Past your bedtime

Jerusalem's Old City comes to life at night with free tours, while museums leave the lights on late.

By AVIVA BAR-AM
tower of david jlem 88 (photo credit: )
tower of david jlem 88
(photo credit: )
I don't remember exactly when tourists began trickling back into the Old City of Jerusalem - two years ago at the most. But by last year, the trickle had become a stream - and lately, its flow has turned into a flood! Yet although by day the Old City is jam-packed with visitors - foreign and Israeli - in the evening people go elsewhere. Indeed, theaters, cinemas, sidewalk cafés and the lovely new Mamilla outdoor mall are packed with Jerusalemites and out-of-towners. So - how to breathe life into the Old City at night? After putting their heads together, the Jerusalem Development Authority, the municipal Tourism Authority, the Tourism Ministry and the municipal company Ariel came up with a brilliant move called Autumn Nights in the Old City. Successful beyond their wildest dreams, it consists of special (free) Monday and Thursday programs offered from the beginning of September until the end of October. Among the goodies are two light-hearted guided tours, evening performances of vastly diverse music programs and discounted museums kept open until evening. AUTUMN NIGHTS: FREE TOURS AND CONCERTS Two unique tours leave from Jaffa Gate at 6:30, 6:45, 7 (Hebrew) and 7:15 (English). Both weave in and out of the Old City's enchanting alleyways. If you take the Singing Tour, expect to tap your feet and hum to hassidic tunes outside the ruins of the Old City's splendid Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue, or to join in singing "Jerusalem of Gold" inside the startlingly lit Cardo. Enjoy hearing stories of Jerusalem's history, and hear wonderful anecdotes related to the music. On the Storytelling Tour you will stop at historic sites - but instead of the standard narratives you will hear about the little arts shop that once graced the Old City walls, how Jerusalem's first bakery was started inside the Old City and more. As you walk through little Old City lanes, you will also meet up with three figures representing periods from the past. End with a free concert - or come especially to hear the music. The concerts begin at 8:30, with one held in the Muristan (Christian Quarter) and one in Gan Hatekuma near the Jewish Quarter parking lot. Five attractions remain open on Monday and Thursday evenings until 8:30 p.m. The sixth - the Tower of David Museum - offers two new evening programs (see below). OLD YISHUV COURT MUSEUM Jewish Quarter Fee: NIS 10 (daytime - NIS 16) With the passage of time, people have begun to forget the Jewish Quarter as it was before the War of Independence. With a visit to Old Yishuv Court, the house in which a Jewish family lived from 1812 until the quarter surrendered to Jordanian soldiers in 1948, those memories are being kept alive. On display are items collected from people who used them when they lived in the quarter prior to the War of Independence. The wonderfully authentic exhibits are divided into different areas, such as the Sephardi Guest Room, the Ashkenazi Guest Room and fascinating workshops. A delightful period kitchen contains dishes, coffee grinders and other nostalgic items. WOHL MUSEUM (HERODIAN MANSIONS) Jewish Quarter Fee: NIS 10 (daytime NIS 15) For an in-depth look at daily life in the Holy City before the Great Revolt against the Romans (66-73 CE), visit the Wohl Museum. On view are the remains of six houses that were originally one to three stories high and part of a larger neighborhood. All of them are elegant, but the one called "the Mansion" is unusually elaborate and may have belonged to the High Priest himself! BURNT HOUSE Jewish Quarter Fee: NIS 10 (daytime NIS 25) Before the Great Revolt, a family by the name of Kathros dwelt in what we know as the Burnt House. Apparently they were less than righteous, for it says in the Talmud, "Woe is me because of the house of Kathros... for they are the high priests, their sons are the Temple treasurers, their sons-in-law hold powerful positions and their servants hit people with their sticks" (Talmud, Pessahim 57a). All kinds of treasures have been recovered from this house, which was set on fire by the Romans. The most dramatic finds, discovered among the ashes, were bones from the hand of a 17-year-old girl: the only physical remains from the Jerusalem population ever discovered from this period. Your visit includes a lively audio-visual production. RAMPARTS WALK Jaffa Gate Fee: NIS 10 (daytime NIS 16) Jerusalem has been surrounded by walls for over 3,000 years. Over the millennia as the city developed, rulers built new walls, strengthened old ones and adapted Jerusalem's fortifications as circumstances required. Soldiers stationed on the ramparts (fortified walkways) would patrol the city walls. Since the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967, visitors stroll atop the Old City walls just for fun - and for a terrific view of both Old and New Jerusalem. THE ARCHEOLOGICAL GARDEN/ DAVIDSON CENTER Dung Gate Fee: NIS 21 (daytime NIS 30) Around 20 BCE, Herod the Great began to expand and glorify the Second Temple. When construction was complete, the Temple Mount contained spacious courtyards, a fabulous royal portico and lovely colonnaded walkways. A resplendent gold-and-white Temple sat in the center, crowning the mount. Israeli authorities began excavating the area adjacent to the Temple Mount after the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967. And in 1994, they began development of a unique archeological park that features a number of ritual baths, water systems, huge stones that fell from the walls, a section of the Western Wall, an eighth century Islamic plaza, an underground Byzantine neighborhood and the ancient Hulda Gates. Also included is the exquisite Davidson Center. Built within centuries-old walls, this architectural gem offers imaginative displays and a wonderful audio-visual production that lets you accompany a pilgrim as he makes his way to the Temple Mount. THE TOWER OF DAVID (CITADEL) MUSEUM Inside Jaffa Gate Housed inside a citadel built over Hasmonean (Maccabee) foundations, the Tower of David Museum is one-of-a-kind. Suitably located at the gateway to the Old City, this is the only museum in the world that deals exclusively with the history of Jerusalem. Not strictly part of Autumn Nights in the Old City, the Tower of David offers some unique nighttime activities: The Night Spectacular - which I've seen twice and plan to enjoy again - is a brand-new, dazzling sound and light show about Jerusalem projected onto the interior walls of the citadel. It begins with unusual displays after you enter the museum, gets you into the mood with melodies played by a shadowy flutist, and then the fun begins... Autumn Nights Monday and Thursday nights through October. For information call (02) 532-4600, or 106 within Jerusalem. Tower of David Hours in September: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday evenings at 8 and 10; in October: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday evenings at 7 and 9. During Hol Hamoed Succot: October 14, 15, 16, 18 and 19. The program is packed, so if possible order tickets in advance at (02) 626-5333. Fee: Adults NIS 50; children, students and seniors NIS 40. Tower of David Slihot October 2 and 6, Hebrew only. Tickets must be ordered in advance: (02) 626-5331 Price: Adults NIS 75, students and seniors NIS 60. Note: All sites and activities for Autumn Nights will be closed on Rosh Hashana eve and Rosh Hashana itself, Yom Kippur eve and Yom Kippur itself, Succot eve and Succot (but open during Hol Homoed), Simhat Torah eve and Simhat Torah. Also: no events on October 6, but on October 15 there will be tours plus one concert. SLIHOT TOURS During the High Holiday season, tourists from all over Israel swoop into Jerusalem by night and head for neighborhoods established outside the Old City walls in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Most - including hundreds of Jerusalemites - are secular Israelis on guided tours. They move through picturesque lanes in the older parts of the New City, learning about penitence and listening to listen to pre-dawn slihot services in quaint old synagogues. The Tower of David Museum is one of many institutions offering slihot tours. But instead of visiting synagogues in New Jerusalem, on their tours you tread the streets of the Old City. They follow a showing of The Night Spectacular (see above) and include a panoramic, breathtaking nighttime view of Jerusalem from the top of Phasael Tower. Follow your guide through Old City alleyways while studying the meaning of penitential prayer and listening to familiar slihot songs and special slihot poems. The tour ends at the Western Wall.