Eric and Devyn in Jerusalem: Tower of David (The Citadel)

Despite what our photos seem to suggest, the entire city of Jerusalem is not located within the walls of the Old City. Quite like Seattle, Jerusalem is comprised of a series of neighborhoods, each having its own distinct personality. It is not surprising that many tourists might only experience the Old City, as this area is so densely packed with history and sights, but the other neighborhoods have been fun to explore, as well. Our new apartment is located southwest of the Old City, in a neighborhood called Old Katamon. While the neighborhood itself is mostly residential, we are just a couple blocks away from a more hopping neighborhood called the German Colony and Eric is only a 15 minute walk from his school. The German Colony is brimming with coffee shops, restaurants serving a wide range of international foods (there is even a place which we think will become our new Delancey equivalent, except for the fact that the delicious flat bread will never be topped with cheese and sausage...welcome to the land of keeping Kosher), and English speakers. The entire city is fairly English friendly, but this particular neighborhood seems especially accommodating without being ultra touristy. We will post pictures of this neighborhood soon, but all of this is to say that Jerusalem mostly looks like a normal city that just happens to have some crazy historically significant areas :)

So, now to discuss today's topic: The Tower of David. This museum of sorts lies just inside the Old City wall at the Jaffa Gate (there are various entrances into the Old City, each with its own name), and is comprised of remnants of a palace dating back to the 1st century, a contemporary gallery with local art, and exhibitions detailing the history of Jerusalem. As I am sure you have noticed by now, Jerusalem has been in the hands of many different rulers and each ruling period is marked by a distinct style or religion. It can be pretty overwhelming to keep track of the timeline of this city, so a museum like this that breaks it all down into manageable pieces is a nice compliment to all of the tour books and History Channel YouTube videos (yes, we do normally watch educational videos to help make sense of everything we are experiencing!). Someday I will try to put together a timeline of the different ruling periods, but I have a feeling it will turn into a bigger project than I am anticipating :)

Here are a few pictures from our morning at the Tower. I will mention one fact that was especially interesting about this fortress: When the Crusaders took over the Tower, they built a moat around the walls for added protection. However, being that Jerusalem is located in the middle of the desert and water is scarce, the moat was never filled. I suppose even an empty moat provides some extra protection from invaders, but we thought it was funny that the builders would consider adding a moat that they knew could never be filled.

A model of the Tower of David fortress as it stands today. Along the left you can see the dry moat that runs along the outside of the walls.

Happy tourists :)

This model of Jerusalem was built in 1872 by a Hungarian immigrant. It is hard to see here, but he captured so many details of the city and the model itself is quite large (maybe 8 feet by 7 feet or so?). After being shown in a few fairs around Europe, the model was tucked away and forgotten in the Geneva Public Library for 64 years. It was uncovered in 1984 and moved back to Jerusalem for renovation and display.