Christian Quarter

The Christian Quarter ( ar, حارة النصارى, ''Ḥārat al-Naṣārā''; he, הרובע הנוצרי, ''Ha-Rova ha-Notsri'') is one of the four quarters of the walled Old City of Jerusalem, the other three being the Jewish Quarter, the Muslim Quarter and the Armenian Quarter. The Christian Quarter is situated in the northwestern corner of the Old City, extending from the New Gate in the north, along the western wall of the Old City as far as the Jaffa Gate, along the Jaffa Gate - Western Wall route in the south, bordering on the Jewish and Armenian Quarters, as far as the Damascus Gate in the east, where it borders on the Muslim Quarter. The Christian quarter contains about 40 Christian holy places. First among them is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Christianity's holiest place. Most of its residents are Palestinian Christians, despite their dwindling numbers.

Description

The Christian Quarter was built around the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is the heart of the quarter. There is a cluster of churches and monasteries surrounding it. The quarter contains few residential houses, which are mostly concentrated in its southern-eastern part. Most buildings are religious, touristic, and educational in character, such as the Terra Sancta High School, the Lutheran School, the St. Pierre School, and the Collège des Frères at the New Gate.

Christian churches and institutions are spread across much of the quarter. Besides the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, there are the seats of most of the various church denominations, generally known as patriarchates, even if some officially hold a different status (the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, which owns large tracts of the quarter, the Latin, as well as the Greek Catholic, the Coptic, and the Ethiopian patriarchates), while the Franciscan Monastery of St Saviour (often called by its Italian name, San Salvatore) is the seat of the Custody of the Holy Land.Wager (1988).

The quarter also contains souvenir shops, coffee houses, restaurants and hotels. The shops are concentrated in the west–east market street, the David Street, and along the north-south Christian Quarter Road, or simply Christian Road. Some of the hotels, such as the Casa Nova Hotel and the Greek Catholic hotel, were built by the churches as places for visitors to stay. Others are private hotels.

The quarter contains some small museums, such as the museum of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate. In the southwestern part of the quarter there is a pool called Hezekiah's Pool or Patriarch's Pool that was used to store water for the area.

History

Late 19th century

In the 19th century, European countries sought to expand their influence in Jerusalem and began constructing several structures in the Christian Quarter. The Ottoman authorities attempted to halt European influence and established rules for buying land in the area, but personal interventions from the heads of those countries, including Wilhelm II of Germany and Franz Joseph of Austria, led to construction of some buildings for those countries' religious and secular authorities.

At the end of the 19th century, there was no further free land for development in the Christian Quarter. In the same period, the Suez Canal had opened and many Christians travelled to the Holy Land. This led to intensified competition between the European powers for influence in Jerusalem. France built hospitals, a monastery, and hostels for visitors outside the Old City adjacent to the Christian Quarter - an area which became known as the French area. The Russians located themselves in the nearby Russian Compound.

There was a natural desire for easy travel between the Christian Quarter and the new development, but at the time the Old City walls formed a barrier and travellers were forced to take an indirect path through either Jaffa Gate or Nablus Gate. In 1898, the Ottomans accepted the request of the European countries and breached a new gate in the Old City walls, in the area of the new development. The gate was called the New Gate.

Landmarks

Churches

* Church of the Holy Sepulchre
* Cathedral of Our Lady of the Annunciation (Melkite Greek Catholic church)
* Co-Cathedral of the Most Holy Name of Jesus (Catholic)
* Church of the Redeemer (Lutheran)
* Alexander Nevsky Church (Russian Orthodox) with the "Alexander Hospice" and the "Russian excavations"
* Church of St John the Baptist (Greek Orthodox)

Monasteries

* Deir es-Sultan (Ethiopian)
*Monastery of Saint Saviour (Franciscan)

Mosques

* Mosque of Omar (Mamluk)
* Al-Khanqah al-Salahiyya Mosque (Mamluk) at the site of the Crusader palace of the Latin Patriarch

Markets

Many of the streets function as typical oriental bazaars or suqs, with the David Street and Christian Quarter Road most prominent among them.
*Suq Aftimos (19th century) covers much of the Muristan quarter

Relation to Armenian Quarter

Though formally separate from the main bulk of the Christian Quarter, which houses mostly Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic sites, the Armenians consider their adjacent Armenian Quarter to be part of the Christian Quarter. The three Christian patriarchates of Jerusalem – the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem – as well as the government of Armenia, have all publicly expressed their opposition to any political division of the two quarters. The central reasons for the existence of a separate Armenian Quarter is the distinct language and culture of the Armenians, who, unlike the majority of Christians in Jerusalem, Israel and Palestine, are neither Arab nor Palestinian.

Notes

References

Bibliography

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Neighbourhoods of Jerusalem
Christianity in Jerusalem
Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem
Arab Christian communities in Israel
Palestinian Christian communities
Quarters (urban subdivision)