The Pilgrimage Road in the City of David

The Pilgrimage Road in the City of David, also known as the Stepped Street, was one of the most important streets in Jerusalem during the Second Temple period. This ancient stone-paved road led from the Pool of Siloam, at the southern end of the City of David, up toward the Temple Mount, the spiritual heart of Jerusalem and the holiest place in the Jewish world.

Visiting Tips: The Pilgrimage Road can be experienced on your own or as part of a guided City of David tour.

For ancient Jewish pilgrims, this was not simply a road. It was a path of worship, prayer, purification, and expectation. Pilgrims who came to Jerusalem for the great biblical festivals would ascend from the lower city toward the Temple, walking on massive stone slabs through the busy streets of ancient Jerusalem. Families, priests, merchants, worshippers, and visitors from across the land would have passed along this route on their way to offer sacrifice, pray, and stand before God in the Temple.

The Pilgrimage Road stretched for about 600 meters and was paved with large stone flagstones. In some areas it was approximately 8 meters wide, and near its southern end it widened even further, creating a broad and impressive entrance to the city. Along the route, archaeologists uncovered coins, weights, measuring tools, and other remains that help bring the daily life of ancient Jerusalem back to life.

This was not a quiet side street. It was one of the main arteries of Jerusalem. It was a place of movement, trade, faith, and human drama. Pilgrims would have walked here with anticipation in their hearts as they made their way toward the Temple. Merchants may have sold goods to those coming for the festivals. Priests, families, travelers, and worshippers all moved together through the living city.

For Christian visitors, the Pilgrimage Road carries a powerful connection to the world of Jesus. The New Testament tells us that Jesus came to Jerusalem, went up to the Temple, taught there, and moved through the city during the pilgrimage festivals. The Gospel of John also places Jesus directly at the Pool of Siloam, where He sent the man born blind to wash and receive his sight: “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (John 9:7).

The New Testament also tells us that before Passover, many people went up to Jerusalem in order to purify themselves (John 11:55). The Pilgrimage Road itself is not mentioned by name in the New Testament, but historically, this was the main route leading from the Pool of Siloam toward the Temple Mount. For this reason, we can say with a very high degree of historical confidence that among the countless Jewish pilgrims who walked this road were people from the world of Jesus, and it is very likely that Jesus and His twelve disciples knew this very path and walked through this part of Jerusalem on their way to the Temple.

To walk the Pilgrimage Road today is therefore to step into the Jerusalem of the Bible. It is to enter the world of the Gospels, the world of Jewish pilgrimage, the world of Temple worship, and the world that Jesus and His disciples knew. Few places in Jerusalem allow visitors to feel so close to the daily life of the city 2,000 years ago.

The spiritual importance of the Pool of Siloam is also preserved in Jewish tradition. The Mishnah describes the water-libation ceremony during the festival of Sukkot, when water was drawn from the Pool of Siloam in a golden vessel and brought up to the Temple through the Water Gate. This ceremony connected the waters of Siloam with the worship of God in the Temple, adding another layer of meaning to the road that led from the pool toward the sacred courts above.

Today, visitors walking through the Pilgrimage Road can see much more than ancient stones. Along the route, archaeological displays and visual reconstructions help recreate the atmosphere of Jerusalem nearly 2,000 years ago. These reconstructions allow visitors to imagine the road as it once was: a bustling street filled with pilgrims, merchants, animals, families, priests, and vendors preparing for the great festivals.

The experience is especially moving because the road is not only connected with the glory of Jerusalem, but also with its destruction. Beneath the street runs an ancient drainage channel. During the final days of the Great Revolt against Rome, Jewish rebels are believed to have hidden in these underground channels as Roman soldiers captured the city. Archaeologists discovered cooking pots, oil lamps, coins from the revolt, and even remains connected with the Roman army inside the channel.

These discoveries bring to life the writings of the first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, who described people hiding underground as Jerusalem fell to the Romans. Along the Pilgrimage Road, visitors can still see broken stones and sections connected with the destruction of 70 AD. The stones, the tunnel, and the remains beneath the street turn ancient history into something visible, physical, and deeply emotional.

This is what makes the Pilgrimage Road one of the most meaningful archaeological sites in Jerusalem. It tells the story of the city at its height and at its moment of tragedy. It speaks of pilgrims ascending in joy, of the Temple standing above the city, of Jesus and His disciples moving through Jerusalem, and of the heartbreaking destruction that ended the Second Temple period.

Walking along the Pilgrimage Road is not like visiting an ordinary archaeological site. It is a journey through faith, history, and memory. It allows visitors to walk beneath the modern streets of Jerusalem and discover the ancient city as it once was — alive with prayer, trade, hope, and devotion.

For Jewish visitors, it is a road of pilgrimage to the Temple. For Christian visitors, it is a rare opportunity to step into the physical world of the New Testament and experience the Jerusalem that Jesus knew. For every visitor, it is one of the most powerful ways to understand ancient Jerusalem not only as a place of ruins, but as a living city whose story still speaks today.