streets and buildings from the Second Temple period. The Israeli government administers the plaza through the Western Wall Heritage Foundation.
The Temple Mount platform, called Haram al-Sharif in Arabic, rises above the Western Wall. The Dome of the Rock, completed in 691 CE under Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik, covers the Foundation Stone. The dome measures 20 meters in diameter and rises to 36 meters. The exterior mosaic tiles underwent renovation in the 1960s with funding from Jordan. Al-Aqsa Mosque, at the southern end of the compound, dates to the early 8th century with multiple reconstructions after earthquakes. The compound measures 144,000 square meters. The Jordanian Waqf administers religious affairs within the compound under arrangements established after the Six-Day War in 1967. Israeli security forces control access points.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built over sites where Christian tradition places Jesus's crucifixion and burial, stands in the Christian Quarter. Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, identified the location in 326 CE. Constantine ordered construction of the first church, completed in 335. Persian forces destroyed it in 614. The Crusaders built the current structure between 1095 and 1149. Six Christian denominations share custody: Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Armenian Apostolic, Coptic Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox, and Syriac Orthodox. A Status Quo agreement from 1853 governs which denomination controls which spaces and at what times. The Edicule shrine covers the burial chamber. Two Muslim families, Joudeh and Nusseibeh, have held the door key for 800 years under an arrangement predating Saladin.
The Old City's Jewish Quarter occupies the southeastern section. Jordanian forces expelled all Jewish residents in 1948 and demolished synagogues. Israel captured the area in 1967 and began reconstruction. The Hurva Synagogue, originally built in 1701, destroyed by creditors in 1721, rebuilt in 1864, and demolished in 1948, underwent reconstruction completed in 2010. The Cardo, a 22.5-meter-wide Roman street from the 2nd century, runs through the quarter. Excavations revealed the street ran 180 meters before Byzantine extensions. Portions now house shops beneath reconstructed columns.
Yad Vashem, Israel's official Holocaust memorial, occupies 18 hectares on the western slope of Mount Herzl. The Knesset established it by law in 1953. The Hall of Names contains 2.7 million Pages of Testimony documenting Holocaust victims. The historical museum, designed by architect Moshe Safdie and opened in 2005, presents chronological Holocaust history through 90-meter triangular gallery penetrating the mountain. The Children's Memorial commemorates 1.5 million murdered children. The Avenue of the Righteous Among the Nations honors non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews, with 28,000 trees and plaques as of 2023. The Valley of the Communities lists 5,000 destroyed Jewish communities on stone walls.
The Israel Museum, established in 1965, covers 8 hectares in West Jerusalem. The Shrine of the Book houses the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered at Qumran between 1947 and 1956. The shrine's white dome contrasts with a black basalt wall, designed by architects Friedrich Kiesler and Armand Bartos. The Great Isaiah Scroll, dating to 125 BCE, stretches 7.34 meters long. The archaeology wing displays artifacts from prehistoric periods through Ottoman rule. The Billy Rose Art Garden, designed by sculptor Isamu Noguchi, contains modern sculptures across terraced landscape. Total collections exceed 500,000 objects.
Mahane Yehuda Market operates in West Jerusalem six days weekly, closed on Shabbat. The market contains over 250 vendors in covered arcades and open stalls across several blocks. Vendors sell produce, spices, nuts, dried fruits, cheese, fish, meat, and prepared foods. The market dates to the 1880s as an open-air bazaar serving the growing Jewish population outside the Old City walls. Permanent structures appeared in the 1920s. Evening hours on Thursday and Friday see peak crowds shopping for Shabbat meals. Recent years brought restaurants and bars into market buildings, operating after traditional vendors close.
The Mount of Olives, rising to 826 meters on the city's eastern edge, contains 150,000 Jewish graves in the world's oldest continuously used cemetery. Burials date from the First Temple period. The cemetery suffered destruction under Jordanian control between 1948 and 1967 when forces used tombstones for construction. Jewish tradition holds the resurrection of the dead will begin here. Seven churches dot the slopes, including the Church of All Nations at Gethsemane, built in 1924 over a 4th-century Byzantine church and 12th-century Crusader chapel. The Russian Orthodox Church of Mary Magdalene, completed in 1888 with seven golden onion domes, contains the remains of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna.
The City of David archaeological site sits on a ridge south of the Temple Mount walls. Excavations beginning in the 1850s revealed fortifications, water systems, and structures from 3,000 years of habitation. Hezekiah's Tunnel, carved through 533 meters of solid rock around 701 BCE, brought water from the Gihon Spring to the Pool of Siloam during Assyrian siege. The tunnel maintains gradual descent through winding route workers carved from both ends. The Siloam Inscription, discovered in 1880 and now in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum, describes how workers met in the middle. Warren's Shaft, a 13-meter vertical tunnel possibly used to access water, was discovered by Charles Warren in 1867.
German Colony, built by Templers beginning in 1873, showcases restored 19th-century stone houses along Emek Refaim Street. The Templers, a German Protestant sect, established seven colonies in Palestine before British authorities expelled them during World War II as enemy aliens. Original buildings featured German inscriptions and tile work. Restoration began after the Six-Day War transformed the neighborhood into residential and commercial district. Cafes and restaurants occupy ground floors of Templer homes. The First Station, a renovated Ottoman railway terminal from 1892, operates as cultural complex with performance spaces and restaurants.
Mea Shearim, established in 1874 as one of the first neighborhoods outside the Old City walls, remains an ultra-Orthodox enclave. Residents follow strict religious codes governing dress, gender separation, and Sabbath observance. Signs posted at entrances request modest dress from visitors. The neighborhood's name derives from Genesis 26:12, "Isaac sowed in that land and reaped a hundredfold." Stone courtyards and narrow alleys preserve 19th-century architecture. Residents primarily speak Yiddish in daily life. The neighborhood's population density reaches 40,000 per square kilometer.
Jerusalem's light rail system, opened in 2011, runs 13.8 kilometers from Pisgat Ze'ev in the northeast through the city center to Mount Herzl. The red line carries 140,000 passengers daily across 23 stops. Alstom built the trams in France. The route passes through both Israeli and Palestinian neighborhoods, generating controversy over implied sovereignty. Extensions under construction will add 20 kilometers and 53 additional stops by 2025. The system uses catenary-free operation in the Old City area to preserve aesthetics, drawing power from underground rail.