Haas Promenade

Haas Promenade Review

Get your bearings in Jerusalem by taking in the panorama from the Haas Promenade, an attractive 1-km (2/3-mi) promenade (tayelet in Hebrew) along one of the city's highest ridges. Hidden behind a grove of trees to the east (your right as you pan the view) is a turreted limestone building, the residence of the British High Commissioner for Palestine in the 1930s and '40s. In Hebrew, the whole ridge is known as Armon Hanatziv, the Commissioner's Palace. The building became the headquarters of the U.N. Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), charged with monitoring the 1949 armistice line that divided the city. It remained a neutral enclave between Israeli West Jerusalem and Jordanian-controlled East Jerusalem until the reunification of the city in the Six Days' War of 1967. West Jerusalem is off to your left, its Downtown area easily distinguishable by the high-rises. The walls of the Old City and the golden Dome of the Rock are directly in front of you. To the right of it is the ridge of Mt. Scopus-Mt. of Olives, with its three towers (from left to right, Hebrew University, Augusta Victoria Hospital, and Russian Church of the Ascension), separated from the Old City by the deep Kidron Valley. South of the Old City walls (between your location and the black-domed al-Aqsa Mosque) is a blade-shaped strip of land, between the valley and a steep asphalt road. That was the original nucleus of ancient Jerusalem, established over 4,000 years ago, and captured by King David circa 1000 BC (whence came the biblical name "the City of David"). You can reach the promenade by car from Hebron Road—consult a map, and look for signs to East Talpiot and the Haas Promenade—by Bus 8, or of course by cab. If the traffic flows well, it's a 10-minute drive from Downtown, 5 minutes from the German Colony.