Old City Jewish Quarter

The quarter is inhabited by around 2,000 residents and is home to numerous yeshivas and synagogues, most notably the Hurva Synagogue, destroyed numerous times and rededicated in 2010. The area in which the modern Jewish Quarter now stands is the western hill of the historical Old City, which has previously been part of the walled city twice: during the First Temple period between the reign of King Hezekiah around 700 BCE and the destruction by Nabuchadnezzar in 586 BCE, and again from the Hasmonean period to the Roman destruction of 70 CE. This was documented after 1967, when before being rebuilt, the quarter was partially excavated under the supervision of Hebrew University archaeologist Nahman Avigad. Some archaeological remains were left in situ and made accessible, either in outdoor parks, or in a series of museums set up between one and three storeys beneath the level of the current city.