Jerusalem Archaeological Park
Davidson Center, the Jerusalem Archaeological Park, is located nearby the western and southern walls in the Old City of Jerusalem. This park offers a unique insight into the history of this city through archaeological findings. Beside the Western Wall, a sign explains the parts of the archaeological park and this section of the park can be visited without a fee.
There is a small arch which was built to support the walkway above it, about 2,000 years ago. One can see scattered stones beside the Western Wall, most of these stones came from the destruction by the Roman soldiers in 70 AD.
Ummayad Palace
A walkway lined with the broken columns and stones on both sides, starts from the ticket office. A covered area, next to the southern wall is the place where once Ummayad Palace stood. There wasn’t much to see from the remains of the palace under this structure. Few broken columns and stones were only link to the Ummayad Palace.
Viewing Platform
A flight of stairs lead to the top of the viewing platform in the park. From that viewing point, residential buildings from the Byzantine period (6th-7th century) were buried under the Ummayad Palace and now they are visible. Parts of the Archaeological Park and the Jewish Quarter can be seen on one side while Mount of Olives and the Palestinian neighborhood of Ras al-Amud on the other side in East Jerusalem.
Huldah Gates
On the ground floor, two arched like gates bring visitors to the opposite side of the park. Double Gate (Huldah Gates) are almost hidden in the Southern Wall. In the past, each arch of the double gate led into an aisle of a passageway leading from the gate into the Temple Mount. Triple Gates are next to the Double Gtaes and during the holidays and busy days, the eastern gates were used for entry to the Temple.
Remains from the First Temple period
Stairs bring visitors to the bottom of the Jerusalem Archaeological Park, where finds have been recovered from the First Temple period. Then stairs turn into these small steps which are guarded by two walls. Some of the walls and structures belong to the First Temple which was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC. There was a wall which had its base from the First Temple era and top dates back from the Byzantine period.
Robinson’s Arch sits on the Western Wall, it was built to link the Tyropoeon Valley street, a major traffic artery in the Second Temple Period.
Davidson Centre
The Davidson Centre is built into the basement of an eighth century Ummayad Palace. It has few items on display and also a model showing the Temple Mount and the Old City of Jerusalem. Inside the Davidson Centre there were photos showing how Jerusalem looked like in the past, notably the Second Temple. A display on a wall of the Davidson Centre was showing different continents of the World and Jerusalem written in different languages.
