The Cardo Maximus and Burnt House

The Cardo Maximus and the Burnt House are two of the most interesting archaeological sites you will find, not only in Jerusalem but in Israel as a whole. It is located in the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem's Old City. 

The Jewish quarter is one of the four quarters of the Old City of Jerusalem. The other three are the Muslim, Christian and Armenian quarters. Jews have been living in this quarter for about 2,800 years!!! The quarter contains the Western Wall (known in Hebrew as the Kotel), which is an important holy site for Jews.

But you don’t need to be Jewish in order to find the Jewish quarter interesting. If you already visited the Kotel, here are two interesting sites I would recommend for you to visit:

The Cardo

The Cardo or Cardo Maximus (its full name), means ‘the main line’ in Latin. It is the main street that runs from North to South during the Roman rule of Jerusalem. The Cardo was established in the 2nd century CE as part of the rebuilt Jerusalem – that was now called Aelia Capitolina by the Romans. It was built on the ruins of Jerusalem following the Jewish revolt of 70 CE.

Remains of the ancient Roman Cardo. Picture by Gaspa.

The Cardo was the center of trade in the city, and contained many shops and vendors on both sides of the street. I guess it was somewhat like today’s mall. Today once again the Cardo has shops operating in it, close to the archeological findings that contain rows of Roman columns, stone floor and arches.

The modern-day Cardo. Picture by David.

The Burnt House

This is a fascinating archeological site. In this site you can find the remains of a house that belonged to the well-known (at the time) Kathros family. The Kathros were a Jewish wealthy priestly family, and their house got burned when Jerusalem was conquered by the Romans. You can find remains dating back to 70CE there, including furniture, coins and vessels.

The audio-visual presentation is quite real too, and you will be able to learn from it about the events during the revolt against the Romans.

Pottery in one of the rooms of the Burnt House.