In the Middle Ages, the halls of the Order of Hospitallers stood at this place. The name of the order is derived from a Latin word meaning to give shelter. Its purpose was to welcome the pilgrims and provide them with help and protection. The patron saint of the order is John the Baptist. Hence another name of the order is the order of St. John. After the expulsion of the Crusaders from the Holy Land, the Knights settled in Rhodes and then migrated to Malta. With them came the emblem of the Order - the Red Cross on a white background. This symbol is known by its current name: the Maltese cross. In the middle of the 19th century in Jerusalem, there was an attempt to revive the Order of the Knights. It took place at the initiative of Queen Victoria of England. As a result, the Order of Hospitallers, or the Order of the Reverend St. John, was established on Hebron Road, as the largest ophthalmological clinic in the Middle East, and provided relief and charitable services to the needy. However, in 1948, after the city was divided between Jordan and Israel, the order moved to the Old City, and its activity diminished.
The trip takes us from the Jaffa Gate through the Christian Quarter to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. After that, we will visit Golgotha, the stone of anointing, burial, and resurrection, St. Helena Chapel - the site where the Holy cross was found. Further, the route passes through Muristan to the Jewish Quarter, Kardo Street, excavations of the walls of Jerusalem from the time of Jesus, the mosaic of Madaba, the Hurva Synagogue, the Menorah, the panorama of the Olive and Temple Mountains, the Wailing Wall. Finally, we return to the Jaffa Gate through the Muslim Quarter, the monuments of the Mamluk architecture, and the street of David.
