Summer in Jerusalem: English activities for visitors to The Tower of David Museum

As Jerusalem prepares to host the Maccabiah Games, one of the city’s most notable sites is offering a special program of tours and activities in English, with discounted prices for visiting athletes.

The Tower of David Museum, the iconic fortress overlooking the Jaffa Gate of the Old City, houses a permanent exhibition and temporary displays cataloguing the fascinating history of the city over the past 3,000 years.

The building itself is an exhibit and a must-see site for every visitor. From the top of its tallest tower, the highest point in the Old City originally built by Herod and dubbed “The Tower of David” by early Christian pilgrims, there is a spectacular view clear across the rooftops to the Dome of the Rock and the Mount of Olives.

The fortress has been built, destroyed and rebuilt so many times you can find traces of Herodian, Crusader, Ottoman and even Hasmonean construction in the impressive stronghold that was eventually incorporated into the walls constructed by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent 500 years ago.

Visitors can explore the towers, the battlements, the moat and the gardens, meandering through the historic vaulted chambers that house the museum’s displays and climbing to the ramparts from where generations of defenders fought off waves of foreign invaders. Fifty years ago, Jordanian soldiers were posted on these same walls overlooking no man’s land and West Jerusalem just 100 yards away before they were ousted by Israel’s surprise attack from the north and east in the 1967 Six Day War.

The latest, and perhaps most intriguing, addition to the museum is the Kishle, the former Turkish and British Mandate prison between the Tower and the Armenian Quarter. Digging 10 meters (33 feet) down beneath today’s ground level, archaeologists discovered pools for tanning and dyeing skins and leather as described by the Jewish pilgrim Benjamin of Metudella in Crusader times.

Beneath, they found the previously unknown remains of an artificial platform and tunnels dating to the days of King Herod, that might have served as the foundation of his palace and the possible site of the trial of Jesus by Pontius Pilate. They also discovered the remains of an earlier wall containing mortar that appears to have the same chemical composition as material found in Hezekiah’s Tunnel in the City of David. If they date from the same period, it would be the first evidence yet found of construction from the First Temple period — about 2,800 years ago — on this western edge of the Old City.

The museum is offering English tours of the new discoveries at the Kishle every Friday morning, combined with the bathing pools and other remnants of Herod’s grand palace. Another tour, “Hamse, Hamse,” takes visitors through the superstitions and traditions of Jewish life in the city from ancient times until today. For those not yet acquainted with the madness and genius of King Herod, a Wednesday morning tour in the company of an actor provides an up close and personal encounter with the raging monarch that, for understandable reasons, is not suitable for children.

For families, an amazing race on Tuesday afternoons will see your youngsters screaming and laughing through the tallest towers and hidden tunnels as they go in quest of the clues that will lead them to the treasure. On Wednesdays, families can learn about the Lion and the Olive Tree, and the centrality of these powerful symbols in the life and culture of the city.

Every evening as dusk falls, the walls of the Tower come alive with the sounds and lights of the Night Spectacular, a magical multi-media presentation that whisks you through 3,000 years of history with the ease and entertainment of a YouTube video.

For details and prices of all activities in English, including special offers for Maccabiah participants, click HERE.