The Herodian Quarter
The Wohl Museum of Archeology comprises six excavated residential houses from the Roman period referred to as the Herodian Quarter. The area is located within the Jewish Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem facing the Temple Mount. This location, along with a unique construction technique on the side of Jerusalem’s hill which used one house’s roof as another’s cellar, enabled the area’s wealthy residents to each have a perfectly unobstructed view of the Second Temple from their private terraces.
Within the museum, visitors can enter the Western House, the Middle Complex and the Palatial Mansion. Each building is assumed to be the home of priests from the Temple period, as evidenced by the upper class features found during archaeological excavations. The bathrooms include intricate floor mosaics and colorful wall paintings. Fancy plates and drinking vessels imported from abroad, utensils and other archeological findings demonstrating their wealth are on display from the excavations. All three buildings are beautifully designed and offer a display of artifacts from the time, including an engraved image of the Second Temple’s seven candled menorah carved into the building's wall. Of the museum’s three houses, the Palatial Mansion is known to be the most impressive, featuring six hundred square meters in one residence.
The Herodian Quarter and the Wohl Museum of Archeology are open Sunday to Thursday from 9am through 5pm; Fridays from 9am until 1pm. The museum is closed on Saturdays and Jewish holidays.