One Mile on Nablus Road

With Said Rabieh

About the Tour:

Did you know in historic Palestine, Jerusalem was only a small city on the Nablus Road, which connected the major cities of Nablus and Hebron? While this tour will only show you one mile of the Nablus Road, the historic landmarks and neighborhoods like Sheikh Jarrah to the remains of Jerusalem’s fourth wall will transport you into a world of love stories, community life, faith traditions, and rich encounters just outside the Old City. Come to Jerusalem, stay in Nablus Road!

Curated By:
Said Rabieh

Tour Duration:
Half-day tour (approx. 5 hours)

What to Bring:
Tourists should bring comfortable shoes, comfortable clothes, water, and sunscreen for walking.

About the Guide

Said Rabieh

With Said Rabieh is a well-gifted tour guide with humble beginnings. His passion is for alternative tourism, and the stories he has collected from Jerusalem are not a result of research or archaeology but from oral story-telling passed down generation by generation. With his arsenal of community street legends and folklore, vIsitors will come to appreciate the living history of Nablus Road through this tour. With Said as your tour guide, you will thoroughly enjoy the journey leading to Jerusalem.

Tour Highlights

Walk 1km of the Nablus Road from Sheikh Jarrah to Damascus Gate Visit and witness religious sites and the remains of Jerusalem’s fourth wall Listen to the stories of local Palestinians living in east Jerusalem Envision the Samaritan highway as it was centuries ago, when the Nablus Road was part of the Samaritan highway to the Galilee

Tour Details

The tour starts at Sheikh Jarrah, where every Friday a vigil by Israeli and Palestinian peace activists takes place against the eviction of Palestinian families from their homes. We will walk to and learn about the stories behind the refugee camp’s building, Sheikh Jarrah mosque, and the American Colony Hotel. Outside of Nablus Road you will also see a Palestinian school and girls orphanage house and the Mandelbaum Gate on the border line between east and west Jerusalem. You will learn the history of all these places. Back on Nablus Road, we will visit numerous other sites along the journey, including The YMCA building, a Palestinian pottery and ceramics factory founded in 1922 and still run by an Armenian Nishan Balian family, the remains of the fourth wall of Jerusalem built about 64 A.D and destroyed in 70 A.D, the St. Etienne complex which includes burial caves and tombs with about 202 items of different periods of time, the garden tomb, and Freij grocery shop, where we hear the story of a Palestinian Christian family who fled from west Jerusalem in 1948. Before reaching Damascus Gate, we will also take a stop to look at the beautiful scenery from Bab Al Amoud.

Testimonials

As a solo traveler, this tour was perfect for me to take it slow and fully embrace the stories. Said was a very personable guide and tons of knowledge about the surrounding history of Jerusalem. Really recommend for any group or traveler that wants an unconventional tour that’s not just a walk through the Old City.

Said brought the stories of Nablus road to life. The tour was varied and included everything from local initiatives for peace, religion, traditional craftsmanship, and food. It’s amazing that this one mile road holds so many hidden gems.

I had never heard of Nablus road before taking this tour. Wow, was I missing out! Jerusalem has so much to offer beyond the old city. Said really makes you fall in love with Nablus road and shows you the beauty of what this street has to offer.