Mount of Olives and Gethsemane

The Mount of Olives and Gethsemane

A panoramic view of history

The Mount of Olives is the ridge east of the Old City, with a sweeping view over the Temple Mount. Its slopes hold the oldest and most important Jewish cemetery, in use for some 3,000 years, as well as Christian churches and a Russian Orthodox convent. Jews could not visit the cemetery between 1948 and 1967. At the foot of the ridge, the Garden of Gethsemane is where, in the Gospels, Jesus prayed before his arrest, and its ancient olive trees are among the oldest in the region. The Church of All Nations stands beside it.

Glossary: Mount of Olives