Jerusalem

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There is nowhere else on earth where you can visit the holiest site of Judaism, one of the holiest sites of Christianity, and the third holiest site of Islam, all in the same square mile, at Moriah, where Abraham almost sacrificed his son Isaac according to Jewish tradition.

In and around the Old City of Jerusalem, which is surrounded by the protective wall built by the Ottoman Emperor Suleiman in 1536, you can visit the archaeological excavation of the original city built by King David 3,000 years ago, and remains of the magnificent city and Temple Mount, including the Western Wall, the holiest site of Judaism, built by King Herod the Great 2,000 years ago. You can even walk along the ancient Cardo, the main street of the Roman and Byzantine cities. And this is only the beginning.

In today's Old City, there is a unique blending of ancient and modern. You can walk through the homes of the priests, the Cohanim, who served in the Temple during the first century, and see the destruction by fire that took place in the year 70 by the Romans, all preserved underground. Then walk upstairs to ground-level and see the modern Jewish Quarter, rebuilt and flourishing after 1,900 years of exile.

Atop the Temple Mount stands the magnificent gilded Dome of the Rock, built by the early Muslim caliph Omar over the Rock of Foundation, considered to be the place from which the world was created, in Jewish and Muslim traditions. Nearby is the El Aksa mosque, a focus for Muslims from around the world, in addition to those living nearby in the Muslim Quarter.

A ten-minute walk from here is the Christian Quarter, with the Via Dolorosa ("The Way of the Agonies") and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which together include the important places of the last days of Jesus, from his trial in Antonia Fortress, to the crucifixion at Golgotha, and the burial and rising from the grave according to Christian tradition; it's all within the walls of the Old City. The nearby Armenian Quarter has additional churches, museums and world famous pottery artisans. Need a break? Walk through the colorful shuk, or market, of the Old City, eat lunch at a variety of informal eateries, drink Turkish coffee, and relax between sites.

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