Mishkenot Sha’ananim is the first Jewish neighborhood built outside Jerusalem’s Old city, and it has preserved its unique character. Its cobblestone alleys and 19th-century architecture make this community a charming, quiet hidden gem facing the Old City walls.

History of Mishkenot Sha’ananim

In the mid-19th century, the philanthropist Yehudah Touro, a wealthy Jewish merchant from Rhode Island and New Orleans, bequeathed $60,000 to the Jews of the Holy Land. Sir Moses Montefiore carried out Touro’s wishes by purchasing a plot opposite Jerusalem’s Armenian Quarter, in 1860. He built a new and modern neighborhood for the Jews of Jerusalem living in the poorly maintained and overcrowded Jewish Quarter. He designed it as two parallel buildings with a flour mill above, providing bread and work for the community. Despite it appearing to be an attractive new neighborhood, few families moved in, fearing life outside the city walls. In 1865, a plague afflicted Jerusalem, but the residents of Mishkenot Sha’ananim suffered fewer casualties than residents of the Old City, convincing more families to move.

By the beginning of the 20th century, the Jews had established over ten additional communities outside the city walls, laying the foundation of today’s Jewish West Jerusalem. In 1948, the residents of Mishkenot Sha’ananim abandoned it in fear of Jordanian snipers who had conquered the Old City. After the Six Day War, in 1967, Israel united Jerusalem under its control. It restored the historical neighborhood of Mishkenot, along with the adjacent neighborhood of Yemin Moshe which was built 20 years after Mishkenot, reviving their historical charm.

Touring Mishkenot Sha’ananim

Today, Mishkenot Sha’ananim houses the Jerusalem Music Center and an upscale guest house reserved for guests of the municipality and the state of Israel. Its trademark, the windmill, is fully restored and functional. Yemin Moshe is also a quaint neighborhood well worth a visit. 

A tour of Mishkenot Sha’ananim can be integrated into a Day Tour of Jerusalem.