\nOn June 10, 1967, immediately after the liberation of the Temple Mount, IDF bulldozers cleared away the homes of the Mughrabi Quarter and dismantled the narrow stone wall that had hidden the Western Wall\u2014a cramped 3.6-meter-wide alley where worshippers had squeezed in for decades.<\/p>\n
Within days, a temporary plaza was established. In the following years, it expanded into a 20,000-square-meter space capable of holding some 60,000 people during festive prayers\u2014dimensions that were unimaginable when the Wall was photographed near 1966, while Jordanian Legion troops were still stationed nearby.<\/p>\n
The Western Wall: Then and Now<\/strong><\/p>\n Jaffa Gate: The Kaiser\u2019s Breach and a 21st-Century Square<\/strong> Mahane Yehuda Market: From Produce Market to Culinary Hub<\/strong> The First Station: From Steam Train to Cultural Center<\/strong> Mamilla: From Ruined Border to Luxury Promenade<\/strong> Yemin Moshe: From 1857 to 2012<\/strong> From the Western Wall Plaza to Mamilla and the Mahane Yehuda Market, landmarks etched into the national memory have undergone dramatic transformation\u2014reshaping the face of a city where past and future are constantly intertwined.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":24537,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2277,129,88,2564],"tags":[6083,6081,1493,4434,2388,6082,6079,6080,1828,6084],"class_list":["post-24535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-history","category-judaism","category-will-remember","category-travel","tag-first-station","tag-historical-preservation","tag-jerusalem","tag-jerusalem-day","tag-mahane-yehuda","tag-mamilla","tag-old-city","tag-urban-renewal","tag-western-wall","tag-yemin-moshe"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2-187.webp\")
\nIn 1898, the Ottoman authorities opened a new breach in the city wall to allow German Emperor Wilhelm II to enter by carriage. Photographs from 1880\u20131900 show a narrow gate surrounded by a muddy trench and a camel khan.
\nIn 2004, city engineers removed the road that had once cut through the citadel, created a broad pedestrian plaza, and connected it to Mamilla. The result: a transformation from a crumbling commercial gate into a polished stone piazza that now hosts festivals and state receptions.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/3-109.webp\")
\nIn 1928, British Mandate officials cleared away the market\u2019s makeshift stalls, installed orderly tin roofs, and gave it its official name: Mahane Yehuda.
\nA hundred years later, the market has more bars than tomato crates. A centennial article noted that the stalls close at six\u2014and by eight, DJ music echoes over beer barrels.
\nThe transformation has turned the shuk<\/em> into a global nightlife hotspot, but it has also sparked debate about whether the market has lost its original identity as a place for fresh produce.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/4-37.webp\")
\nThe Ottoman-era train station, opened in 1892, welcomed passengers on the Jaffa\u2013Jerusalem line and, at its peak, transported 30,000 tons of goods annually. After decades of abandonment, \u201cThe First Station\u201d reopened in May 2013 as a complex of art, restaurants, and fitness venues.
\nTens of thousands of visitors came during the first Shavuot after its reopening\u2014posing for photos beside the restored railcar, skateboarders, and digital lawns.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/5-15.webp\")
\nOriginally built in the 19th century as a Jewish\u2013Arab commercial hub, Mamilla was abandoned during the 1948 War and became a desolate border zone until 1967.
\nAfter 37 years of planning, the Mamilla Mall and promenade opened in 2007\u2014610 meters of polished Jerusalem stone, 140 stores, and dozens of outdoor sculptures.
\nPhotos of the ruins from the 1970s now sit side-by-side with snapshots of the thriving startup-nation energy pulsing along the same path.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/6-8.webp\")
\nMoses Montefiore built the windmill as a Jewish employment initiative outside the city walls, but Jerusalem\u2019s winds didn\u2019t meet expectations, and the mill was abandoned by the end of the 19th century.
\nIn 2012, the windmill was restored with funding from a Dutch Christian organization. New blades were installed, and the structure once again began turning\u2014visible to visitors strolling along the Sherover Promenade.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/7-3.webp\")