Photo by Dana Bar Siman Tov
1970
Perched at the threshold of the Old City, where the timeless stones of the Armenian Quarter meet the modern pulse of Jaffa Gate, stands the Tower of David. This monumental citadel, a sentinel that has watched over the holy city for more than 2,500 years, is far more than a defensive relic; it is the physical manifestation of Jerusalem’s complex, layered identity. Today, as the Tower of David Jerusalem City Museum, it serves as a portal through which visitors can navigate four millennia of human history, culture, and relentless transformation.
Jerusalem’s Old City occupies less than a square kilometer, yet it houses the historical and spiritual center of the city. Within its narrow streets stand some of the most revered sites in the world, sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike, and for centuries pilgrims and travelers from across continents have passed through its gates. Surrounding this dense urban landscape are the limestone walls built in the sixteenth century by the Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. With their towers, gates, and commanding height, the walls form one of Jerusalem’s most recognizable landmarks. They mark the threshold between two Jerusalems: the ancient city within and the modern metropolis that has gradually grown around it.
The relationship between these two Jerusalems changed dramatically in 1967. During the Six-Day War, Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan, bringing the Old City under Israeli control for the first time since 1948. With the city newly unified, attention turned to the fragile historic core and to the land immediately surrounding it. The Old City’s walls remained intact, but the terrain beyond them faced mounting pressure from urban development. If left unchecked, new construction could easily have crept up to the fortifications, obscuring their scale and eroding the dramatic encounter between the ancient skyline and the landscape that frames it.
The solution that emerged was the creation of the Jerusalem Walls National Park, shaped in large part by Mayor Teddy Kollek’s vision for preserving open green areas around the Old City. Among the Jerusalem Foundation’s earliest projects, the park was designed in the years following 1967 as a continuous green belt surrounding much of the historic core. Rather than allowing development to press against the ancient ramparts, this open landscape preserved the slopes, valleys, and archaeological terrain beyond them. In doing so, the park protects not only individual sites, but also the broader setting that gives Jerusalem’s historic skyline its dramatic presence.
The park does not include the walls themselves; instead, it encompasses the landscape outside them. This distinction reflects an important principle—historic monuments are best understood within their environment. The fortifications of Jerusalem were built to rise above open ground, visible from a distance and approached across hills and valleys. By preserving that surrounding terrain, the national park ensures that the walls can still be experienced in something close to their original setting.
Today, the Jerusalem Walls National Park serves not only as a protected landscape but also as a vital public space. Paths wind along the valleys and hillsides, offering sweeping views of the Old City’s towers, gates, and domes. Residents use the trails for walking and recreation, while visitors often encounter the park as a quieter counterpoint to the crowded alleys inside the walls. The open spaces have also hosted cultural events, including outdoor concerts, film screenings and culinary events that take advantage of the dramatic backdrop.
More than a conservation project, the park allows the Old City to be seen in its full grandeur. It preserves a green belt or buffer zone between old and new, offering a moment of pause within a busy and layered city. Tourists and Jerusalemites alike come here to step back, breathe, and look again at the skyline that has defined the city for centuries. From these slopes and overlooks, the ancient walls rise clearly above the landscape—allowing their scale, beauty, and history to be seen in full.
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