Cardo

Cardo Review

Today it's known for shopping, but the Cardo has a long history. In AD 135, the Roman emperor Hadrian built his town of Aelia Capitolina on the ruins of Jerusalem, an urban plan essentially preserved in the Old City of today. The cardo maximus, the generic name for the city's main north-south street, began at the strategic Damascus Gate in the north, where sections of the pavement have been unearthed. With the Christianization of the Roman Empire in the 4th century, access to Mt. Zion and its important Christian sites became a priority, and the main street was eventually extended into today's Jewish Quarter. The original width—today you see only half—was 73 feet, about the width of a six-lane highway. A strip of good stores (jewelry, art, Judaica, T-shirts, and souvenirs) occupies the Cardo's medieval reincarnation.