The Cardo is the excavated remains of the main commercial street of Byzantine Jerusalem, built by Emperor Justinian in the 6th century CE and now partially restored in the Jewish Quarter. The word “cardo” means “hinge” in Latin, the central axis around which a Roman or Byzantine city was organized. Jerusalem’s Cardo ran from the Damascus Gate in the north to the area of the present-day Jewish Quarter in the south, a distance of about 900 meters.
Byzantine Street
Justinian’s Cardo was 22 meters wide, lined with covered colonnades on both sides that sheltered shops and pedestrians from sun and rain. The 6th-century Madaba Map, a mosaic floor map of the Holy Land found in a church in Jordan, depicts the Cardo running the full length of the city as a broad colonnaded avenue. The excavated section in the Jewish Quarter preserves several of the original columns, the paving stones, and the foundations of the shops that lined the street.
Reconstruction
The restored section of the Cardo has been integrated into the modern Jewish Quarter as a shopping arcade. Modern shops and galleries occupy the spaces where Byzantine merchants once sold their goods, and the combination of ancient columns and contemporary commerce creates one of the most distinctive shopping experiences in Jerusalem. A large reproduction of the Madaba Map is displayed at the entrance, showing visitors exactly where they are standing in relation to the 6th-century city.
Crusader Market
The Crusaders extended the Cardo southward and built a covered market along its route, parts of which survive in the vaulted spaces of the current market. The transition from Byzantine columns to Crusader vaults to modern shops, all in the same street, is a physical timeline of Jerusalem’s commercial history spanning 1,500 years.
Visit with Hoshen Tours
The Cardo is a natural part of any Jewish Quarter walk. Hoshen Tours uses the Madaba Map and the excavated columns to show how Byzantine Jerusalem was organized and how the modern city sits on top of the ancient one.