JERUSALEM has stood at the center of the Jewish people's national and spiritual life since King David made it the capital of his kingdom over 3,000 years ago. From the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple in 70 CE to the restoration of Jewish sovereignty in the Land with the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the city was under the control of successive foreign powers; most left their imprint on it, but none made it their national capital. Until the latter half of the 19th century, Jerusalem consisted of a walled city made up of four distinct quarters: Jewish, Muslim, Armenian and Christian. From about 1860 onwards, the growing Jewish population, which had maintained a virtually continuous presence in the city through the ages, became a majority and began to build new neighborhoods outside the wall, forming the nucleus of modern Jerusalem.
Under British rule (1918-1948), Jerusalem was transformed from a neglected, poverty-ridden provincial town of the Ottoman Empire into a flourishing city. During this period, many new neighborhoods were established, each reflecting the character of the particular ethnic group by or for whom it was built.
The armistice line drawn at the end of the 1948-49 War of Independence divided Jerusalem in two, with Jordan controlling the eastern section, including the Old City, and Israel the western sector, which became the country's capital. For the next 19 years, concrete walls and barbed wire sealed off one half of the city from the other.
Reunited as the result of the 1967 Six-Day War, Jerusalem is today Israel's largest city with a population of some 763,600. It is a city which looks simultaneously to its past and its future, by restoring ancient sites, improving infrastructure and building new neighborhoods; it is the capital of Israel, the location of the President's residence, the Knesset (Israel's parliament), the Supreme Court and government ministries; it is a city of diverse populations - Jews and Arabs, religiously observant and secular, Eastern and Western; it is a city where the arts flourish within a vibrant cultural life which is at once international in scope and uniquely Israeli.
Many places sacred to three major world religions are located in Jerusalem: the Western Wall, the last remnant of the Second Temple and a focus of prayer and source of inspiration for Jews in Israel and all over the world; the Dome of the Rock, marking the traditional site of the Prophet Muhammad's ascent to heaven; the Al-Aqsa mosque, considered Islam's third holiest place after Mecca and Medina; the Garden of Gethsemane, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Via Dolorosa and other Christian sites associated with the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth, to name but a few. The almost two million visitors who crowd Jerusalem every year come to explore its well-maintained historical sites and holy places, and to enjoy aspects of its multi-ethnic, multi-cultural character.
Jerusalem: Home of three religions