Mazkeret Moshe

Mazkeret Moshe is identified by its narrow, enclosed courtyard tucked behind a heavy stone gate, designed to look inward rather than out at the street. Built in eighteen eighty-two, it was the third neighborhood established outside the Old City walls, funded by a wealthy London philanthropist named Moses Montefiore. Its residents initially struggled with isolation and the harsh desert conditions of that era. One original settler famously refused to leave his post, even when the neighborhood faced a total lack of water.