Musrara – The Neighborhood That Was a Border and Became an Art Hub in the Heart of Jerusalem

Just a few minutes' walk from Damascus Gate and from Safra Square, Musrara begins - one of the most fascinating and least known neighborhoods in Jerusalem. From the outside it looks like a weave of old stone houses and quiet streets; anyone who knows its history knows that this was once the most dangerous front line in the city, and that it later became one of Jerusalem's most creative corners.

The neighborhood's character and history

Musrara (its official Hebrew name is Morasha) was founded at the end of the 19th century by well-off Arab Christian families looking to escape the crowding of the Old City. They built imposing stone houses with tiled roofs and arched, decorated openings - many of which still stand on the neighborhood's streets and give it its distinctive architectural character.

With the war of 1948 most of the Arab residents left their homes, and the neighborhood found itself on the seam line that divided Jerusalem between 1948 and 1967 - right up against the border with Jordan, under constant threat from snipers. During those years the abandoned houses were settled by new immigrants from North Africa, and the housing hardship and discrimination they experienced led in 1971 to the founding of the "Black Panthers" protest movement - one of the most significant protest movements in Israel's history, campaigning for the rights of Jews of Middle Eastern and Sephardic origin.

Since the 1970s Musrara has undergone a gradual regeneration, and in recent decades it has become an artistic hub: the Muslala group runs a community garden and public-art trails here, and the neighborhood is home to "Musrara - the Naggar Multidisciplinary School of Art and Society", a higher-education institution in photography, new media art and phototherapy, alongside the Ma'aleh film school.

What to see and do

The neighborhood's main axes are Shivtei Yisrael Street, the eastern end of HaNevi'im Street and the western end of Sultan Suleiman Street. It is worth wandering the side streets and looking at the historic Arab stone houses, many of them restored, alongside the street art and installations that the Muslala group has placed in the public space. In recent years the neighborhood has been added to Jerusalem's municipal conservation list, which says something about its architectural and historical value.

Food and cafés

Musrara is mainly a relatively quiet residential neighborhood rather than a culinary center like other parts of the city - but that is precisely what makes the experience authentic and less touristy. Anyone looking for cafés, restaurants and a wide range of street food will find them a short walk away, at the nearby Mahane Yehuda Market with its dozens of stalls and eating places.

Getting there

Musrara's location makes it a convenient starting point for a day in Jerusalem: it sits right against Damascus Gate and the Old City to the south, borders the Russian Compound and Safra Square to the west, and the Mea Shearim and Beit Yisrael neighborhoods to the north. In practice it is a walking bridge between the center of the new city - around Jaffa Road and the Ben Yehuda pedestrian mall - and the walls of the Old City, which makes it easy to fold into a wider walking tour of central Jerusalem.

If you are planning a visit to the area, follow livejlm.com for ongoing updates on events, tours and cultural activity in Jerusalem, including in and around Musrara, and see what is on right now at the nearby Mahane Yehuda Market.