The Muslim Quarter (; ) is one of the four sectors of the ancient, walled Old City of Jerusalem. It covers of the northeastern sector of the Old City.The Holy Land, pg. 29.(This area excludes the Temple Mount which measures 35 acres) The quarter is the largest and most populous of the four quarters and extends from the Lions' Gate in the east, along the northern wall of the Temple Mount in the south, to the Damascus Gate—Western Wall route in the west. The Via Dolorosa starts in this quarter, a path Jesus had to take when he was forced by Roman soldiers.Muslim Quarter of the "Old City" section of Jerusalem The population of the Muslim Quarter was reported in 2012 as 22,000.
Boundaries The Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem is bordered by the Christian Quarter to the west, the Jewish Quarter to the south, and the Armenian Quarter to the southwest. The old city walls border the Quarter from the north.
The convention of a "Muslim Quarter", in what was then a Muslim-majority city, may have originated in its current form in the 1841 British Royal Engineers map of Jerusalem, or at least Reverend George Williams' subsequent labelling of it. The city had previously been divided into many more ḥarat (: "quarters", "neighborhoods", "districts" or "areas", see wikt:حارة). The city had previously been considered in sections relating to a much wider range of medieval groups. From the mid-19th century onwards, with the influx of Jewish immigrants, the areas of the city inhabited by Muslims began to decrease.
The table below shows the evolution of the area today known as the "Muslim Quarter", from 1495 up until the modern system:
Local divisionsWestern divisions Date 1495 1500s 1800s 1900 1840s onwards Source Mujir al-Din Ottoman Census Traditional system Ottoman Census Modern maps Quarters Ghuriyya (Turiyya) Bab el-Asbat Muslim Quarter (north) North-east Bab Hutta Bab Hutta Bab Hutta Bab Hutta Masharqa Bani Zayd Bani Zayd Sa'diyya Sa'diyya North-west Bab el-'Amud Bab el-'Amud Bab el-'Amud Bab el-'Amud Bani Murra Marzaban Bab el-Qattanin Bab es-Silsila Wad Muslim Quarter (south) South Qattanin Aqabet es-Sitta Wad 'Aqabet et-Takiya
History The Muslim Quarter had a mixed population of Jews, Muslims and Christians until the 1929 Palestine riots.
Some 60 Jewish families now live in the Muslim Quarter. Yeshivat Ateret Yerushalayim is the largest yeshiva.The Yeshiva's History - Retrieved 18 September 2014
In 2007, the Israeli government started funding the construction of The Flowers Gate development plan, the first Jewish settlement inside the Muslim Quarter since 1967. It would include 20 apartments and a synagogue.
Landmarks
Jewish landmarks include the Kotel Katan or Little Western Wall, and the Western Wall Tunnels, which run below the neighborhood along the Western Wall. There are many Roman and Crusader remains in the quarter. The first seven Stations of the Cross on Via Dolorosa (Way of the Cross) are located there.Jerusalem - The Old City
See also Armenian Quarter Ateret Cohanim Bab Al Huta Birket Israel Christian Quarter Church of the Flagellation Galicia Courtyard Jerusalem in Islam Jewish Quarter Ohel Yitzchak Synagogue Pool of Bethesda Religious significance of the Syrian region St Anne's Church Via Dolorosa Zedekiah's Cave
References
External links HD Virtual Tour of the Muslim Quarter - December 2007