CITY OF DAVID - JERUSALEM ARCHEOLOGICAL PARK

The visit can begin with the screening of a short 3 D film depicting the history of Jérusaem and the City of David, for which you will have to pay an extra fee. This is not a necessity, however, because the site's interest is primarily the discovery of the different areas on foot.

The City of David, the subject of archaeological excavations since 1850, is the oldest site in Jerusalem. It was built on the ancient colony David conquered here about 3 000 years ago. From the observation terrace located near the entrance, you can see the geostrategic importance of the sites. We distinguish between the two valleys that demarcate the hill and the mountains that surround it on all sides: the Temple Mount in the north, the mount des Oliviers to the east, Mount Sion to the west and the crest of Hanatsiv Hanatsiv to the south.

A little below, you arrived in the Royal City, a zone where, at the time of the first Temple, houses were found, all of which suggest that they were inhabited by notables (especially because there was a return to private toilets). In the basement of one of these houses, we also found about fifty clay seals on which names in ancient Hebrew are engraved. These names include the name of «Gemaria ben Shafan», a royal scribe quoted by the Prophet Jeremiah (Chapter 36, verse 10). The royal quarter was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC. During the first period of the Second Temple, a new wall of the city was built upstream of this excavation area, placing the ruins of the Royal City outside the limits of Jerusalem.

The route then leads to an underground tunnel (secret tunnel) which leads to the Source source at the foot of the hill, which was the main source of water supply for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. This tunnel allowed the Jébuséens (residents of Jerusalem before King David was taken by King David) to join the source in case of siege without being seen by their enemies. It is also certainly through this tunnel that David took the city.

The cananéen tunnel passes next to the top of Warren's well, a large natural well dug in the rock and discovered by English Charles Warren in 1867. It descends up to the height of the source. In order to allow a large number of people to draw them simultaneously, the waters of the source were gathered in a vast basin, surmounted by fortified towers.

You will then be able to borrow the 533 m long Ezéchias tunnel which, after a journey of about 30 minutes, will take you to Silwan Pool or Shiloach Pool (Kings Basin). It is here that, according to the Christian tradition, Jesus would have healed a blind man. The tunnel is filled with water, which arrives in place up to the size: plan shoes and clothes in function and what you change. A flashlight can also be useful. If you don't want to wet, you can still ride through the cananéen tunnel. The purpose of this underground passage, built around 700 BC by the king of Judée Ezéchias, was to lead the waters of the Gihon in a basin located inside the walls, at the southern end of the city. In 1880, an inscription was discovered showing that the tunnel was dug by two teams moving to the other.

From Kings basin, it is possible to return to the entrance of the site on foot. Prefer to borrow the Pilgrim's path, another 700-metre dry tunnel, which leads to the excavation area opposite the main entrance of the site or, according to your choice, at the foot and at the end of the western wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem Archeologikal Park (this last exit was opened in 2015). This tunnel is an ancient street in stairs from the end of the Second temple period.