Mount Zion and the Cenacle

Mount Zion is the hill just outside the Zion Gate on the southwestern side of the Old City of Jerusalem, Israel. Early Christians identified the area as the site of the Upper Room, where tradition places the Last Supper and the Pentecost gathering. Byzantine churches stood here, and the Crusaders built the Church of Holy Zion, of which the first-floor Cenacle, a Gothic hall with ribbed vaults, remains. After the Mamluk conquest, a mihrab was added and the room was used as a mosque for centuries, and it is today a museum-like space administered by the Israeli authorities. On the ground floor, a chamber is venerated in Jewish tradition as the Tomb of King David, a Crusader-period structure with a cenotaph draped in cloth, which has been a Jewish pilgrimage site since the Middle Ages. Nearby, the Dormition Abbey, a Benedictine church built in 1900-1910 in Romanesque Revival style with a prominent bell tower and a mosaic floor, marks the place where tradition says the Virgin Mary fell asleep. Its crypt contains a carved figure of Mary in repose. The Church of St Peter in Gallicantu, on the eastern slope, and the Protestant cemetery, where Oskar Schindler is buried, add further points of interest. The neighbourhood has seen conflict, as the abbey and cemetery were damaged during the 1948 war, and later restored. The site is a compact outdoor and indoor complex, reached on foot from Zion Gate, with narrow lanes and modest entrance rules. Visitors should dress modestly, and the Tomb of David has separate entrances for men and women. Opening times are limited and close for Shabbat and Jewish holidays.