The New East-West Bridge In Jerusalem

Just outside the Jaffa Gate entrance to the Old City located in what is destined to be the new “heart of Jerusalem”, is the "Mamilla Alrov Quarter” project, designed by the renowned  architect Moshe Safdie.

According to Safdie, who first drew up plans for this area nearly 40 years ago, the “Mamilla Alrov Quarter” promenade is a bridge between the old and the new parts of Jerusalem, a bridge between the religions as well as between Israelis, Jews and Arabs and a place where everyone, tourists and residents of Jerusalem alike, can enjoy themselves.

 The name Mamilla means “that which comes from God.” However, some people claim that the word refers to St. Mamilla, who erected a church in the area long ago. Both the saint and the church are referred to in 870 AD by Bernard the Wise, a French Catholic monk who documented the itinerary of his pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
The neighborhood’s Mameluke Muslim cemetery was also named Mamilla, and the Mamilla Pool, one of the three water cisterns built by King Herod during Second Temple times, was located adjacent to its center.

Although the promenade  is full with fancy stores and restaurants and now a newly opened boutique hotel, it has been planned while making sure  that there is something for people of all  kind of tastes. 

Along its renovated houses the promenade offers  open exhibitions and concerts in its open amphitheater. In the summer nights  there is also free screening of a movie on the walls of the Old City  telling the "story" of Jerusalem.

The promenade is stretched between the King David Street and  Jaffa Gate, entrance to the Old City.