4 days in Jerusalem - Part IV: Temple Mount, Gethsemane, Jerusalem, Israel

Temple Mount, with the imposing Al-Aqsa Mosque and the striking Dome of the Rock, is one of the most sacred and disputed areas of Jerusalem. During my fourth day in the Holy City, I queued up during its limited opening hours to ensure that I could access this unique place.

Its location made it perfect to combine my visit with the nearby biblical sites of the Garden of Gethsemane and the Mount of Olives, where some of the most important events of the New Testament took place; as well as the City of David, the archaeological site where the city of Jerusalem originated over 3000 years ago!

Visiting Temple Mount as a non-Muslim tourist can be tricky. The complex only opens Sunday through Thursday from 7:30 am to 11:00 am, and from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm. During the winter months, the closing time is 10:00 in the morning, and it reopens from 12:30 pm to 1:30pm in the afternoon.

As you can imagine, due to the limited opening hours, the queues can be long and people tend to line up well in advance to make sure that they can get in before the closing time.

This was the only day that I could visit Temple Mount, so I had to make it on time no matter what. I didn't want to wait under the sun, so I headed to the main access in the morning around 8 am, a bit later than planned. The entrance is located on the right-hand side of the Western Wall Plaza. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).