Four new
Jerusalem attractions were opened this week: a new tour of the old city (the
Broad Wall, the Isralite Towers and the Impression of King Hezkiah’s Royal
Seal), the Botanical Gardens, the Museum of Jewish Music and “I am Jerusalem”.
These four new Jerusalem attractions are a new addition to the plenty of
options available to get to know the city and enjoy its offerings.
A new
Tour of the old City
The
first attraction of the four new Jerusalem attractions, is a new tour of the
old city visiting newly opened exhibits. The new tour focuses on King
Hezkiah’s period and touches three historical displays: the Broad Wall, the
Isralite Towers and the Impression of King Hezkiah’s Royal Seal.
Our tour
starts at the Kardo, which is being renewed these days and will soon host new
colorful mosaics. We went up to the Broad wall from there. The Broad wall,
which was 8 meters high, was made of rocks 2,600 years ago and its remains were
sought after for years. It was built by King Hezkiah to protect the city from
Assyria. The wall never served its purpose as the 185,000 soldiers army of
Assyria magically dropped dead from poisoning or disease. The belief is that it
was a result of King Hezikya’s prayer. The wall can be obvserved from the
street but access is only by appointment.
Next to
the wall, the remains of two towers from two periods were excavated. Fifty
years ago, when the buildings were constructed, the remains were found and
preserved in the basement of the buildings. Access is only by appointment.
The next
stop is the Archeological Park of the Jewish Quarter, where the Impression of
King Hezkiah’s Royal Seal was found 5 years ago. The Seal was only deciphered
recently and is unique not only because it is whole, but also, because it was
found in the remains of the old city, and is now displayed in the museum inside
the park. A short movie telling the story of the impression and how it was
found and deciphered is shown near the exhibit.
The old
city is freely open to visitors, with many free attractions such as the Hurva
Synagogue. In Passover, cellular navigation games will be organized using
mobile phones (details will be given at Archeological Park Davidson Center). An
audio tour is available for 20 NIS at the tourist information center near the
Dung Gate. At Davidson center they also rent audio systems for groups and
provide events’ service. They can organize small and large events, guides,
actors and musicians, catering and other services. You can also find more
information there about the city, the old and new Jerusalem attractions.
Perhaps
the most different attraction of the new Jersusalem attractions are the
botanical gardens, as the city is well-known for its historical sites.
The
Jerusalem Botanical Gardens
The
Jerusalem Botanical Gardens span over 30 acres. It was established in 1953 and
hosts over 10,000 plants. It was refurbished and opened to the public after a
change of concept – from a pure botanical garden to a socially responsible
center that educates and serves the community. The gardens were re-designed and
15 millions NIS were invested in a special Discovery Trail for the whole
family. The aim is that children nowadays who don’t roam and explore nature,
will be able to touch, smell, feel, and even climb around. The gardens still
serve their main purpose – conserving plants, including rare and endangered
species. The gardens are beautiful and flourish especially during the
springtime, when I visited there.
The
gardens are organized in geographical regions by continents: South Africa,
Australia, Europe, South East and Central Asia. Each region hosts its plants
and trees. The guide told us that they can habitat a tree from a different
climate, but it won’t grow optimally and might end up shorter than it usually
is, for example.
At the
entrance to the gardens we passed by the flower path. Blooming is at its peak
in April and each flower has a name tag. The entrance plaza is where the Coffee
shop is located, bordering the pond with Water Lilies. This is where the park
train included in the park entrance fee is embarked. The train is a good way of
exploring the park, as it gives an overview of the whole park. The park
souvenir shop is also located there, where you can buy activity packs for the
children.
We took
the park train for a tour and departed near the Discovery Trail. The Trail
spans over half a kilometer of discovery and exploration exhibits, starting
with water activities, ancient agriculture exhibits and other exploratory
devices. The children will explore the land, water and plants here.
If you
get one of the activity packs, it includes a bag with sand. There’s a ‘gold
mining’ area here, where the children can look for gold in the sand they got.
There is
also a treetop path that is still under construction, and a unique statue, 50
meters long, called ‘our roots’, created by Will Beckers, built from 5000
eucalyptus benches that simulates a falling tree (it reminded me of a hollow
root). The children will be able to play inside it and explore it. The
treetop and ‘Our Roots’ will enable the children to explore nature from a
different perspective!
In the
photograph, the park train, the Discovery Trail (bottom center), on the right
hand side there are some of the exhibits in the Discovery Trail, top left is
“Our Roots” and underneath the activity pack and the gold mining activity.
Having
visited the Botanical Gardens, I highly recommend visiting there. It is a
wonderful place for a day visit, to enjoy the trees, plants and flowers, and
the fresh air. The garden’s architecture is fantastic! And if you are with
children – they are going to love it! Entry is cheap (children of Jerusalem
residents enter free) and during Passover 2016 entrance will be free (but the
train won’t work), activity packs and workshops will cost 10-30 NIS. The
gardens are open daily, including Saturdays.
The next
attraction out of the found new Jerusalem attractions that we visited is the
Museum of Jewish Music.
The
Museum of Jewish Music
The
Museum of Jewish Music was opened last week as part of ‘Kikar Hamusica’ (The
Music Square) that is under development these days. We visited the museum, the
gift shop, and ate at Piccolino, an Italian restaurant located in the center.
By the way, the neighboring Coffee Shop offers superb French patisserie and it
is all Kosher. The restaurants are facing the square where live performances
take place daily. Entrance to the square and the performances is free. The
vision of Laurent Levy, the owner, is to have a holistic music square including
a concept hotel, a recording studio, a music and ballet school, and restaurants
(to be opened soon) which would turn this place into a leading music center!
Laurent
Levy, a wealthy Jew from France, visioned this place. Laurent, an orthodox,
tells us with bright eyes that there is too much baseless hatred that led to
the destruction of the Temple.
After
200 years of exile we came back to Israel, he tells us, and music has the power
to bring hearts together and to bond people. He adds that David, when he built
Jerusalem, played the harp and wrote Tehilim (Jewish songs). They even sang at
the Holy Temple. And this is the aim of the Music Square – to bring hearts
together with Music!
Eldad
Levy joined Laurent (ps they are not related) when he came to play at a family
event of Laurent. Eldad helped him build the concept of the square and the
museum, and Eldad now runs the museum.
The
museum is not large; it is focused and unique. It is elegantly decorated,
including musical instruments exhibits from around the world and it is multimedia
rich. It has surprises, such as a model of the Jewish Holy Temple with a
virtual reality system in which one can walk through the temple in 3D and hear
its sounds.
The
museum is divided by areas and continents (there’s a small sign in each room –
see the photograph below – bottom left). In each area there’s a selection of
musical instruments, one from each type usually, that comes from that area.
Almost in each room there are interactive exhibits that one can play with, from
musical trivia to a game that involves playing musical instruments, games of
one, pairs, to groups. It is evident that in each game there’s some hint and
connection to Judaism as well.
Each
visitor to the museum receives a personal tablet as a private guide. Via the
tablet one can receive information about the exhibits and listen to the music
of the instruments. The tablet will also keep the little ones entertained and
make the visit a joyful family experience.
After
the visit we peeked at the museum shop, packed with musical arts and crafts. We
had dinner at Piccolino, the kosher dairy Italian restaurant. The food is
excellent and we enjoyed every bite! I highly recommend the salad with seared
Tuna, the thin pizza ‘like in Italy’, and the mushroom Ravioli.
The
museum is open midweek all day and half day Fridays. The square features live
performances.
I highly
recommend visiting the museum even if you don’t have special interest in music.
It is a musical, historical and aesthetic experience featuring Jewish and
Israeli spirit.
I am
Jerusalem
Among
the new Jerusalem attractions, “I am Jerusalem” belongs to the
multi-dimensional cinema. The attraction combines a multi-sensational movie
including animations and real photography. The movie looks at the history, the
current Jerusalem, from bird-view while entering the city for a closer look at
the residents of Jerusalem of all religions – Jewish, Christians, and Muslims.
The movie sums up with an inspiration for peace, while encouraging the audience
to look at Jerusalem at a personal angle, when each one sees it as its own
reflection. The theatre combines 360 degrees movie, a movement of the seats and
different effects for an immersion feeling. The movie tells its story in a mixture
of English, Hebrew, and Arabic together.
The
photograph below shows (from right to left – from top to bottom) the graphics
that is displayed when entering the movie theatre (very impressive), the
seating on moving seats. The movie – from history of religion, the Jewish
Temple, continuing to Christianity and Islam history, and the bird-eye flight
over the city of Jerusalem.
Information:
“I am Jerusalem”, Mamila
With
plenty of new Jerusalem attractions, there’s a room to visit Jerusalem even if
you already spent time there – there’s always something new to do!
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