Jerusalem: A City Sacred to Three Faiths, Built on Itself Repeatedly

Jerusalem’s Old City, barely a square kilometre in size, has been built, destroyed, and rebuilt so many times, historians estimate at least twice fully razed and rebuilt over the centuries, that archaeologists now work through distinct layers of civilisation stacked directly beneath the current street level. Within its walls sit sites central to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam simultaneously, the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Dome of the Rock all standing within easy walking distance of one another.

The Western Wall, the last remaining retaining wall of the Second Temple destroyed by Roman forces in 70 CE, remains the holiest site in Judaism where prayer is permitted, its ancient stones worn smooth by centuries of hands and folded prayer notes pressed into its crevices.

A Single Street Holding Three Histories

The Dome of the Rock, its gold dome visible across much of the city, was completed in 691 CE and marks the site from which, in Islamic tradition, the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven, while the same rock beneath it holds deep significance in Jewish tradition as the site of Abraham’s binding of Isaac. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built over the site Christian tradition holds as Christ’s crucifixion and burial, is jointly maintained by six different Christian denominations under an arrangement so delicate that the keys to its front door have been held by the same Muslim family since the 12th century, to keep peace between the competing custodians.

Jerusalem’s Old City is divided into four historic quarters, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Armenian, each with its own distinct character, markets, and architecture, layered within walls largely rebuilt by the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century.

Painting Stone Sacred to So Many

The warm limestone of Jerusalem’s Old City, glowing gold in late afternoon light, gives a watercolourist rich, ancient texture to work with. We’ve captured that light in our own Jerusalem Watercolor Print, painted first by hand and printed to order on archival paper, a small piece of the Old City for a wall at home.

Rebuilt on top of itself for thousands of years, Jerusalem remains one of the only cities on Earth where three entirely separate faiths still share, however carefully, the very same streets.