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Free tours of the campus, and free evening concerts.
The Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies, situated on Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem, is a satellite campus of Brigham Young University (BYU), the largest religious university in the United States. Owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the center provides a curriculum that focuses on the Old and New Testaments, ancient and modern Near Eastern studies, and language. Classroom study is built around field trips that cover the Holy Land, and the program is open to qualifying full-time undergraduate students at either BYU, BYU-Idaho, or BYU-Hawaii.
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Participate in salvaging antiquities from debris that was dumped out of the Temple Mount during construction by Muslim authorities there. The basic program is two hours long. At the beginning, you get instructions on how to sift through the archaeological debris. At the end, the guide explains the significance of the artifacts that each of the participants have found. (Since April 2017, the debris is from the City of David, not from the Temple Mount, but this might change in the future.)
The humanities faculties of Hebrew University, Israel's top-ranked university, are located here. The campus is quiet and leafy, but confusing to navigate. There are impressive lookouts on the Old City to the south west and the Judaean Desert to the east.
Sacred to Christians and Muslims, this medieval chapel—now part of a mosque—is on the supposed site of Christ's ascension. The chapel was built around 380 AD around a venerated imprint, now set in stone, of Christ's right foot. The chapel became a Muslim shrine after Saladin's conquest in 1187. If given a "tour" by the pushy guard, he will expect a gratuity for his services. Seems just to be a tourist nap, especially for Russians. Just remind him that you already paid ₪5 and walk away. Otherwise just skip this whole site.
The Rockefeller Museum was made possible by a substantial contribution by American oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller. The museum houses an impressive collection of antiquities, including a number of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Directly across from the Church of All Nations, the Tomb of the Virgin is believed to be where the Disciples entombed Mary, the mother of Jesus. Forty-seven steps lead past side niches and down to crypt, which contains the burial place of Queen Melisande of Jerusalem, St. Anne and St. Joachim (Mary's parents) and the Virgin Mary. Outside, to the right of the entrance, is the Cave of Gethsemane, also known as the Cave of Betrayal, the traditional place of Judas's betrayal of Jesus.
This Russian Orthodox Church, with its gilded onion domes, was built by Tsar Alexander III in 1885 in memory of his mother, Maria Alexandrovna, whose patron saint was Mary Magdalene. Tsar Alexander III's sister-in-law, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, was buried here after her murder during the Russian Revolution in 1920.