About the project
The Garden of Redemption is a one-acre garden located just within the Old City walls between Zion Gate and Dung Gate, below the main parking area of the Old City’s Jewish Quarter. The park includes the restored remains of the Nea Church, of a tower from the Ayyubid (Muslim) period (c. 1212) and of a Crusader building, as well as lawns, plantings and play equipment (a basketball court was added later). The area in which the park is located had been neglected over many years and had become a garbage dump. According to archaeologist Dan Bahat, the area had at various times included a lepers’ hostel, an abattoir and a matzo bakery used by residents of the Jewish Quarter. The project donors were a group of Holocaust survivors who dedicated the park on the 40th anniversary of the independence of the State of Israel.
