Cardo Maximus

Jerusalem


The Cardo was originally a 22m-wide colonnaded avenue flanked by roofed arcades, the main artery of Roman and Byzantine Jerusalem. Following excavations in 1975, a southern swath of the broad avenue, 2.5m below present street level, was reconstructed, while another section has been reshaped into an arcade full of art boutiques.

At one time, the Cardo would have run the whole breadth of the city, up to what’s now Damascus Gate, but in its present form, it starts just south of David St, the tourist souq, serving as the main entry into the Jewish Quarter from the Muslim and Christian areas. There are wells that allow you to see down to the levels beneath the street, where there are strata of a wall from the days of the First and Second Temples.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Jerusalem attractions

1. Alone on the Walls Museum

0.04 MILES

Close to the large menorah in the Cardo, the Alone on the Walls Museum presents a Jewish perspective on the May 1948 campaign for control over the city,…

2. Hurva Synagogue

0.04 MILES

To the local Jewish community, the reconstructed Hurva Synagogue is a symbol of resilience. The earliest synagogue on this spot was wrecked in the early…

3. Four Sephardi Synagogues

0.05 MILES

This synagogue complex offers a taster of four places of worship, tightly packed together and able to be visited with a single ticket. The two oldest…

4. Hurva Square

0.06 MILES

The beating heart of the Old City's Jewish Quarter, Hurva Sq thrums with life: tourists rustle heritage maps of the city, children scamper around the…

5. St Mark’s Chapel

0.07 MILES

This medieval chapel is the home of the small Syrian Orthodox congregation in Jerusalem, who believe that it occupies the site of the home of St Mark’s…

6. Herodian Quarter Museum

0.07 MILES

Descend to Jerusalem's ancient bones at this small subterranean museum. Among its impressively intact archaeological sites is a 600-sq-m Herodian-era…

7. Burnt House

0.12 MILES

Buried under rubble for centuries and only recently excavated, this house was destroyed in 70 CE when the Romans put the city to the torch. The…

8. St James’ Cathedral

0.13 MILES

Accessible only during services, the interior of this 12th-century cathedral is infused with incense smoke. Blue-and-white tiles and glittering icons…

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